Tijori received his college education fromNarsee Monjee College in his hometown Mumbai. While in college, Tijori joined an amateur theatre group whose members includedAamir Khan,Ashutosh Gowariker,Paresh Rawal and Vipul Shah. His friends influenced him to pursue a career in film acting, in which during his early career he struggled. He said in an interview withRediff.com "For three years, I sat outside offices trying to get a word with producers [...] I managed to do some tiny roles, which were very pathetic."[2] He had worked forCine Blitz magazine and also as a hotel manager.[2]
Tijori's first important role came whenMahesh Bhatt cast him to play the role of protagonist's friend in his romantic dramaAashiqui (1990).[3] The film was a commercial success and his hand gestures in the film were widely copied by the youth of that time.[3][4] He played minor roles inAfsana Pyar Ka (1991) andKaun Kare Kurbanie (1991).[2] In the same year, he was cast again by Bhatt to play supporting roles in two of his films; romantic dramaDil Hai Ke Manta Nahin and romantic thrillerSadak. The latter film was loosely based onMartin Scorsese'sTaxi Driver (1976) and Tijori played a man who is killed by a pimp after he runs away with one of the prostitutes.[5] In 1992, he featured inAbbas–Mustan'ssuspensethrillerKhiladi alongsideAkshay Kumar,Ayesha Jhulka and Sabeeha. Tijori played Boney and was paired with Sabeeha.[6]Khiladi was a commercial success. Tijori's next important role came with theMansoor Khan-directed coming-of-age sports dramaJo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar[7][8] alongsideAamir Khan, in which Tijori played the role of Shekhar Malhotra, a successful and arrogant cyclist, who wins the Inter-School Championship every year.Akshay Kumar had auditioned[9] andMilind Soman was signed for Malhotra's role[10] before Tijori played it. Rediff.com rankedJo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, ninth in its Bollywood's top 10 college movies list.[11]
"It boils down to destiny. The box-office rules your career. After [the failure ofSantaan], people put me down. That is how things always work in the industry. So I decided that unless I got a great role, I would not do the film. That is why I didGhulam,Angaarey andVaastav, which had tiny but good roles for me. I started doing characters which were important to the film."
Tijori produced and played his only lead role in Gowariker-directed murder mysteryPehla Nasha (1993), alongsidePooja Bhatt andRaveena Tandon.[2][12] Upon release, the film received poor reviews and failed at the box office.[13] In the same year, he appeared as the antagonist in D Rama Naidu-directedSantaan.[2] Tijori starred alongsideShah Rukh Khan inKabhi Haan Kabhi Naa[14] andAnjaam (both 1994). The latter one is considered one of the most violent films in Bollywood.[15] In 1995, he starred in another Mahesh Bhatt-directed filmNaajayaz.[16] Tijori played a supporting role in action dramaMrityudata (1997) which did not receive favourable reviews from critics.[17] He portrayed supporting characters in Aamir Khan-starrerGhulam (1998)[18] and the Abbas–Mustan-directed comedy thrillerBaadshah. In the latter, he featured as the titular undercoverCBI agent.[19]
In the same year, Tijori acted inMahesh Manjrekar-directed crime dramaVaastav: The Reality (1999) and the Gujarati language filmHu Tu Ne Ramtudi. He played supporting roles in the romantic comedyDulhan Hum Le Jayenge (2000),Vaastav: The Reality's sequelHathyar (2002)[20] andKabir Sadanand-directed comedyPopcorn Khao! Mast Ho Jao (2004).[21] In 2012, he played a police officer inRam Gopal Varma's action filmDepartment.[22] Tijori had approached Varma for the villain's role but he felt that Tijori's image did not match the character's and refused to give him the role. Tijori changed his look in one month's time and was eventually cast by Varma.[23] The following year, he was cast to play the antagonist in Devang Dholakia-directedTina and Lolo. He had to lose weight for his role. Tijori stated that he himself "was looking for a change" while referring to hissalt-and-pepper look in the film. Dholakia said that he was "looking for a new suave villain" and Tijori suited the role.[24][25][26] He featured in the crime thrillerRaja Natwarlal (2014) and played the role of a terrorist in the Sadanand-directed comedyGollu Aur Pappu (2014).
