‘Had I been launched as a leading actor, it would probably have worked better.’
‘Prabhu Devaa came eight years after me. Maybe if a filmmaker had thought of a film for me like the ones he got, my career would have been a different trajectory.’
Photograph: Kind courtesy Javed Jaaferi/Instagram
Jaaved Jaaferi makes comedy look easy on both the big and small screen with his seemingly off-the-cuff witticisms. But there is more to the actor.
He has expanded his image to include more dramatic roles of late.
Jaaved passionately talks about playing the central role in Tumbbad writer-director Rahi Anil Barve’s upcoming film Mayasabha and also takes a deep dive into his chequered rise to prominence over the last 40 years.
In this two-part interview, he tells Dinesh Raheja, “Appreciation of the fruits of your labour is a critical aspect of an actor’s journey. It’s all about validation.”
IMAGE: Javed Jaaferi in Mayasabha. Photograph: Kind courtesy Javed Jaaferi/Instagram
Your solo presence on the Mayasabha poster is attracting buzz. What can you tell us about the role and its significance to your career?
This is one of the best roles I have played in my career.
For an actor, a good role is a boon.
I practically did it for free.
In Mayasabha, my character was once the biggest film producer of his time, but he has since vanished.
The movie begins with a brother and sister pair befriending a 14-year-old boy.
The teen brings them to his house, a dilapidated theatre.
There it unfolds that he is the son of the once-famous producer who is now living a secluded life, wearing a mask and spraying smoke with a mosquito spray gun.
The two outsiders have heard the story about how the filmmaker had once married his leading lady, but she had run away with his male protege. The producer is said to still own 40 kilos of gold. Thus starts a cat-and-mouse game, exploring human psychology.
What was your reaction to bagging the central role in a film with an acclaimed director at the age of 63?
This is my 40th year in films — my debut film Meri Jung was released in 1985 — and by a strange coincidence in the span of a year-and-a-half (from late 2024 to March 2026 when Dhamaal 4 will release), I will have had five Web series and three movies releasing.
Do you feel lead opportunities should have come your way earlier?
Aadmi feel toh bahut kuchh karta hai.
IMAGE: Javed Jaaferi with Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi and Aashish Chaudhury in Dhamaal.
Any close calls that you regret losing out on?
It happened once.
I remember Anurag Basu approached me for Life… In A Metro.
He said, ‘Look, Irrfan Khan was doing this role but he had to go for a Hollywood film. Would you like to do the film?’
I loved the role and said yes. We even worked out the dates.
But then Irrfan came back and he said, ‘I’m so sorry about this.’
Mayasabha had a long journey while underproduction. Did you lose heart at any stage?
Yeah, there is a sense of disappointment which comes in, like this is some of the best work I have done but it has not being seen by people.
Job contentment when you like what you have done is necessary, but an actor performs for an audience.
Appreciation of the fruits of your labour is a critical aspect of an actor’s journey.
It’s all about validation.
IMAGE: Javed Jaaferi and Saif Ali Khan in Salaam Namaste.
You have done serious dramatic roles earlier too in Fire, Shaurya, Lupt. Yet somehow, your comic image is very overpowering.
If my comedy films achieve a bigger level of success, obviously that will be people’s reference.
My ‘Eggjactly‘-spouting character from Salaam Namaste got a lot of traction but Dhamaal has an even wider audience.
Families have connected with Dhamaal‘s wholesome comedy.
Now a fourth Dhamaal is coming up.
People have loved my character, Manav. It’s like a Gabbar Singh or Mogambo — Amjadsaab and Amrishji did various roles but that’s how they are remembered.
Besides the serious films you mentioned, I also did the hit Web series Taaza Khabar 2 in which I played a very dark but classy villain who says some fantastic lines which went viral.
IMAGE: Javed Jaaferi in Taaza Khabar 2.
In the recent De De Pyaar De 2, your quips seem organic. Was anything unscripted?
No. Some people give you a lot of leeway for improv, but Luv Ranjan is one of the writers, who is very particular about retaining the flavour and flow of the lines.
You have worked with Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan… What’s the vibe like among male actors?
Sanju and Jackie are the most chill. They don’t try to enter your space.
Shah Rukh is very involved. I worked with him in Oh Darling Yeh Hai India.
If a normal hero is punched, he will probably flinch and jerk his head and stagger but Shah Rukh will fall down, take one gulati and roll over.
I like that Shah Rukh doesn’t throw attitude or say ‘I am a star, how can I do this?’
Similarly, in Salaam Namaste, Saif stuck to his part, and I have big respect for that. It would have fallen flat if he had said, ‘I’m the hero but this guy is overpowering in this scene, so I should get the punch line’.
Has your role ever suffered at the editing table?
It has happened once or twice. I don’t like to talk about it, but hua hai.
In real life, are you always ready to make people laugh with a quip or are you more inclined to be serious?
I have two sides. I can be a whacked out person and also very serious. I like to be quiet and contemplative.
Where does your humour come from? Do you practise your jokes and delivery?
Well, a lot of my humour is from within.
I don’t practice anything except figuring out when to pause and stress while saying my lines.
IMAGE: Javed Jaaferi in Meri Jung.
You chose to enter films in Subhash Ghai’s Meri Jung with dancing, not comedy, as your forte. Was it a deliberate choice to strike out in a different direction?
I didn’t choose anything.
I got an offer, I said, okay.
I didn’t think dancing-comedy-villain-hero.
At the time of Meri Jung, I was head and shoulders above the competition around me in dance.
I had won the All India Dance Championship et al. Meri Jung gave me the leeway to wear the kind of clothes I like, so I got a lot of that baggy pants and the earring. It was a very cool look for the time.
Despite the success of your song, Rock and Roll, your film career didn’t shoot up immediately.
When I reflect today, I realise dance was, for a long long time, associated more with the hero, not with the antagonist.
But Mr (Subhash) Ghai and Javed Akhtarsaab came up with the novel concept of a bad guy who is also a dancer, a charmer. He didn’t want the typical growling, menacing villain, he wanted this very cool college kid to play a bad guy. But that doesn’t translate into other films.
Had I been launched as a leading actor, it would probably have worked better.
Prabhu Devaa came eight years after me. Maybe if a filmmaker had thought of a film for me like the ones he got, my career would have been a different trajectory.
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
