If you thought history and humour had zilch to do with each other, here's some trivia for you. Apparently, the two aren't polar opposites, at least not when Bollywood's favourite funny man Jaaved Jaffrey is bridging the gap.
Fox History & Entertainment is all geared up to launch a new series titled “History of Whatever”. Anchored by Jaaved Jaaferi, this is a studio based documentary show tracing the existence of simple pleasures of life that makes our nation tick. In a telephonic interview, Jaaved informs: “The show is a five-part series which will be co-hosted by Santosh Desai. This is a one-of-a-kind documentary show that will leaf through pages from our lives and read them out to us like stories we have never heard before.”
What made him want to host the show? “The channel's viewership is high and the topics dealt with on the show are intriguing. Although this works within the framework of a documentary, it is quite pacey and engaging. And it's got that tinge of wry English humour and intelligence in equally sumptuous amounts.”
Seriously?
While he does acknowledge that he's the one that ups the humour quotient on the show, he doesn't think people would watch it for him. “A show like this speaks for itself.
No one personality runs a show single-handedly. The only thing about being a part of it is that I onscreen I get closest to who I am in real life. I can be a serious person too (laughs). Like now!”
Each episode focuses on one industry wherein Jaaved will be interviewing specialists. While the history of chai will be unearthed by ad-man Prahlad Kakkar, the history of radio will be dug up by Ameen Sayani. Numerologist Sanjay Jumani will excavate the history of names and so on.
Jaaved, had a ball of a time on the sets of “History of Whatever”. “All the interviews were good fun but the one in which Prahlad and I discuss the history of toilets was extraordinarily hilarious. Prahlad, Jaaved and toilets together spell danger,” he guffaws.
Stating that anyone remotely interested in improving his general knowledge would watch the show, Jaaved admits that this was a learning experience for him too. “There was a lot of stuff I was clueless about and I kept going ‘wow' at every bit of trivia that was new to me.”
Did he like history as a student? “That would be a joke,” he counters. “Back then it was serious facts, dates and names we had to mug up.
On the show we don't discuss the Battle of Plassey (of course I remember history!). This is funky history. Who wouldn't love learning this kind of history?” he asks.
Anchoring isn't new to him. Having hosted “Flashback” and “Timepass”, Jaaved has proved his mettle a presenter. As the permanent celebrity judge on the popular dance show “Boogie Woogie”, Jaaved has earned a huge fan following. So how different is hosting a show like “History of Whatever”?
“Very different,” he answers. “Just imagine how boring it would be if one was forced to have dal-chawal everyday. Kabhi kabhi pizza bhi chahiye! I'm glad to be doing different kinds of shows.” The actor has in his kitty “Chai Garam”, “Season's Greetings” and “Society”.
“History of Whatever” premieres Thursday at 10 p.m. on Fox History & Entertainment.
