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Jaaved Jaaferi on reprising Manav in 'Dhamaal 4' and the art of crafting iconic characters
From pioneering Indian reality TV to creating the iconic Manav in the 'Dhamaal' series, the actor breaks down comedy, character-building and the world of social media
- PUBLISHED: Thu 9 Jul 2026, 6:04 PM
A deep baritone greets you on the other side of the phone line every time you speak to this versatile and much gifted actor. Well spoken, well turned out, reticent to talk about himself, critical of the deluge of lazy social media influencers and content creators, this is a man who pioneered dance reality shows in India like Boogie Woogie and was the face for Maggie ads for over two decades. He anchored Channel V, sang and performed to the popular ‘Mum Bhai’, hosted Takeshi’s Castle, did voice overs for Mickey Mouse and Sherkhan at the same time.
Jaaved Jaaferi’s current release is the fourth edition of Dhamaal that has an ensemble cast of several actors including Ajay Devgn, Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh, Ravi Kishan, Sanjay Mishra, Upendra Limaye, Anjali Anand, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Esha Gupta, and Vijay Patkar. Jaaferi plays Manav, a complete antithesis of his real life persona. Childlike, innocent and naive, the character is a source of softness and a butt of jokes. In fact, Jaafri was instrumental in designing the look and texture of the character. “Manav is childlike and had to look weaker than the rest of the characters. So I had to modulate my voice, give him a slouch, clothe him in colorful dungarees and fashion him out like an overgrown child who falls into the most unforeseen circumstances — all leading to laughter and drama,” says Jaaferi.
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But crafting memorable characters in the Bollywood film industry isn’t new to Jaaferi. He played Boom Shankar in Kaizad Gustad’s Boom, where his accent oscillated between a Mumbai street lingo laced with South Indian tones and English. In Salaam Namaste, he plays Jaggu Yadav who is a rip off on Feroze Khan’s cowboy style and some bad English (added by Jaaferi) ending with the proverbial “Eggjactly”. In Bala, he plays Bachchan Pandey who is a fan of Amitabh Bachchan and wears his hair the way the superstar did in the 70’s. In Singh Is Kinng he plays Mika who is visually challenged and deaf from one ear but has to show a facade to the world that he is normal.
Arriving to the way Manav looks in Dhamaal, was a similar process. When the first edition rolled out in 2007, Indra Kumar was apprehensive that Jaaferi’s good looks and perfect baritone was an antithesis to his role as Manav. “So, I worked with the designer on creating a colourful look for Manav where he would wear his polo neck T-shirt, dungarees and a beret, a look that stands till date. Also I gave him a slouch and a childlike voice with a lisp to make him look weaker than the rest of the star cast. I fashioned him out of Laurel from Laurel and Hardy. He doesn’t talk like Laurel, but the derivation of the look is from him,” says Jaaferi.
Has Manav changed from the first edition? “No, certainly not. He is a character like Mr Bean or Laurel, they don’t change but adapt to the changing times,” he responds. “Most serious actors have a data bank from where they take their reference points. Everybody walks differently and that kind of brings a certain character to the role. You can become an introverted guy, a gregarious person and the body language reflects all that. I did a series called Mohrey on Amazon MX Player and then Mayasabha, some of the toughest roles for me.”
His multi-talented repertoire, with Boogie Woogie, Channel V, the much loved Maggi ads over two decades, his dancing, his Urdu and poetry, Hinglish and funny roles, are they merits or demerits? “I dont look at it that way. I look at the way I explore this world as a performing artist via various mediums.”
A complete natural, Jaaferi didn’t go through training and approached his roles naturally right from his early days. “I realised later that I have an expressive range of voice and I can transmit emotion through my voice be it sad, funny.”
Reticent on self promotion, Jaaferi would rather have other people speak about him rather than tom-tom about himself. “In the world of social media today, sometimes you have to tell people (especially those who don’t know you), about yourself. But that, too, is better told through others and not yourself.”
Both his children pester him to be more active on social media and he resists saying, “When I don’t have any work, maybe I will probably try to create content on Instagram.”
In the trailer of the film, there is a scene where the entire cast is hanging on to each other close to a cliff. When asked if that’s real or AI-generated, the actor responds, “It was real. We were all tied up and were close to the flat cliff but we were 12 feet away from the precipice, so well protected.”
So, what is the most “Dhamaal” thing about his life right now? “Well, I am thankful for what I have. But when I think of my kids and the children of the world I feel unsettled about where they are heading.”
He feels that the universe is heading towards a disruptive space, where even the regular careers are not regular anymore. Job structures that we considered normal are about to vanish. “How will people survive if there is so much apathy and greed? It is like what we watch in Hunger Games,” he adds. “All the more reason to take life lightly and watch films like Dhamaal!”