Making his entry into the universe of superheroes, as The Flying Jatt, Tiger Shroff — is all set, nervous and excited about playing the youngest desi vigilante.
“I am thankful to be among the lucky few who have gotten a chance to don a costume and battle baddies, in my case a 7-feet tall WWE wrestler, Nathan Jones. It proved to be a transformative experience. Suddenly I became — as Christopher Reeves once said — the custodian of a character. You are charged with embodying an icon that, in some cases, will likely be there long after you are gone. This movie is essentially made keeping kids in mind, so I am anxious to see their reactions more than anything,” he says.
Since playing a superhero can be quite taxing, the makers also gave Tiger the option to opt for a body double, but the hard-working actor chose not to go for this option.
Explaining the difference between watching a superhero flick and enacting one, Tiger says, “When you watch a superhero movie, it is a completely different experience but when you sit down to enact the role, oh boy, I can’t even begin to describe what kind of hard work goes into it. I had to hang mid-air for so many hours, for so many stunts with the help of harnesses that it started to take a toll on my physical strength; it was quite taxing. But all in all, I enjoyed it. As a superhero fan myself, getting to wear a costume has been one of the most memorable, surreal times in my life. My inner child was dancing! I was able to fully immerse and lose myself in the character. It’s also probably given me greater courage and confidence to stretch myself in new directions as an actor,” beams the actor.
Talking about his own favourite superheroes, Tiger goes on to reveal, “As a kid, I would watch Spider-Man without fail. He is the most vulnerable and humane of all superheroes. He didn’t have things served him on a platter, he wasn’t a superhero by birth but accidentally became one. And it took him a lot of time and effort to be mentally and physically ready to accept who he was and what he really can do. I also love the fact that he was a normal teenager, having to deal with the normal struggles of adolescence in addition to those of a costumed crime-fighter. His super strength and agility, the ability to cling to most surfaces, shoot spider-webs using wrist-mounted devices of his own invention, the ‘web-shooters’, and of course his ‘spider-sense’ still remain my favourites. You’ll see glimpses of him in this film. Beside him, my father has been my first superhero because of his humble background. And I always tell people that since my mother protected and sheltered me, she is like my Wonder Woman.”
