Jackie Shroff stepped into a rather unusual superhero world with The Great Grand Superhero. The film shifted the genre’s focus away from youthful strength and spectacle to the idea that age does not have to mean the end of adventure. After its theatrical release earlier this year, the film is set for its world digital premiere on KidZ on ZEE5 on August 21, 2026.
For director Manish Saini, the film began with a simple question: what happens when a superhero is no longer young? Rather than returning to familiar ideas of extraordinary powers and larger-than-life physiques, Saini wanted to explore the emotional side of growing older, and the need to still feel useful, admired and capable.
“The idea for The Great Grand Superhero was always about thinking of a different kind of superhero. We have already vseen young superheroes – they are young, powerful, have great physiques and can fly. I kept wondering, this has already been done, what else can we do with the idea of a superhero,” he says.
That led him to imagine a grandfather who has grown old, retired and perhaps even started believing that there is nothing left for him to do. The arrival of a child became an important part of that idea, bringing together two characters who look at the world very differently.
“Then one day, an idea struck me. After a certain age, we start surrendering to the idea that we have grown old, that our time is over and there is nothing left for us to do. So I thought, what if there was a grandfather who had grown old and had retired but was actually a superhero? Then came the child. Children are naturally fascinated by superheroes, so I thought about what the conversation would be between a grandfather who may or may not actually be a superhero and a child who believes in him.”
At its core, however, Saini’s idea was also about something deeply human: the need to feel valued. “After a certain age, we also start craving appreciation. Even when we are no longer able to do certain things, the hunger for appreciation and praise is always there. That became the starting point of the story.”
Working with Jackie Shroff turned out to be one of the most rewarding aspects of the film for the director. He continued, “Directing Jackie Sir was one of the easiest and most pleasant experiences for me. He is such an easy person to work with and, in many ways, he is like a child himself. He listens, he understands, and from the time I narrated the project to him, I could see a lot of curiosity and interest on his face. He wanted to know how he could become involved in the project and what he could do. Many times, I didn’t even feel like such a big star and such a great actor was on my set,” Saini says.
Another important part of the process was Shroff’s equation with the children in the film. Since their bond is central to the story, Saini wanted that connection to feel natural rather than manufactured.
“Generally, I don’t do workshops or rehearsals for my projects because I like the characters to retain their crispness and surprise. With too many rehearsals, that surprise can sometimes disappear. But Jackie Sir became very comfortable with the children very quickly, he understood everything beautifully. Even when he didn’t have a dialogue or wasn’t in a particular scene, he would sit at the monitor or stay on set and watch what was happening. He was genuinely involved in the process. So working with him was a really great experience.”
Also Read: The Great Grand Superhero: Aliens Ka Aagman Review – Jackie Shroff Serves Up Superhero Cuteness
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