Mumbai: Tiger Shroff, son of Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff, who is making his movie debut with 'Heropanti', says he would never use his father's name to get a film.
"Never in my life I would use his (father's) name... I would rather kill myself. Of course, his name would get me an access to a filmmaker. My father is my father only till my first film, then I am on my own. Nobody gets a second chance. The first impression is the last impression," Tiger, told PTI in an interview here.
23-year-old Tiger is being launched in Bollywood by filmmaker Sajid Nadiadwala's 'Heropanti'. He is paired opposite Kriti Sanon, who too is making her Bollywood debut with the film. On being asked as to why he was not launched by his family, Tiger said, "My mother was a producer. They never thought about that (launching me). Since I was already getting offers from outside, so why not consider it... As I was not getting any offers from home. Maybe we will work together sometime."
As a child, Tiger used to visit his father's film sets. Sharing some anecdotes from that period, he said, "There was a film called 'Gardish' that he was shooting for and there was a fight scene in which my father was getting beaten up badly by the goons. I was there and felt very bad that people were beating my father. I was running to save my father and someone stopped me saying it is just a movie and not real."
"Also when I used to watch my father romance Madhuriji (Dixit). I used to get very jealous thinking that he is married and is my mother's husband. I was like he can't do all this," he said. Tiger said that during his growing up years, he was deliberately kept away from his father's professional life. "We were kept away from his professional life. My mother used to keep me away from the limelight and gave us a normal childhood," he said.
When Tiger gave his first shot, there was nobody from the family to cheer him up on the day of the shoot. "No one from the family came on the sets. My parents are not involved in my career in any way. I appreciate that. I want to prove to myself and to them that I can do it on my own. I have worked very hard for this film and I hope people appreciate that," Tiger said.
'Heropanti' is presented by UTV Motion Pictures & Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment. It is directed by Sabbir Khan. It is slated to release on May 23. Tiger claimed that though his actor father has been in the film industry since the past few decades, he never gave any sort of advice to him. "He did not tell me anything about acting. He is my competition at home...he takes me as his competition at home. Whenever we are together, we talk about other things than acting. Acting is never discussed," he said.
Nonetheless, Jackie always asked him to remain honest to his acting and do only what he felt comfortable about. "He just says do whatever you want to do, but be sure about it. And that if I am not comfortable doing anything on screen, be it action or romance, I shouldn't do it as it shows on screen," Tiger said. The actor wants to follow certain qualities of his father. "The fact that he is humble, considering the background that he comes from and the person he has become today. He still remembers his roots and that is most important. To stay grounded and not let fame go to your head and appreciate the love and criticism coming from everyone is what I want to imbibe from him," Tiger said.
