New Delhi: For Lakshmi Priya, the world briefly stopped spinning on 18 October. When news of the firing incident involving Tiger Shroff reached her fan club on Instagram, the 19-year-old from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, could neither eat nor sleep. With Navratri underway, she did something she rarely does: visit a temple barely half a kilometre from her home to pray for the actor’s safety.
“I cried for him. I couldn’t even eat or sleep, just thinking about what happened. Since it was Navaratri, I went to the temple outside for the very first time to pray,” she told ThePrint.
For Priya and scores of other Tiger Shroff fans, “Tigerian” is more than just a username; it is an identity. Many are under 20 and proudly identify as such across social media. But when reports emerged of unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle allegedly opening fire at Shroff’s SUV in Mumbai’s Juhu area, the fan clubs became spaces of collective anxiety, sorrow, and comfort.
Instagram pages, including Tiger Sir Ka Fan, run by Delhi-based Harish Prajapati and followed by more than 10,000 people, were flooded with posts, updates and prayers for the 36-year-old actor’s safety.
Prajapati initially dismissed the reports as fake, urging Tigerians not to circulate unverified news. But when he saw the same on television, his concern turned to shock. For Prajapati, who has previously met Shroff in person, it felt as though someone close to him had been hurt and targeted.
Still unsure about what had happened, Prajapati called a friend living near the incident site in Mumbai to verify the news. The confirmation that Shroff was safe, though his driver had been injured, brought some relief.
“I panicked after seeing a video and hearing that he had been shot. But my friend reassured me,” he said.
While Priya and Prajapati are open about their devotion to Shroff, with their families and friends aware of their membership in fan clubs, 16-year-old Anshika Dutta, who calls herself Anshika Tigerian, prefers to keep hers under wraps.
On Instagram, she uses a tiger emoji followed by a heart emoji wherever she feels a full stop or comma belongs. The Class 12 student, who affectionately calls the actor “Tiggy”, has managed to keep her fandom a secret from her family.
She often also misses updates about her favourite star because she isn’t allowed to use her phone at night. So, when reports of the firing incident involving Shroff surfaced, Anshika learnt about them only the following morning.
“I was shocked but also proud of Tiggy Sir, the way he handled the situation. I literally salute to my Tiggy Sir,” she said.
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The life of a Tigerian
The recent incident involving Shroff in Mumbai has once again highlighted the deep emotional connection fans share with their favourite stars, said Naren Sahay, assistant professor of Film Studies at the University of Delhi.
“Obviously, fans feel deeply affected when their favourite stars are targeted in this way,” he said, reflecting on how such incidents affect not just celebrities but also their devoted followers. He added that Shroff’s popularity among Gen Z can be traced to the years when many of his young fans were growing up watching his films.
“When Shroff’s first film came out, Gen Z was growing up during that same time period. He became their hero,” he added.
But being a Tigerian is about more than posting fan edits. For 26-year-old Jerold from Kerala, it is also a way of remembering his late best friend, Surabhi, known in the fandom as Surabhi Tigerian. She introduced him to Tigerian fan groups, and after her death, he made his Instagram identity, “Tiger’s Boy”, a tribute to her and the friendship they shared.
“She was a big, huge fan. She introduced me to her groups and her friends, and I tried to understand them… that’s a good memory I hold onto. I miss her so much,” he said.
Through the groups Surabhi introduced him to, Jerold found friends of his own. They share fan edits and discuss Shroff, but their activities go beyond celebrating the actor’s existing films. After Baaghi 4 (2025), they began using AI tools to imagine films they would like to see Shroff star in. One of their creations is a zombie-comedy poster featuring Shroff and Shanaya Kapoor.
The friends live in different cities and cannot always meet in person. For Jerold, the online groups have become a way to stay connected with people he might otherwise never have come across.
While Jerold’s bond with Shroff is tied to the memory of a friend, for Prajapati, fandom became something to hold on to after his father’s death in 2014. Earlier that year, a friend had given him a ticket to watch Heropanti, Shroff’s debut film.
“I first became a fan of Tiger Shroff in 2014 after a friend gave me a ticket to see his debut film, Heropanti. I didn’t even know his name at the time, but I was instantly captivated,” he recalled.
Inspired by Shroff’s agility, Prajapati began teaching himself to dance and perform flips. But after his father’s death, he had to give up his hobbies and take on family responsibilities.
Life moved on, with studies and work taking priority, but his dream of meeting Shroff remained. In 2017, he eventually started his Instagram fan page, where he posts clips from Shroff’s films, videos of his flips and martial arts, and fan edits.
“Despite life’s challenges as I balanced my studies and job, my dream of meeting Tiger kept me going,” Prajapati said.
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An unbreakable bond
But this sort of parasocial relationship isn’t uncommon.
Shivani Yadav, a research assistant at IIT Kanpur’s Department of Cognitive Science, said that the root cause often lies in a child’s background. When young fans are dealing with underlying personal issues or trauma, they tend to idealise celebrities as a coping mechanism to manage difficult emotions. Fandom often serves as an escape route for them.
“For many, extreme fandom stems from an urge to escape their own problems. They channel their unresolved issues into an intense fixation on a larger-than-life figure,” she said.
She added that a significant driver of this behaviour is the need for social acceptance. Young fans often immerse themselves in fan clubs because they want to feel important and be part of a crowd.
“This psychological need for community and belonging is heavily amplified today by the internet and social media, which constantly reward them with attention,” she added.
On one occasion, Prajapati caught a glimpse of Shroff from a distance and broke down in tears. Later, he travelled to Jaipur to see the actor on the sets of Baaghi 3 (2020), waiting in the cold until late at night, only to come away with a blurry photograph. Another opportunity at an airport was ruined by a face mask.
Each encounter brought him close enough to see the actor but not close enough to take home the memory he wanted. That changed in June 2023, when Prajapati finally met Shroff at a hotel in Gurugram.
“I finally got the perfect picture, making it the absolute best day of my life,” he said. He added that Shroff even hugged him.
For Jerold, on the other hand, Shroff’s fitness and lifestyle are a source of motivation. For Prajapati, his agility inspired him to learn dancing and flips. Priya, meanwhile, hopes to become a filmmaker and work with the actor.
For Priya, Shroff’s appeal goes beyond his on-screen skills. She admires his discipline, kindness and humility. She even shared a 10-point list explaining what makes him special to Tigerians. Fitness, devotion, hard work, dedication to his family and the ability to remain grounded despite his stardom all feature on her list.
“Tiger is just an actor or a dancer or a martial artist for the world, I think. But he’s the life for us Tigerians,” she said.
Her admiration has also shaped her ambitions.
“I want to become a film director to make films with him so that at least I could spend some special time with him,” she said.
Priya has already developed a story titled The Yaksh. It follows a supernatural being cursed to be born as a human, with the power to communicate with animals, birds and trees and knowledge of hidden treasures. Guided by a guru who appears in his dreams, he sets out to return to his own world. But when the guru suddenly stops appearing, his journey takes an unexpected turn after he meets a woman who offers to help him.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)