‘Subhash Ghai Made Me’

‘Being
signed
on
as
the
leading
man
of

Hero
came
to
me
like
a
bolt
out
of
the
blue.’

Jackie
Shroff‘s
association
with
Subhash
Ghai
has
flourished
over
an
incredible
40
years.

Ever
since
the
filmmaker
gave
Jackie
his
first
big
break
in

Hero
in
1983,
the
actor
has
scored
some
of
his
best
performances
under
Ghai’s
direction.

“Subhashji
knew
my
bad
points.
He
knew
my
good
points.
He
always
saw
to
it
that
my
good
points
are
highlighted,”
Jackie
Shroff
tells



Rediff.com
Senior
Contributor

Dinesh
Raheja
in
the
first
of
a
two-part
interview.

Subhash
Ghai
rang
in
his
80th
birthday
on
January
24…
what
is
your
wish
for
the
filmmaker
who
put
you
on
the
road
to
stardom?

Centurion
…
that’s
what
I
wish
for
him
to
be
in
cricketing
terms.
May
he
live
to
be
a
100!

It’s
unusual
for
an
actor-director
combination
to
survive
over
multiple
decades.
Jackie,
why
do
you
think
your
association
with
Subhash
Ghai
has
continued?

Whatever
I
am
today,
he
kind
of
made
me
through
his
talents
as
a
director,
writer,
editor.
He
has
been
my
mentor.
But
ours
is
more
than
an
actor-director
relationship;
he
is
more
like
a
family
member.
He
is
like
my
elder
brother.

It
was
easy
for
us
to
go
through
eight
films
together.
because
there
was
no
conflict,
just
affection,
respect
and
love
for
each
other.
There
was
never
any
question
of
our
association
not
lasting
for
a
long
time.

How
did
your
relationship
evolve
from

Hero
to

Karma
to

Ram
Lakhan
to

Khalnayak
to

Yaadein
and
beyond?

Nothing
changed.
I
used
to
go
on
his
sets
like
a
student
and
learn
the
craft
from
the
master,
simple.

I
didn’t
try
and
behave
like
some
learned
actor
or
a
teacher.

I
just
kept
my
ears
open
and
followed
my
director
to
the
T.

We
had
a
tuning,
we
had
an
understanding.

He
knew
my
bad
points.
He
knew
my
good
points.
He
always
saw
to
it
that
my
good
points
are
highlighted.

Do
you
remember
the
turn
of
events
which
led
to
Subhash
Ghai
signing
you
for

Hero
(1983)?

Being
signed
on
as
the
leading
man
of

Hero
came
to
me
like
a
bolt
out
of
the
blue.

I
think
Subhashji
would
be
a
better
person
to
answer
why
he
signed
me
because
I
have
no
idea.

Did
he
ask
you
to
train
as
an
actor
before
commencing
the
shooting?
How
did
he
explain
the
art
of
performance
to
you?

There
was
no
specific
training
as
an
actor.
On
the
sets,
it
was
like
teaching
ABCD
to
a
kindergarten
kid…
he
made
performing
so
simple.

But
I
was
definitely
taught
how
to
do
action
sequences.

I
used
to
go
to
a
ground
at
Amboli
in
Andheri
(north
west
Mumbai)
and
learn
action
out
there,
especially
how
not
to
get
hit!

I’ve
been
a
guy
who
has
been
hit
on
the
road,
but
while
shooting
it
is
a
different
scenario.

In

Hero,
flute
music
became
identified
with
your
character.
Did
you
learn
to
play
the
flute
or
how
did
you
make
it
so
convincing?

Of
course,
I
played
the
flute.
I’m
going
to
break
people’s
imagination
and
my
image
of
not
being
able
to
play
the
flute.

I
watched
Hariprasadji
(Pandit
Hariprasad
Chaurasia),
I
felt
the
rhythm
in
me
and
I
played
it.

I
just
played
with
my
head.
When
I
played,
maybe
the
sound
wasn’t
what
was
heard,
but
the
rest
of
the
aspects
was
right
…
my
fingers
were
rightly
placed
on
the
musical
instrument.