Jackie Shroff recalls days of struggle, says he was ‘bitten by a rat’ in Mumbai chawl

Jackie Shroff candidly opened up about his initial days of struggle in Mumbai, and shared that he even wanted to buy the same space, where he stayed earlier.

Jackie Shroff opened up about his humble beginnings as a struggling actor in the Hindi film industry. The actor, who emerged as a star in the 80s, shared memories of his life in Mumbai's Teen Batti chawl in a new interview with Ranveer Allahbadia. The actor said that he was bit by a rat when he was living in a small room in the chawl. (Also read: Krushna Abhishek says only he is allowed to impersonate Jackie Shroff: 'He personally called me')

Jackie Shroff talked about staying in a chawl in Mumbai.

What Jackie said

During the interview, Jackie said in Hindi, “I remember those years when I would stand outside chawl’s bathroom with my mug. There were seven small buildings and we had a total of 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 to work. This memory is still so fresh in my mind… that sometimes I still see myself standing in that line in my dreams.”

'I used to sleep on the floor of this room'

When he was shown a picture of the same room during the interview, Jackie continued, “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. 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 that time around. I sometimes go there, it is a place where I grew up. I even told the landlord to give the space to me for rent but he said no. I told I would pay the same amount as others but he did not budge. I am still trying…”

Jackie will be next seen in Varun Dhawan-Rashmika Mandanna starrer action-thriller Baby John. He is also playing the antagonist in Rohit Shetty's Singham Again, featuring Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Arjun Kapoor in crucial characters.