Krishna Shroff comes from a family of celebs. Being Jackie Shroff’s daughter and Tiger Shroff’s sister, she has been in the limelight all her life. And while many expected her to follow in her brother’s footsteps into the film world, Krishna chose to be an entrepreneur in the world of contact sports. In a chat with Hindustan Times, she speaks about her mixed martial arts promotion, the decision to not join films, and her bond with brother Tiger. Also read: Krishna Shroff reveals Tiger Shroff-related ‘insecurity’ in lingerie ad, watch
Unlike her father or her brother, Krishna has stayed away from Bollywood, despite admitting that she had offers at one time. Talking about why she chose not to enter films and look at mixed martial arts promotion as a career, she tells us, “I know what I want and don’t want. It’s as simple as that. That world–I’m so grateful for what it’s given me and the platform it has provided for me to have a larger voice–but it’s not something that ever resonated with me. I have been pretty clear that I want to wake up and do something I love every single day. If I don’t love what I’m doing, I’ll never give it 100%. And then I’ll not be the best at it. For me, that’s important.”
She is in the capital to promote her MMA venture Matrix Fight Night, which is returning to India after a pandemic-induced break with MFN. Krishna admits that mixed martial arts isn’t just business for her. “My family has been always into fitness and it’s at the core of who I am. I have been following the sport for over a decade now. It’s changed my life. As soon as I began following the sport and practising it a little bit for fitness purposes, it made me a better version of myself. As a woman, it’s given me a new sense of security and confidence that I didn’t have before,” she says.
But as she understood the sport and what the athletes do, Krishna says it has also helped her appreciate what her brother Tiger Shroff does so often on screen. Tiger routinely uses martial arts in his films and is known to perform complex stunts and action sequences himself. Krishna says, “Understanding the sport better and being in close proximity to these athletes has really made me appreciate what my brother does. It’s amazing to see how easy he makes these difficult things look. Growing up, seeing your brother do all these larger than life things and now gaining a better understanding of it is great. There’s so much motivation in my household itself. I have no excuse to sit on my a** and not do anything to better myself every day.”
Krishna says growing up, she faced a lot of mean comments about her appearance and people often unjustly comparing her to brother Tiger, who was–at that time too–quite into fitness. Talking about that criticism, Krishna shares, “I’m not going to lie, as a young teenager, all these opinions definitely impact you. But whereas a lot of people can take it in a very negative stride, I actually used it as fuel, and as motivation to do something better. I’ll never take those comparisons is a negative light. I’ll use it to push myself.”
And she adds that any comparison with Tiger–in whatever form–is a compliment in itself. “Any comparison with my superhero of a brother is a win in its own right. So, if you are putting me in the same sentence as him, I feel like I’m doing something right. I am winning at life right then and there,” she says with a laugh.
