Jaaferi notes that the film gave him a lot of scope to learn as an actor because to react without any action or reaction was quite a task. And challenges didn’t end here as he had also severely injured himself while shooting for a scene.

“The entire film was very heavy on VFX and I had to shoot the entire thing in front of the blue screen. Back then, there was no green screen, so it used to be all blue around me. The difficult part was to act with no actors in front. There were little matchsticks or wooden pieces placed here and there for the cue, and I had to deliver dialogues by looking at those objects,” recounts the actor who co-starrer with Gulshan Grover and Manav Kaul in the film.

Actor Jaaved Jaaferi portrayed a superhero during a time when Hollywood was primarily known for its superhero movies in the fantasy action comedy Jajantaram Mamantaram from 2003. In the movie, Joy Fernandes's villainous character Jhamunda, who would threaten residents of a distant village, was replaced by India's very own superhero. On May 30, the legendary movie will celebrate its 20th anniversary. Jaaferi remembers how tough and enjoyable it was to shoot the movie.

Explaining the process further, the actor adds, “For instance, if the film shows a dwarf sitting on my shoulder, I was talking to the matchstick placed on my shoulder. The only time I had an actor in front of me was during the climax, where I fight with Jhamunda. That’s because we both were of the same size.”

“Interestingly, it was not during the iconic fight with Jhamunda in the climax. The injury happened when I slipped off a box that I was standing on and tore the meniscus of my knee. It took a lot of time to recover and it still hurts,” he shares.

Jajantaram Mamantaram, now a beloved classic that is beloved by viewers of all ages, struggled to find success in theaters because of the ongoing strike.

The actor claims that when he initially read the script for the movie, the concept of giving the characters from Gulliver's Travels a desi twist captivated him. "That is a tale that we have all heard since we were young. Additionally, I was presenting the kid-friendly adventure task-based reality series Takeshi's Castle at the time, so I agreed to join the team," he tells us.

“I remember theatre owners were on some strike for around three weeks and because of that, we lost out on a lot of business. The film could have done much better otherwise. But it still ended up becoming one of the most-watched children’s movies on TV later. Even today, when I stop on signals, kids who come to ask for money, recognise me as Aditya (my character in the film) and excitedly shout ‘Areee Jhamunda...aree Aditya’. This is happening after 20 years so it definitely feels good,” ends Jaaferi.

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