Exclusive: Jaaved Jaaferi gets candid on his Escaype Live character, tells how the show is different from Black Mirror

Jaaved Jafferi is currently on a promotional spree for his upcoming show Escaype Live. In a candid chat with Desimartini, the actor gave us an insight into his no-nonsense character and what makes the show different from Netflix ’s Black Mirror . The show will start streaming on Disney + Hotstar from May 20, 2022.

When quipped about his character from the show, Jaaved Jafferi revealed that he plays the CEO of Escaype Live. The actor said, “My character is called Ravi Gupta who is the CEO of Escaype Live and his job is to see that the app is a success. He is answerable to the investors who have made this app and for him, it’s all a valuation game. Sometimes it doesn't permit him to have a conscious because at the end of the day it’s all business and numbers. A CEO's life is also extremely pressured and he has to have influence over his team to get the machinery going. He has to see that the movement does not stop and the tempo is maintained. That's what Ravi Gupta is and we haven't dealt much into his personal life though.”

Talking further about his prep session, the Salaam Namaste actor said, “For an actor, it’s all about observing people and I think the first trait that an actor needs to have is the power of observation. So, you see people in positions and their behavior like a singer, dancers, doctors, lawyers, corporate heads, and advertising personnel. You just observe how they behave in private versus when they're in business and then of course there's some guidance from the director. So, it’s a team exercise mostly with the director ( Siddharth Kumar Tewary) and in this case, both the writer and the director are the same person. So, it was a discussion with the director on how he sees the character because he has imagined the whole scenario and he was pretty clear on how we were looking at Ravi Gupta. The look and everything was a smaller aspect. How he will wear his clothes, he would look at people, and his tone would be with people and I didn't have to change my voice in this because it wasn't required. He's a normal corporate guy so yes, we did that bit of an exercise which includes reading a few of your lines with the other characters and there was a bit of homework done on that. Because it's not a very difficult character as such so he just had to be forceful and slightly dominating. But at the same time, not that dominating too that people are intimidated and being friendly but also making everyone know that, 'I'm the boss.'

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The Dhamaal actor then revealed the difference between Escaype Live and Netflix’s Black Mirror since some fans have been comparing both shows. Jaaved Jafferi said, “I think the theme and the main premise itself was so powerful and relatable. I was like 'Wow people really haven't got into this subject till now.' So it’s a first off as far as this world is concerned. Even if you look at Black Mirror, it’s showing the effect on the people but Escaype Live is about the creator and the user both. We're also showing the manipulation which happens behind like apps like Facebook or Instagram. People can relate to this much more.”

Apart from this, Jaaved Jafferi spoke about Escaype Live catering to audiences of all age groups. The Takeshi’s Castle star said, “They would relate but I think everybody will be able to relate with it because everybody knows about Tik Tok and Instagram. So what we're doing is a fiction of something which is inspired by reality so it's like a real story of people but is heavily inspired by what's happening around. So you'll identify with everyone and will be like, 'Oh I've seen a character like this.' Then there's a world which is the frame and the performer is trying to show his/her talent and then there's a world around that frame. So this is my camera and this is what I'm doing but there's also a world that we're trying to show. Then we also show the machinery which is Escaype Live which makes the whole thing possible. So I think we're showing both the worlds which are the user and the creator. It’s interesting to watch.”

Talking about Escaype Live, the show also stars Siddharth, Shweta Tripathi, Waluscha D’souza, Sumedh Mudgalkar, and others. It has been helmed by Sidharth Kumar Tewary. It revolves on the dark side of the content creating applications.