Jaaved Jaaferi in Salaam Namaste

Munching chicken sandwiches and fish croquettes, he seems at peace with himself, a state not usually associated with him. Sitting in one of the banquet rooms at The Orchid hotel in Mumbai, he runs a final check on his ?inbox? and ?call register? before signalling the start of the chat. Before one can throw him the first question, he clarifies: ?It?s J-A-A-V-E-D J-A-A-F-E-R-I. No one gets it right. They never even bother to check. And it has nothing to do with Jumaani (Bollywood?s favourite numerologist). Thirteen years back when I start working with Channel [V], I was only referred to as Jaaved. That extra ?a? distinguished me from the other Javeds of the world.?

Right now, though, it is his cameo in Salaam Namaste that has suddenly turned Jaaved?s career on its head.

Eggjactly! That one word has not only been turned into a successful franchise but also landed the actor an entire gamut of roles, ranging from leads in international movies to parallel leads in desi ones. And as luck would have it, he will be back on the small screen too as Boogie Woogie returns on Sony on June 9.

?I was very reluctant to accept the role initially,? Jaaved reveals. ?I have turned down many item number offers because I did not want to be branded. Similarly, by doing Salaam Namaste, I didn?t want to be known as a comedian. I love doing comedy but I can also do action, I can also dance.?

But a lot of prodding from directing Siddharth Anand later Jaaved was in Melbourne playing the Crocodile Dundee character. ?It has become a cult of sorts now,? is the modest admission. ?But I don?t want to overuse it. I have used it in the Pizza Hut ad. I will also be seen in that get-up in a special superheroes episode on Boogie Woogie. There I will be Pistol Papa.?

It is, however, the big screen where Jaaved is all set to storm back, a couple of decades after he impressed everyone as the baddie in Subhash Ghai?s Meri Jung. He did offbeat films in between, like Fire and Jajantaram Mamantaram, but the mainstream touch has clearly been missing. Now, though, the biggest of Bollywood banners want a piece of the Jaaved jalwa.

First up, though, will be the international film, The Forest, directed by Ashvin Kumar ? fashion designer Ritu Kumar?s son who got an Oscar nomination for his short film Little Terrorist ? and co-produced by Hollywood legend Richard Dreyfuss, who?s acted in movies like Jaws, Stakeout and Close Encounters of the Third Kind and has a small role in the recently released Poseidon.

?It is a psychological thriller about three characters,? Jaaved says. ?Apart from me, there is Nandana Dev Sen and Ankur Vikal. It is very dark and I don?t smile throughout the film.?

Closer home, Jaaved will be seen in Indra Kumar?s Dhamaal, Apoorva Lakhia?s Shootout at Lokhandwala, one of Raj Kumar Santoshi?s forthcoming biggies and Siddharth Anand?s next with Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherjee. ?This time too, Siddharth?s planning something special for me,? Jaaved adds. ?It is one of the principal roles since apart from Saif and Rani there are only kids.?

Despite the temptation, Jaaved does not wish to single out the Salaam Namaste role as the latest turning point in his career. ?I hadn?t been getting good roles earlier,? he argues. ?All the roles offered to me would be comic ones and the makers would say ?achha funny kuchh bana do?. But I want to showcase the entire range I have. I want to do it the Kamal Haasan way, who?s done everything in his career.?

And like the south Indian master, he also wants to dabble in direction some time in the future. ?I have written three scripts ? a dance film, a comic thriller and a thriller,? Jaaved offers the details. ?I have to do something big in dancing very soon, though. My kids don?t know that I dance. Of course, I will dance on Boogie Woogie but not on every show. Then no one will want to catch me on the big screen. Just enough to whet the appetite.?

The Crocodile Dundee from Down Under may have done the trick for him but it has also gone on to bother Feroz Khan, whose voice Jaaved copied in those hilarious scenes in Salaam Namaste. ?I shouldn?t have said in interviews that it was Feroz Khan?s voice I was mimicking,? Jaaved says. ?I met him recently at a gathering and he told me: ?Maine suna hai tumne bahut shararat ki hai...? He is truly the original dude of Bollywood.?