Jaaved Jaaferi says Boogie Woogie is closer to his heart than Takeshi’s Castle

Jaaved Jaaferi has acted in close to a hundred films in a career that began in 1985 with Meri Jung. But for a generation, he is better known for his connection to two popular TV shows–Boogie Woogie and Takeshi’s Castle. He was the judge in the former and the narrator of the latter, with both having earned him a lot of young fans. Recently, Jaaved reveals which of the two is closer to his heart. Also read: Jaaved Jaaferi would love to be a part of Takeshi’s Castle reboot

Boogie Woogie, a dance reality show, aired for close to two decades on Sony TV, starting in 1996 and ending in 2014 spread across seven seasons. The hugely popular show had Jaaved as one of the judges along with his brother Naved, and Ravi Behl. Takeshi’s Castle, on the other hand, was a Japanese game show that aired in the 1990s. It’s Hindi-dubbed version, with Jaaved providing running commentary, aired on Pogo Channel in 2005, and was a hit among fans.

In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Jaaved was asked which show was closer to his heart, and he replied, “Boogie Woogie!” In the past, Jaaved has spoken about how the show has a special place in his heart as it provided clean entertainment, minus any ‘vulgarity’ or controversies.

Recently, there were reports that Takeshi’s Castle is getting a reboot, which will stream on Prime Video from 2023. Reacting to this, Jaaved said that though he is open to the offer, he has not been approached by the makers to do it yet. He told Etimes, “I would love to be a part of it if they approach me. I would love to.” Asked if any plans have been made about it, the actor said, “I don’t know. They haven’t approached me. But the whole internet is like full of comments like ‘yes Jaaved Jaaferi should do it,’ I said, ‘yeah man I mean thank you for voting for me.’ But that’s up to them, whoever in the channels are.”

In the same interaction, Jaaved had expressed happiness that between the two shows–Takeshi’s Castle and Boogie Woogie, he was able to provide wholesome entertainment for audiences for such a long time. “I hear people when they come to me and they say ‘thank you sir for being an integral part of our childhood and we thank you for giving us this entertainment.’ For me, it is so satisfying. I always thank God in my heart for blessing me with this that people are loving me for what I have done. So between these two shows- Takeshi’s and Boogie Woogie, I think there’s one whole generation, one and a half maybe, they’ve grown up with this,” he had said.

Jaaved was last seen in the Netflix film Jaadugar, which also starred Jitendra Kumar and Arushi Sharma. The film, which released on July 15, opened to lukewarm reviews.