Tijori andDare You's lead actress Alisha Khan at the film's first look launch
Tijori made his directorial debut in 2003, with an adult film about male strippersOops![27][28] He was also credited as the producer and the writer. The film was produced on a budget of₹2.5 crore (US$290,000)[29] and considered controversial because of the subject matter and initially it faced troubles with theCentral Board of Film Certification.[30][31] The film was released in two versions – Hindi and English.[32]India Today called Tijori's direction amateurish and termed the film "an example of brave new breed".[33]Oops! did not receive favourable reviews[34] but proved to be a turning point in actressMink Brar's career.[35] His next directorial venture wasFareb (2005), starring sistersShilpa Shetty andShamita Shetty.[36][37] Like his previous film,Fareb too had troubles with the censor board and was givenA certificate implying that it was to be viewed only by adult audience.[38] It received negative reviews.[39] In the same year, he directed the thrillerKhamoshh... Khauff Ki Raat featuringShilpa Shetty,Juhi Chawla,Rakhi Sawant[40] and debutante Kainaaz Perveez.[41] The film received mixed response.[42] The following year Tijori directed the comedyTom, Dick, and Harry (2006).[21] In a review forIndia Today,Anupama Chopra called it the year's worst film.[43]
Tijori's thrillerFox starringArjun Rampal andSunny Deol was delayed due to production issues.[44] Upon release in September 2009, the film received poor reviews.[45][46] In the same year it was announced that Tijori would direct aVikram Bhatt-produced film titledBhaag Johny. The cast included Muzzamil Ibrahim and 2 new actresses.[47] During the film's shooting, Ibrahim had to leave the film due to his differences with Tijori[48] and subsequently the film was shelved for a brief period. The following year, Bhatt announced that he himself will direct the film, there would be a different lead actor and Tijori would play the role of a Pakistani policeman.[49] Two years later it was reported that Tijori would direct Vikram Bhatt-produced filmLove Games.[27] His next directorial was an adult suspense thriller titledDare You, starring debutante Alisha Khan who was selected after an audition of more than 800 girls.[50] The film's poster was the first of its kind and featured the lead actress showing hermiddle finger.[51] However, Tijori left the project due to creative differences with the film's producers.[52] In 2013, he directed the filmRock'In Love which featured Hanif Hilal and Sandeepa Dhar in lead role.[53][54]Do Lafzon Ki Kahani starringRandeep Hooda was Tijori's last directorial project.[55]
He played the role of a housemate in thefirst season ofBigg Boss, as a replacement forSalil Ankola. Ankola had signed an agreement withBalaji Telefilms, which refrained him from participating or acting in television shows made by other production houses that "directly or indirectly compete with Balaji Telefilms." On the seventh day, theBombay High Court ordered Ankola to leave the house or face criminal charges.[56] He was replaced by Tijori. During Tijori's stay at the Bigg Boss house, his wife Shivani Tijori sent text messages to her friends, family members and media-persons to help Tijori in getting out of the house.[57][58] After he was evicted from the show, Tijori said that he would make a film based on the show.[59] Tijori called the show "a laundered reality"[60] but denied that it was scripted.[61]
Tijori's production house Tijori Films produced television serials. One of his most popular serials wasRishtey, a turning point in actorMurali Sharma's career.[62] Tijori directed the action sequences in several of his serials.[2] He had also planned to produce1984 – Black October, a film based on theassassination of Indira Gandhi and the riots that followed, along with Hollywood actors. He had hired a casting director for it.[63] Tijori himself acted in TV serialBombay Blue[64] and produced thriller serials likeSaturday Suspense,Khauff,Dial 100 andX-Zone.[65]Thriller at 10 – Fareb, a TV mini-series produced by Tijori won the 2001Indian Television Academy Awards in the category best mini-series.[66]
Tijori's wife, Shivani, is a fashion designer.[67] Film directorKabir Sadanand and Actress- SingerKunika Lal are his brother-in-law and sister-in-law respectively.[1]
Goregaon's Garden Estate Co-operative Housing Society asked Tijori and his family to vacate their house in November 2012, following complaints from their neighbours.[68] The Tijori family had been living there since 2009. The residents of the building accused them of behaving rudely, not paying charges on time, insulting the society's office bearers and bringing disrepute to them. After a general meeting of the members, the society passed a resolution and sent a notice to Tijori, asking him to vacate his flats within the next 30 days. The resolution was sent to the local registrar.[69] He responded by filing a criminal case against nine members of the society[70] and in October 2014, the registrar gave the decision in his favour. Tijori called the legal proceedings a "long nightmarish battle" and accused the society for charging wrongful maintenance money.[71]
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