Boogie Woogie used to be India’s first dance reality TV show before the Bigg Bosses of the world captured our television screens. As opposed to Salman Khan the host imparting lessons in basic civilised behaviour to full-grown adults, there used to be a certain Javed Jaffrey handholding aspiring young dancers to become better humans while also shaping them up as performers.
Kids from the 90s fondly recollect Boogie Woogie‘s Jaffrey as the creative influence on kids. He would tell them that Boogie Woogie is just a show and winning or losing here doesn’t change how successful they will eventually become in life. He would mentor them like a good teacher does and would make you yearn for such a figure in your life.
And of course that din’t come without a joke or two — the kind that might sound silly today but were perfectly amusing for us growing up in the 90s.
Jaffrey was not just a judge on the reality dance series, but was also one of the founders of the show that went on to become the longest running production of its kind.
That decade also saw Jaffrey popularise the now-ubiquitous Hinglish diction through his anchoring stints on Channel V shows Videocon Flashback and Timex Timepass.
A man of multiple talents, Jaffrey, at one point in time, was even on the top of the music charts back in the day. His song Mumbhai from the film Bombay Boys played at almost every teen party when the parents weren’t around.
Abhi khatam nahi hua hai Ch*tiye!
The voice that became synonymous with varied animated characters tickled our funny bones like no other at the turn of the millennium. His commentary on Japanese TV show Takeshi’s Castle became an instant hit, a sort of a phenomena with both young adults and grown-ups.
We might not hear much of that voice these days (barring sparse film roles and election campaigning for AAP), but it suddenly catches your attention on FM stations and TV every now and then. It’s a strong pang of nostalgia, a sudden recollection of all the good memories related with it.
Thank you for being a great childhood influence Javed Jaffrey, and happy birthday! We wish to hear more of you.
