Jackie Shroff, the ‘Bhidu’ of Bollywood has been an integral part of Indian cinema and has completed four decades in the industry. He has been a superstar of his era for whom age is just a number. In his entire career, Jackie dada has not been involved in any kind of controversy, which is a tough streak to maintain.
However, back in 2011, the star actor had to taste the bitterness of controversies as he was called out as a gay. Not only that, the veteran actor was also bombarded with calls which were made to ask if he really was one.
The controversy sparked off when an unidentified news website claimed that Jackie Shroff himself confessed that he is gay. They also claimed that actor had confessed to their journalist about his preference during a candid chat.
When asked about it by news agency IANS, Jackie Shroff clearly denied it and responded:
“Can you believe it? Bas ab yehi baqi reh gaya tha. Logon ko kaam-dhanda nahin hai. Bas, yehi sab… For the record, I’ve never spoken to any journalist on this subject and certainly made no such declaration. Main pagal hoon kya.”
He further added:
In any case, what’s the big deal about physical preference? If one is gay, one is gay. If I was, I’d have no qualms in accepting it. But the fact is, I am most certainly not. And I’m surprised at the audacity of the journalist who cooked up this imaginary scandal.”
Rising over the question, Jackie Shroff revealed how he and his wife, Ayesha Shroff reacted to the rumour. He said:
“My wife (Ayesha) and I had a good laugh over this. I just looked at her and she looked at me. We burst out laughing….”
Apart from the veteran star, his wife also reportedly talked about the rumour to ‘Hindustan Times’. She remarked:
“He was called the first lady killer of the industry and to hear that he is gay is just bizarre. My kids and I are having a good laugh.”
