Jaaved Jaaferi to turn producer

Mumbai, May 30 (IANS) After co-financing a documentary on football that the censor board banned, dancer-actor-comedian Jaaved Jaaferi has decided to turn a feature film producer and says his maiden venture will neither be a comedy nor a film on dance.

'I intend to produce soon but right now I can't talk about it in detail since it's in the initial stages. All I can say that my first film will be a serious film and I won't direct it,' Jaaved told IANS in an interview.

'I have consciously decided to stay away from comedy, at least in the first film, because I want to explore more genres. I don't want to get stuck with just one thing,' he added.

Jaaved had co-produced the documentary 'Inshallah, Football', which was directed by Ashvin Kumar, whose short film 'Little Terrorist' was nominated for an Oscar in 2005. Set in Kashmir, the film is about a football team captain not getting a visa.

'I co-produced and funded 'Inshallah, Football', which was banned by the censor board. They thought it was controversial because it was connected to the Kashmir issue. Also, they were not happy about certain scenes and things in the documentary,' revealed the 47-year-old.

'The topic was wonderful. It featured an Argentinian-Brazilian husband-wife, based in Srinagar, who teach football to a group of Kashmiri kids. They have been there for four years with their daughters, who go to a Kashmiri school, and they are training these Kashmiri children.

'The story revolves around the captain of that football team, who is not getting a passport because his father is an ex-militant,' he added.

Jaaved plans to convert 'Inshallah, Football' into a full-fledged film in the future.

'This film had a documentary feel to it, so we shot it like that. I may make it into a full-fledged film in the future,' he revealed.

Jaaved, known for his dance expertise and who was the producer and judge of dance reality show 'Boogie Woogie' for more than a decade, says he will make a film on dance someday.

'I think I will be good at that. Also, I feel it will do well because a lot of people have told me that if I'll make a film on dance people will look forward to it, so that makes commercial sense as well,' he said.

Currently Jaaved is waiting for the release of his upcoming film 'Double Dhamaal', which is a sequel to 2007 hit film 'Dhamaal'. It has been directed by Inder Kumar and retains the original cast including Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh and Aashish Chaudhary. Mallika Sherawat and Kangna Ranaut have joined them in the film, set for a June 24 release.