Birthday special: Life and times of Bollywood great Jackie Shroff

Jackie Shroff celebrates his 63rd birthday on Saturday (1) and will no doubt receive good wishes from around the world.

The talented actor has had a remarkable rise from rags to becoming a globally renowned film star with many big screen successes to his name. He is also father to hot right now movie star Tiger Shroff and known for his many big-hearted gestures.

To celebrate the popular actor turning a year older, Eastern Eye decided to present some fun facts about him.

Jackie was born Jai Kishan Kakubhai Shroff and grew up in a slum area of Mumbai. He was working at a travel agency when by chance he was spotted at a bus stop and offered work as a model, which he agreed to do for the money.

He met Suneil Anand at acting class and asked to meet his legendary movie star father Dev Anand. The Bollywood great was suitably impressed with Jackie and gave him his acting debut with 1982 film Swami Dada.

The 1983 film Hero was initially written for Sanjay Dutt, but he couldn’t do the film due to his then drug problems. Director Subhash Ghai took a chance on newcomer Jackie and turned him into an overnight star with the blockbuster hit.

His film Karma was the highest grossing film of 1986. Allah Rakha, which released the same year had been written for Amitabh Bachchan, but he couldn’t do it because of joining politics and Jackie stepped in, including into already designed costumes.

Jackie won his first major Best Actor award for Parinda (1989), but the movie was made on such a low budget that he allowed the producers to use his own car and clothes to help them save money. The award-winning film was India’s official entry for the 1990 Academy Awards.

Jackie revealed that he once rejected a role because the producer wanted him to get waxed and wear a bikini.

Govinda was reportedly offered the role of Chunni Lal in smash hit Devdas (2002), but turned it down. Jackie then stepped in and won himself a Best Supporting Actor Filmfare Award.

Other films Jackie has won a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor award for are 1942: A Love Story (1994) and Rangeela (1995). He was nominated for the same award for Khalnayak (1993), Agni Sakshi (1996) and Yaadein (2001).

Jackie has starred in more than 220 films in 13 different languages, including Hindi, Konkani, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, English and Gujarati.

Jackie owned a stake in Sony TV when it launched and later sold it for a massive amount.

He was the first Indian movie star to get involved with TV in such a major way.

The Bollywood great remains in demand with seven films due for release this year, and long may he continue.