An entertainer all the way

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The multi-faceted Javed Jafri is enjoying his turn as a voiceover artist in Hungama channel’s adventure games show Ninja Warrior. After hosting Mai Ka Laal and making the entire nation laugh with his hilarious commentary in Takeshi’s Castle, Javed seems to be taking his new role seriously indeed.
“Every show for me is different and equally challenging and I treat them accordingly. What’s common between Takeshi’s Castle and Ninja Warrior is that I lent my voice to both the shows. Ninja Warrior follows a structured and competitive format. The participants are extremely qualified; some of them are even Olympic medallists and come from countries as far as the US, Yugoslavia, Croatia etc. My role as a commentator in this show is very different, as it requires me to be entertaining without trying to mock the achievements or efforts of the participants,” he says.
Javed, who is an actor, producer, singer, dancer and a choreographer, loves giving voiceovers to shows like these. “Lending my voice to such shows allows me to challenge myself as I need to communicate and express using my voice. As an entertainer, one needs to love challenges and lending your voice to a visual, be it Ninja Warrior or the other voiceovers that I have done in the past like in Roadside Romeo, The Incredibles (Hindi) or Jungle Book 2 have been equally challenging and hence, enjoyable,” he says.
While choosing his roles, what matters to him the most is the entertainment aspect. “I am an entertainer by profession. Whether I am acting in front of the camera, or emoting behind it, I enjoy making my audience smile and laugh,” he adds.
The mastermind behind India’s first dance reality show, the iconic Boogie Woogie, would love to revive it. “Boogie Woogie was an iconic show. It was all about dance and enjoying the art with the participants. It was immensely successful and if an opportunity presents itself, then I would surely love to make a show like that again,” he says. Javed, however, doesn’t seem too pleased with the current format of dance reality shows. “The dance shows today are more about reality television than the art of dancing. Dance is no longer a strong focus. When Naved, Ravi and I came together for Boogie Woogie, we had a strong dance background and our hearts and souls were deeply rooted in dance, and so were the participants.”
At the moment, Javed has his hands full with his film commitments. “I have films releasing back-to-back in the next couple of months. The trailer of Besharam is already out and has been appreciated by the audience. I have also produced my first film, BMW. It is an intelligent thriller and will hopefully be loved by the audience,” he says.