Jackie Shroff has always been vocal about spending his childhood in poverty. He grew up in a chawl called Teen Batti in Mumbai and made a filmy career for himself without any godfathers. Jackie, who now lives in a luxurious bungalow located in a posh area in Mumbai, once used to stand in toilet queues every morning. Even when he became an actor but hadn’t earned enough to buy himself a fancy house, Jackie used to travel from his chawl to studios or outdoor shoot locations. And it meant, waking up early in the morning, standing in long queues to use the common washroom, getting ready, and then going for a shoot.
In an interview with Bharathi S Pradhan, Jackie recalled, “There were 7 kholis in the chawl. For 7 Kholis, we had three washrooms and 10 people used to share each of them. Early morning I had to go shooting and we had to stand in line to attend the nature’s call. So, I was in films and I stood in the queue for the washroom. Oh, what a pleasure it was! I miss my house so much out there! In fact, I am trying to buy a little kholi there. I have spoken to the landlords.”
Jackie also told that when he was dating Ayesha (now his wife), she used to stay over at his place sometimes. Even though she came from a rich background, even she used to stand in line for the washroom in the morning.
Jackie now advocates a sustainable environment. He encourages people to plant more trees and take conscious steps to protect the environment. When asked about when he grew his love for the environment, Jackie told, “Firstly, my chawl was in front of a jungle. So we used to pluck mangoes from the trees and eat them. We had access to bananas, guavas etc in the jungle. So, as a 10-15-year-old, I have grown up watching these things and eating them at the same time. I was fascinated to see a seed becoming a plant.”
Jackie Shroff is married to Ayesha Shroff and they have two children together- Tiger Shroff and Krishna Shroff.
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