Tiger Shroff talks straight from the heart and is very clear about what he wants to do. He has had two good releases this year in Baaghi and A Flying Jatt and has also won accolades for his performances at two award shows this year. He is currently shooting for Saabir Khan’s Munna Michael and will start shooting for two sequels next year — Student Of The Year 2 and Baaghi 2. In a chat, Tiger talks about everything from demonetisation, Disha Patani and how 2016 has treated him...   

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There was a rumour that Munna Michael was facing a cash crunch because of demonetisation. Have you faced it too?

Not true. I have been shooting for Munna Michael almost every day. Demonetisation has not affected me personally as I am not much of a spender and don’t need too much cash to carry.  I don’t go out much. I just need money to buy my groceries. It may not have affected me, but maybe it has affected the film industry in a way that ticket sales haven’t been great. Some of the releases have been brilliant but because of demonetisation, it hasn’t been a hit at the box-office. 

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It’s unfortunate timing, but we must look at the bigger picture too, what is it doing for the country and how beneficial it will be for us in the long run. PM Modi has done a great job with demonetisation. It’s ultimately country over craft. 

At Manish Malhotra’s birthday party, you came with Disha Patani which made people feel that you were ready to come out into the open as a couple.

I guess I just wanted to look a little bit cooler and feel good about myself. Maybe I wanted to take a pretty girl along with me to look good (laughs). On a serious note, it’s nothing of the sort that we are coming out as a couple etc. In fact, we have been spotted enough times together for me to make an album of me and her now. I guess being spotted together doesn’t bother me at all. Disha is  a very great and genuine friend of mine and I have very few friends to count upon. I have a handful of genuine friends as I am not an easy person to be friends with. I don’t socialize or get out much. As with my close friend Rinzing, I can say that Disha is another friend who comes within my small, close circle of friends. 

You have had a very good year with two releases — Baaghi and A Flying Jatt. How do you personally celebrate success?

I am very grateful to both the film’s teams and I celebrate the success with them. I am not much of a celebratory person. I enjoy watching the film with my friends. I like to go cinema- hopping. I might have a get together to show my film. I am very embarrassed to show my friends my films, but they pressurise me to show it to them. I invite them for my screenings.

Ever thought of doing a romcom or a dark, edgy thriller?

Yes, I would love to at some point, but right now, no. I am catering to a particular audience right now and they are giving me more than I deserve. I am enjoying that space and trying to create an identity or niche for myself in that space. I have lots of time to experiment and I am not rushing around trying to do everything but just trying to grow with each film. Action or dance is an added decoration to a film. I always ask myself why is the hero fighting in that scene? There has to be an emotional content driving him to fight and if the emotion is not strong, the audience won’t cheer, no matter how tough the hero is physically.

One character you would love to play in a film?

I would love to play Spider-Man and I want to tell the guys in Hollywood that I can actually save them a lot of money in VFX because I can fly at some places without the cable! (Laughs) It’s my ultimate dream — to play the superhero Superman in a Hollywood film.

You are in demand for performing at award shows and some even felt that at the recent awards held last Sunday, yours was one of the best acts. How do you take the compliments?

The more the merrier! I love receiving compliments as it bandages all the wounds that one suffers while preparing for the events. All the hard work is worth it in the end when you receive the appreciation for it. I take too much stress for everything that I do so the pressure to perform well is so much more. I feel honoured too, that so early in my career I got to perform with such huge stars like Salman sir, Hrithik sir and Priyanka Chopra. It was a huge high for me to stand with them on stage.