Jaaved Jaaferi is a performer who didn’t restrict himself to conventional lead roles, and his three-and-a-half decades in the industry are a testimony to that. For someone who debuted in Bollywood as a bad man in 1985 film ‘Meri Jung’, went on to play the lead roles in films like ‘Jawani Zindabad, ‘100 Days’, ‘Jeena Marna Tere Sang’ and ‘Jajantaram Mamantaram’ with some of the big names in the industry.

Next, Jaaferi took up a project with Channel [V] and with his remarkable sense of humour the stint was a pure gold. He was called “TVdom’s first real superstar”. With his impeccable comic talent he was unstoppable; did films like ‘Total Dhamaal’, ‘War Chod na Yaar’, and ‘Salaam Namaste’- a film that even got him his first IIFA award and is known for his famous catch-word  ‘Eggjactly’ .

So is it enough being one of the most celebrated actors in the industry? There is nothing called enough for an actor, says Jaaferi.

Talking about his long successful career in the industry, the 57-year-old actor told Opoyi, “One always feels that I could have got better work, I could do much more if I was given the right opportunity but I don’t cry over it and I don’t despair over it.”

“I take it in my stride and think that well it was not meant to be and sometimes you see that okay I have made a certain mistake due to which this didn’t happen and you have to learn from that mistake. If you say that everything was great no it was not but we move ahead, we learn from what you feel was wrong, and if you feel that whatever you did was right and yet it didn’t happen so that means it was not meant to happen. What I have in my hands right now, I try to give my best (sic),” he added.

With so much experience in the kitty, that one thing you would want your younger version to learn from your seen-it-all version?

“Experience is the biggest learning and the biggest education for everybody and if they don’t learn from their experience then they haven’t used that advantage. Today I have come much more ahead as an actor and as a performer when it comes to understanding certain things, for instance, certain maturity comes into you as far as looking at people and also from the perspective of accommodating and adjusting… for example ‘live and let live’ is my motto. It’s been a learning experience and I am grateful that I have just advanced,” said the actor who was recently seen in Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan starrer ‘Coolie No.1’.

Jaaferi’s near-perfect dancing moves won him several accolades in the 80s. Who can forget a lean man in his fashionably dressed outfit shaking the legs like never before in a famous dance number ‘Bol Baby Bol’.

So what happened to Jaaved Jaaferi , the dancer?

“I don’t know, you have to ask the producer or director why they felt that because what happens in Hindi movies only the hero dances. There was a time when I was growing up in the industry and in my tenure with the industry it was the hero who used to) dance. The villain didn’t dance and the supporting characters used to stand somewhere behind but the center,” he said adding that “if you would have got more movies as a hero then you probably would have danced but you are not getting movies as a hero for whatever reasons so it’s on that level they don’t want the hero to be overshadowed.”

Jaaferi’s love for dance led him to take up the role of a judge in India’s first dance reality show ‘Boogie Woogie’. The show that came in 1996 became an enigma in the hearts and minds of youth in the 90s.

 So any plans to bring the reality show back?

“We didn’t let it go as it was a channel’s decision. I feel that if you go to the real-world and ask people around if they want the show back? I am sure they all will say yes so it’s the call that the channel has to take,” he said.

 “We are ready and we loved it. We were the first people to come up with this format in fact if you look at international territory like ‘So You Think You Can Dance ‘, it came in 2004 and we came in 1996. We had the right format not copied from any foreign show. It was unique to this country,” said the actor.

Following in his footsteps, his son – Meezaan has finally entered Bollywood. He made his Bollywood debut with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film ‘Malaal’ and his forthcoming film includes ‘Hungama 2’.

So some success tips to the new kid on the block?

“You give them a good foundation, education, instill the values which you believe in, and if you have those rights then whatever field you go in, you will find your way. He is a talented and hard working boy with a strong personality and hopefully, he will make a good path for himself,” sums up Jaaferi.