Exclusive: Jaaved Jaaferi heaps praises on Escaype Live co-stars Siddharth and Waluscha D'souza

Jaaved Jafferi is currently been seen on the Disney + Hotstar show, Escaype Live. The actor features alongside an ensemble cast including Siddharth and Waluscha D’souza. In an exclusive interview with Desimartini, Jaaved spoke about working with both of his co-actors and his experience in collaborating with Sidharth Kumar Tewary who has helmed the project.

Talking about the same, Jaaved Jaaferi said, “Sidharth (Kumar Tewary) is a very good director. I think he's got immense potential cause he's been a producer till now and has produced these popular mythological shows. So for him to break away from that and make this show is incredible because he's not associated with this genre usually. He's making Mahabharat , Radhe Krishna and suddenly now he's making this dark show, Escapy Live. It's so contemporary, tech savy and it’s different looking so obviously it shows his thinking process. He could've easily made something mythological but this is his first project as a writer-director and he has broken from the mold and has done something which is so relatable. As a writer and a director, I feel he's got immense potential. I think he'll definitely go far and I was very impressed by his work. And Sidharth, the actor, I liked him always. I like him as a human being too and what all he speaks for and against. I've a lot of respect for him. See, in the show, my work is mostly with Waluscha (D'Souza) and Sidharth. That's my Escaype Live world and the rest of the people have their individual worlds. All the characters have been shot separately and they've got their own world. My world is the Escaype Live world where Sidharth and Waluscha are there so yes I enjoyed it a lot, all the actors were very professional. All the actors were well chosen and they played their parts very well. I was very impressed with Waluscha because of the work she was putting in. Because Hindi is not her first language and she thinks in English. So the kind of hard work that she was putting in, that was very impressive.”

Apart from this, Jaaved Jaaferi also spoke about the impact of the OTT medium on the entertainment industry. The Salaam Namaste actor said, “Now there is so much more demand for content and more the platforms, more the content required. There has been great work for creative people like the writers, directors, actors, and cinematographers and earlier in cinema, we were defined by distributors, box office, exhibitors, and what they want. We were like, 'Haan, this is the hero, heroine, music director, action sequences, 6 songs, and Yeh Picture Hain.' No one knew what the story is and this is how most of the movies were made in the 80s. Now it’s become more about the content and the story. There is obviously entertainment now too like you have RRR and Pushpa but they were well made too. It was a spectacle to watch and a cinematic experience. I would say we've pulled our socks up because there's so much competition and OTT's audience is different from a cinematic audience. The cinematic audience is bringing in around Rs 2000 crore for Baahubali and Pushpa which we couldn't even imagine because for us, 100 crores Hi Bohot Zyada Hota Tha. While on OTT, how many subscribers does a channel have? There might be 10-11 million subscribers for each OTT platform which equals what? I think 8 crores approximately which is still very less than a movie-going audience. But in OTT, you can experiment with different stories and your leads don't give a typical hero or heroine stature with good-looking faces and fancy bodies. When it comes to stories, everything from a Panchayat to Mirzapur works. Then one can binge watch in the OTT medium according to your mood and control. But cinema is a social activity which includes going to a film and laughing, crying and experiencing all the emotions together with the other audience in front of a big screen. Whereas in OTT, you have the leeway to watch 10 episodes sitting in your bedroom so I think they both have their audiences and moments.”

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

Talking about the show Escaype Live, it revolves around the perils of the content creation apps and virtual advancement. The show has started streaming today (May 20). It also stars Shweta Tripathi, Sumedh Mudgalkar, and Plabita Borthakur in the lead roles.

Exclusive: Jaaved Jaaferi reveals if he gives love advice to son Meezaan; says ‘mujhse thoda formal hai woh’