Jackie Shroff Sanjay Dutt Madhuri Dixit Khalnaayak Returns

Jackie Shroff isn’t complaining that fellow ’80s stars are dominating the screens yet again. He headlines a superhero movie, Manish Saini’s The Great Grand Superhero, and will be next seen in Ahmed Khan’s adventure comedy Welcome to the Jungle. Meanwhile, his former co-star Madhuri Dixit will be seen in Suresh Triveni’s comedy Maa Behen on Netflix India this Friday. Their Khal Nayak co-star Sanjay Dutt is on a roll as well, having starred in Aditya Dhar’s blockbuster spy thriller Dhurandhar: The Revenge and Riteish Deshmukh’s period war drama Raj Shivaji this year.

“I’m sure your mom and dad aren’t complaining either,” Jackie tells this writer in an exclusive interview. While he hasn’t signed on the dotted line yet, he made his intent clear to SCREEN about reuniting with Sanjay and Madhuri in the recently announced sequel to their film, Khalnayak Returns. “There’s no discussion yet. The story is yet to reach me. Sanju baba’s posters are already out as Khalnaayak. Bas police officer Ram Sinha aur unki dharampatni peechhe hain,” he says, smiling. Madhuri told SCREEN that “as of now”, there are no talks with the makers on her casting yet.

Being a part of the first Khal Nayak (1994) was a no-brainer for Jackie since it was directed by Subhash Ghai, who gave the actor his breakthrough with the 1983 action romance Hero. In retrospect, Jackie feels picking a raw model from a chawl for the titular role was a huge gamble for the visionary filmmaker.

“Baap re! Kya tension liya. Panga liya na?,” says Jackie, adding, “Boss hain toh sambhala unhone. Naap tol ke bachcho ki tarah sambhala. He says his actors are like his kids. He treats them like his own children.” The actor adds that working with Manish Saini on a kids film like The Great Grand Superhero also reminded him of how Subhash Ghai would treat his actors on set.

“He’s got three National Awards, and I don’t even have one in my 40-year-plus career,” says Jackie about Manish, claiming that it was his “privilege” to support a budding filmmaker like him. “It’s not ‘support’. He’s obliged me by taking me. He’s a sincere director and a simple chap. End of discussion,” adds Jackie.

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With his next film, Welcome to the Jungle, slated to release in cinemas on June 26, Jackie will reunite with Ahmed Khan six years after the 2020 action thriller Baaghi 3, headlined by his son Tiger Shroff. “I’m a compulsory item in Ahmed’s films. Wo mujhe leta hi leta hai. It’s like when Subhash Ghai, Selim Aftab, and KC Bokadia would take me in seven-eight films together. Whichever house I went to, I’d get four-five films just like that,” says Jackie.

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