If you rest, you rust: Jaaved Jaaferi on his prolific career in TV and cinema

Ask a 1990s kid about Jaaved Jaaferi and such is his impact on the now grown-up generation that not one person will come up with the same answer about the multi-hyphenate personality.

More than a household name, Jaaferi, is a part of childhood nostalgia of many.

"I was really lucky and blessed to be in projects which actually worked across time," he told PTI in an interview.

As an actor, Jaaferi made his feature film debut in 1985's "Meri Jung", starring Anil Kapoor and Meenakshi Sheshadri.

It was probably the first time Bollywood saw a "dancing villain", he said about his character Vikram Thakral who memorably grooved to "Bol Baby Bol Rock n' Roll".

"In a way, I contributed to the shifting paradigm of the Bollywood dancing. Before me, there was Mithun dada, but when I came in 1985, it was was very different. Govinda came later and he was about the easiness, expression. Mine was more technical, which was what later Prabhudheva did," Jaaferi said.

As the small screen grew bigger in its reach and innovation, the actor, though he continued acting in films, also spearheaded the shift that came with cable television through "Timex Timepass" and "Videocon Flashback" on Channel V.

On one show, he would slip in and out of character of say, veteran actor Sohrab Modi, and to a random Maharashtrian man on the other.

"I used a lot of 'India' in these shows. In one show, I went from actors Sohrab Modi to Ashok Kumar ji, Shah Rukh Khan to anybody. Then I used the Sindhi, Maharashtrian, Bengali, so that hadn't happened then. Video jockeying was very western initially - 'Yo!' and all. So I said, let's do the opposite, make it 'oye', it's Indian. This is what I used in 'Flashback'. I also used Hinglish (blend of Hindi and English) which was groundbreaking."
"You have to keep oiling the joints, otherwise, as they say, if you rest, you rust."
"I stood up (for elections) because it was becoming about choosing between two options. Then I realised I'm not cut out for this (politics). You have to be thick-skinned. I'm an emotional person, creative. I say things which may not work. Sometimes I can't keep it inside. I am opinionated."
"As long as you can vote, you can have an opinion - whatever it may be. I'm against the term 'ruling party'. You are a serving party, you serve people. Don't use words that tell people subconsciously that they are our rulers. They are answerable to questions, That's where I come from."