Jackie Shroff on ‘cultural impact’ of expletive in polio ad: ‘It at least helped people learn about polio’

Jackie Shroff recently spoke about the 'cultural impact' of a Marathi expletive which he used frequently during the shoot of a polio awareness ad.

Jackie Shroff appeared in an advertisement shot in 1998/99 as a public service announcement to spread awareness about the government’s polio eradication mission. (Images: Bollywood News Villa/YT, Jackie/Facebook)

Along with the many films that propelled Jackie Shroff to stardom also is an advertisement he shot in 1998/99 as a public service announcement to spread awareness about the central government’s polio eradication mission. While the original ad served its purpose, the experience of filming it was far from pleasant for the actor, who struggled considerably with the dialogues written in raw Hindi.

Years later, a behind-the-scenes (BTS) video of the shoot went viral on social media, showcasing not only Jackie’s difficulties with the lines but also his hilarious reactions to his mistakes, which often involved cursing. Since then, the Marathi expletive “maushi chi…”, which he used frequently during the shoot, has become a part of Indian pop culture.

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Recently, Jackie Shroff spoke about the ‘cultural impact’ of the phrase, noting that it at least helped increase awareness about polio. “Some people like it; some don’t,” the actor remarked during a recent appearance on Ranveer Allahbadia’s podcast. When asked if people still bring up that video, he said “yes,” adding, “I tell them, if nothing else, it at least helped people learn about polio and the importance of administering the drops to kids.”

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“I tried hard (to deliver the lines). Some words are difficult to pronounce, right? That’s what happened that day. But we later created another ad, which turned out really well,” he added, emphasising that awareness should now be focused on Thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder that causes one’s body to have less haemoglobin than normal.

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Jackie Shrff also admitted that he still uses the phrase, explaining, “I’ve been using it since I was a teenager. I use it only on myself when I’m frustrated, as an alternative to expressions like ‘yaar… uff…‘”

The 67-year-old actor was last seen in director Vijay Maurya’s comedy-drama Mast Mein Rehne Ka, where he shared the screen with Neena Gupta. Jackie is currently working on director Rohit Shetty’s Singham Again, featuring Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone in key roles, as well as Kalees’ Baby John, starring Varun Dhawan and Keerthy Suresh.

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