Tiger Shroff….The Rise Is Phenomenal

I’ve known Tiger, Jackie and Ayesha Shroff’s cub,  from the time when he was  a child.  Tiger was always a well-behaved boy, gentle courteous,disciplined and militarily regimented in eating and exercising.

Tiger was always the opposite of his star-papa Jackie. If Jackie never took care  of himself, Tiger never stops taking of himself. Jackie would wake  up at 10 am and laze around the house when he wasn’t working. Tiger was up at the crack of dawn doing his martial arts  routine for a good two hours even when he was not an actor yet.While Jackie ate any and everything, Tiger tucked into only health  food.

Fit as a fiddle Tiger’s debut in Heropanti was greeted by hoots and jeers. He was savaged for being effeminate and  too soft. Not once did I see Tiger get upset as  the nation took potshots at everything about  him  from his name to his looks.

“How was  I to be blamed for the way I looked? Or if I didn’t have facial growth even if I shaved twice  a  day? I never took the criticism to  heart because I knew it was for my own good.Those who take the trouble to  offer constructive criticism must be taken seriously, provided  you want to grow,” Tiger  informed me, with a  wisdom  way beyond his ears.

 Today  in  Baaghi 2  Tiger’s appearance, body language and emotive faculties are  beyond anything one would have imagined for Tiger.  Just like Rekha  and Akshay Kumar, Tiger’s makeover  is inspirational, though I’ve to admit his change is  far  more swift and radical. Akshay and Rekha changed over a period of time and  roles.

 Tiger  is transformed  over a span of  4 films. How did he do it?

Tiger  says it’s will-power. I  think  it’s more than that. It’s the will to overpower though never disown the  legacy that star-kids have to carry on their shoulders. Varun Dhawan was  just not happy being known only as David Dhawan’s son. He  worked towards establishing a name for himself whereby his father is  no longer the deciding factor in  his career as an actor.

Tiger is proud to be  known as Jackie Shroff’s son. But there is always that dread of being compared  unfavourably. Tiger  has successfully vanquished that fear in his new film where  he is  transformed into a killing machine . After  Baaghi 2 Tiger won’t be compared with his father . He will be compared with Hrithik Roshan,  and very favourably  too.

 I suspect  with Baaghi 2 Tiger  will considerably erode  Hrithik’s market. The dancing is on a par with Roshan. And  the stunts much  more  complex and heartsopping than anything Roshan has  ever attempted.In fact Tiger’s action sequences  in Baaghi 2 are so overpoweringly daring audiences will presume they achieved through a  body double, if not computer graphics.

Our cinema has  a long history of heroes risking their lives for  a breathtaking stunt. Whatever you’ve seen  other action heroes do in the movies pales into significance when compared with Tiger’s  derringdo in Baaghi 2.

So is Tiger Shroff  India’s  finest action hero? I am afraid he  is. He may not be among the finest actors   in the country. But Tiger lets action  speak louder than words.The sound of  bones being crunched is deafening.