How Jackie became 'Jaggu Dada'!

Veteran actor Jackie Shroff once revealed how he came to be widely recognized as 'Jaggu Dada'.

While appearing on the popular chat show, 'Rendezvous With Simi Garewal', Jackie admitted that, according to him, his elder brother was the true 'dada' of the chawl they grew up in.

He remembered his brother to be the caretaker for his community, who would be there whenever someone needed him.

However, unfortunately, his brother drowned in the sea while he was trying to save someone. As his brother did not know how to swim, Jackie attempted to rescue him by throwing him a cable, but it was of no use.

His brother's selflessness inspired Jackie to follow in his footsteps, and he ended up becoming 'Jaggu Dada' himself.

Opening up to host Simi about this, Jackie said, “I saw him drown. I was watching. I was 10 and scared. I didn’t even jump in the sea. I would have gone, too. We tried to throw a line; he caught it, it slipped from this guy’s hand, he struggled for some time, then he (his brother) went with him. So, I have seen the maximum anybody can see. Losing your own brother, who was like your protector, dying in front of your eyes in a sea is horrible.”

Even after so many years, Jackie still visits the chawl he once lived in.

Coming to his career trajectory, Jackie's first on-screen appearance was in 1982, in Dev Anand's 'Swami Dada', where he played a small role. However, his debut as a lead was in 1983 with Subhash Ghai's 'Hero'.

He went on to star in many other memorable dramas, such as 'Andar Baahar (1984)', 'Jaanoo (1985)', 'Karma (1986)', 'Ram Lakhan (1989)', 'Tridev (1989)', 'Parinda (1989), 'Saudagar (1991)', 'Khalnayak (1993)', 'Gardish (1993), '1942: A Love Story (1994)', 'Rangeela (1995)', 'Border (1997)', 'Agni Sakshi (1996)', 'Devdas (2002)', 'Mission Kashmir (2000)', 'Dhoom 3 (2013)', 'Happy New Year (2014)' 'Bharat (2019)', and 'Sooryavanshi (2021)', along with others.