Jackie Shroff
has always been celebrated for his versatility in the Hindi film industry, recently he shared poignant memories of his early life in Mumbai’s
Teen Batti chawl
. These humble beginnings shaped the actor’s journey, as he stood in line each morning with fellow residents, waiting to use the communal lavatory. In a cramped space, he inhabited a small single room alongside his parents.
In conversation with Ranveer Allahbadia he recalled those formative years and said, “I remember those years when I would stand outside chawl’s bathroom with my mug.
There were seven small building and we had three bathrooms for all the people of those buildings. There would be a line outside the toilet every morning because people would be in a hurry to go work. This memory is still fresh in my mind. Sometimes I still see myself standing in that line.”
Beyond the bathroom queues, Jackie reminisced about another aspect of his upbringing, sitting on the floor while his mother prepared meals. To him, this was the ideal way to eat. He said, “I used to sit on the floor and eat, which is the best way to eat I think. My mother would cook and I would sit on the ground and eat. Those memories haven’t left my mind,”
An old video recently resurfaced, capturing Jackie’s emotional return to the Teen Batti chawl. Standing in the same room where he once slept on the floor, he recalled, “I used to sleep on the floor of this room. I saw a snake in the corner of that room,. Once a rat bit me and my mom. This I am talking about mid 60s.”
Jackie Shroff revisits his Teen Batti Chawl days
These struggles, however, paved the way for his eventual breakthrough in the film industry. Subhash Ghai’s film ‘Hero’ (1983) catapulted him to stardom, and Jackie went on to establish himself as a prominent figure with memorable roles in films like ‘Teri Meherbaniyan’, ‘Karma’, ‘Jawab Hum Denge’, ‘Ram Lakhan’, and ‘Parinda’.
His upcoming projects include ‘Baby John’ and the multi-starrer ‘Singham Again’ alongside Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone.
