The Juggling-Jaaved

Jaaved Jaaferi started his career as an actor and then went on to script, lend voice and host shows! Jaaved has been in the industry since long and has a long line-up of movies that include Boom, Fire, Gang, Jajantaram Mamantram, Rock Dancer, 1947 Earth, Tahalka, the very recent block buster, Salaam Namaste, to name a few. Jaaved speaks exclusively to indya.com about himself and his happening career!

How did you start your career? Which was your first project?
I started my career with Subhash Ghai's Meri Jung. I was in college then and had won the All India Dance Championship. Apparently, someone had heard about it, and then Subhash Ghai called me and said he wanted to see me perform and asked for my tape…

Why did the glam feild attract you?
No, I was never attracted to it, it just happened!

You have a great comic sense. Comment.
I don't know. Somethings are innate and for some, you will need to work hard.

Kaboom has been a fantastic stage for young talents, but often people do feel you are harsh with a few participants. What do you have to say about that?
Boogie Woogie is the predecessor of Kaboom and people knew how we behave, so there was nothing new about it. It is not personal and we respect each and every contestant. We do full justice to all of them and we do keep in mind their backgrounds and how well they get trained.

Your performance in Salaam Namaste is well appreciated. How did you manage to do a role like that? Why did you agree to do that role in the first place?
It always depends on the movie. If the movie is a big success, then the role you play is talked about well too. The characters I played in Boom and Fire are very close to my heart. I had to work very hard to play my role in Fire. It was good working in it. I played a good role in Gang too. The role I played in Salaam Namaste was inspired from Mr Feroz Khan and I only improvised on it.

You have repeated your performance yet again in the Pizza Hut ad…
Yes. When the character becomes famous, people want you to repeat it. So I spoke to Yash Raj films and they didn't have any problems.

Takishi's Castle on Pogo would not have been that much fun without your voice over. Why did you take up the project?
They had sent me a tape where the voice-over was done in England by a comedian. We had to do the voice-over to suit it the Indian audience, my kids love to watch Pogo and I thought why not be a part of it! I met many Bollywood stars who said they would love watching Takishi's Castle as they get to watch it late night and enjoy it loads!

Tell us about your family...
Ours is a very small family. I have one set of parents, one wife and two kids, yeah… and one brother (laughs).

What do you love the most about acting?
I enjoy acting. I love being someone else. That's how I work on it. I try not to be myself. Be it the role of a cop, or a lawyer, I try something different all the time.

For instance, Dilip Kumar in Ganga Jamuna was amazing! It's the way you potray a particular character. Also, Kamal Hassan in Naayakan… It is brillaint how he does the emotional scenes or the idea of doing a scene like that. Even Nana Patekar, he is also a very good actor whose movies I love to watch. I liked Amitabh in Agnipath. I like to experiment with my roles.

Tell us about your work…
I have tried out different things till date and I enjoy doing all of them! I have written scripts for Walt Disney, I wrote the Jungle Book and The Incredibles in Hindi, I have dubbed for Mickey Mouse series on TV. I have also dubbed for Sher Khan in Talespin - the Hindi version and I have also scripted for Maggie ads!

What do you have to say about Prabhu Deva?
He is a very good actor with a great comic sense. I really like him. He is a brilliant dancer.

What do you have to say about the films that are made in Bollywood today?
Some are nice and some are not… It's just the path people follow to make movies. If comedy works, they continue to make more comedies…

In Bollywood, we have very weak scripts. Sometimes, the story is inspired by Hollywood movies, which is fine.

What do you have to say to Bollywood actors who are very keen on being in Hollywood? Do you wish to be part of a Hollywood movie?
It is indeed like a graduation that is taking place. I am open to any movie, be it Bollywood or Hollywood, the role has to be substantial and a good one.

Which is your best performance till date?
My roles in Fire and Boom. They are very good.

What is the most adventurous thing that you have ever done in your life?
I have bunjee jumped from the second highest height in the world!

Favourite food and favourite place you wish to holiday…
I like anything that is not too oily. I love spicy food. I can eat a good biryani or dal chaaval with achchar also. I am fine with anything that's spicy!

I love to holiday, the destination must either be a good beach or snow clapped mountains.

How is it working with actors like Shah Rukh Khan in Maaya Memsaab, and Saif Ali Khan in Salaam Namaste?
Shah Rukh is totally energetic and focussed. He is filled with a lot of enthusiasm.

In Salaam Namsate, I played a dominant role and it was nice of Saif as an actor to let me dominate. He never complained about my role being dominant. I played the role of the owner and Saif played the role of the tenant who wanted a house to live in.

There are actors who are not skilled enough to dance. Do you think they need to hone their skills or should they just depend on the choreoghrapher to give them easy steps?
An actor is somebody who does his job well, and he will need to be skilled enough to dance, fight and act! He will need to lose or gain weight to portray a role very well.

Who do you think is the best dancer. Prabhu Deva, Hrithik Roshan, Shahid Kapoor or Shah Rukh Khan?
Prabhu Deva

Where will Jaaved be in another decade?
I have no idea where I shall be ten minutes from now!

Your message to your fans...
The most important thing that I wish to share with my fans is to be a good human being. Here is my email id through which my fans can get in touch with me.
My email id - [email protected].