Great Grand Superhero director says film highlights a rare side of Jackie Shroff
Director Manish Saini praised Jackie Shroff’s nuanced performance in The Great Grand Superhero, saying that the actor has revealed a side that audiences have rarely seen before. The filmmaker also talked about making films purely for pleasure, rejecting creative pressure and conventional definitions of success.
Director Manish Saini is working with Jackie Shroff great grand superhero It was a rewarding experience that continued to surprise him. had an exclusive conversation with India TodaySaini opens up about the actor’s effortless performances, his commitment towards making films he truly enjoys, and why success means more than box-office numbers.
Talking about working with Jackie Shroff, Saini revealed that many on the film’s crew initially wondered how the actor would play such a layered character as audiences have largely seen him play the “Jaggu Dada” persona on screen.
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He said, “He, Jackie, won’t talk about himself, so I feel it’s my responsibility to say that. Many people in the crew had only seen Jackie sir as this strong man on screen, and they couldn’t imagine how he would play this character. But I was confident from day one.”
The director admitted that Shroff’s performance continued to surprise him even during the editing of the film.
“Even today, whenever I sit in the editing room, I wonder how he has done it. There are small conversations and long shots where you can see such stillness in his performance. Sometimes, something happens in the scene, he looks down, and I realize I never informed him about it. That’s his tendency as an actor,” Saini said.
Calling herself “fortunate” to work with the veteran actor, Saini said that the film allowed her to present a side of Jackie Shroff that audiences have not seen before.
The director said, “I consider myself lucky that he trusted me, came on board for this genre, accepted the film and did something that no one had done before. I got a chance to explore a side of him that the audience has not seen. He is a brilliant actor.”
Saini also explained why Shroff made the process easy for him as a director. “A good actor listens to you, understands, sees you and then adds something extra to the scene. Sometimes actors come with limitations as to how they want to perform, and that makes it difficult for the director to manage the flow of the scene. But Jackie sir was never like that. Even in the poster, his expression is completely different. This is not Jaggu Dada – it is a completely different character. When I saw all these things coming together so naturally, I was I felt really blessed,” Saini said.
The filmmaker also spoke about his approach towards cinema and why he deliberately chooses to make children’s films despite being repeatedly asked questions about it. He said, “I never feel pressure. I make what I like. A lot of my friends ask me why I make children’s films. It’s because I enjoy it. I have no interest in making ‘great’ films.”
Saini believes that filmmakers should keep making films only as long as they truly enjoy the process. The director said, “I have always believed that you should keep making films as long as you are enjoying the process. The moment you start forcing yourself into a certain format and stop enjoying it, no one will enjoy watching your film.”
Reflecting on his journey, the director said that receiving his first National Award felt like a “superhero moment” for him. He said, “So, I never feel pressure. Maybe because I have come from nothing. The day I got my first National Award – that superhero moment you mentioned – I felt like I had already achieved something big. Now, I just want to make films for fun, to earn my living.”
For the filmmaker, the only real pressure is to understand whether the audience inside the theater is evoking emotion. “When I watch my film with an audience, I’m always nervous about whether people will laugh after a certain moment or not, or whether there will be silence in the theater where I want it to be. That’s the only pressure I feel – whether the emotions are working or not.”
Describing success as “subjective”, Saini pointed out how some films remain relevant for decades while others disappear despite earning huge sums at the box office. “Some films may not work commercially, but they are remembered for 20, 30, even 100 years. Some films earn crores, but disappear after four or five weeks. So, it is different for everyone. I don’t read much into it. I don’t even feel the need to,” he concluded.
great grand superhero It was released on 29 May, starring Jackie Shroff in the lead role.