When Tiger Shroff revealed the hilarious reason why he changed his name from Jai Hemant Shroff

Tiger Shroff celebrates his 31st birthday on Wednesday. The actor, known for his action sequences and dancing skills, was born to Ayesha Shroff and actor Jackie Shroff on March 2, 1990. At the time of his birth, his parents named him Jai Hemant Shroff, but he debuted into the film industry with the name Tiger. The actor had revealed in an old interview how he came to be known with the rather unusual name instead of his given name Jai. Also Read: Sajid Nadiadwala reveals what Jackie Shroff said before Tiger Shroff’s debut: ‘Mera kaam hai sirf bachcha paida karna…’

In an interview with Hindustan Times in May 2014, Tiger revealed that he got the name when people started comparing him to a tiger because of his biting habit. He said, “I used to bite as a kid … like bite everyone around.”

The actor shared that his victims also included a teacher at his school. He recalled, “I bit my teacher in school, and even got punished for that.”

Tiger’s unusual name also inspired him to do something for the animal he was named after. In 2014, the actor adopted Lee, a tigress at the Maharajbagh zoo in Nagpur, whom he first met while promoting Heropanti with actor Kriti Sanon that year. He quoted a well-known dialogue from Spiderman–“With great power, comes great ­responsibility”–to explain his decision to adopt Lee. Also Read: Tiger Shroff’s weightlifting video with 190 kilos is super intense

The actor also shared that while others expected him to follow in his father’s footsteps and enter Bollywood, he initially wanted to make a different career choice. He said, “I was more into sports … football was my favourite, but then even as a kid I knew that I was being watched … my father’s friends would keep talking about seeing me in Bollywood, someday.”

Tiger made his Bollywood debut with the 2014 film Heropanti, and is currently filming for the second instalment of the action movie. He will be seen opposite Tara Sutaria in Heropanti 2, which is scheduled for a release on April 29 this year.