Jackie of all trades

From the mainstream to the offbeat, Jackie Shroff treads diverse terrains with ease. As he continues to studio hop, Harshikaa Udasi catches up with the actor

THE RETURN OF THE MACHO MAN Jackie Shroff

Jackie Shroff seems keen on treading the beaten track. The Bollywood star, now in his fifties, says that as long as he gets unique roles, he would love to do them. “I can’t say if this is the zenith of my career. I keep having these highs and lows,” he say with a resonating laugh.

Jackie is now awaiting the release of his first film with a non-Indian director.

Dutch director Laurens Postma's first Hindi film

Cover Story , starring Jackie and newcomer Anjum Nayar will release on September 28. The film is an official adaptation of legendary Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh's film

The Interview , which was remade by actor-director Steve Buscemi in Hollywood and starred Sienna Miller in the lead.

A two-character film revolving around a well-known journalist and a famous movie star,

Cover Story is a psychological thriller and had Jackie hooked from the word go. Jackie plays a war correspondent, who is sent off by his editor to interview a film star and absolutely detests his task. “Not just the premise of the film, I also loved the idea that I would play a journalist rather than be in the firing line,” says Jackie. “Besides there was a sense of pride that someone wanted to come to India and make a film with Indian actors and I was the chosen one. Nowadays so many of our actors turn to Hollywood and this might just be a new trend.”

The actor is all praise for his Dutch director, who knew not a word of Hindi. “But he never had any communication problem. Laurens had a fabulous set of assistant directors and he is himself a very fine actor. He knew exactly what he wanted to see on screen.”

With

Aaranya Kaandam , a neo-noir Tamil film under his belt and

Kochadaiyaan with Rajnikanth and

Dhoom 3 coming up, the actor certainly is happy with his work. “I have a few films on hand and each one is different.” Talking about his hard-hitting role in

Aaranya Kaandam , he says, “I don’t even know why Kumar (director Thiagarajan Kumararaja) selected me for the role, but I did a lot of things I had never done so far in my career. Possibly he didn’t get anyone else to agree to strip in the film!”

Jackie’s son Tiger is now all set to enter the industry. He will be launched by producer Sajid Nadiadwala in a film to be directed by Sabbir Khan. Ask how much of himself he sees in Tiger and Jackie says, “None at all. He has a different agenda. He is more focused. He is a great dancer and trains extremely well at the gym. He is a basketball and football champ and keeps his mind and body fit. I am glad that he is in the safe hands of Sajid. He will take good care of my boy,” says Jackie.