Jaaved Jaaferi: ‘Beat the system, just turn to jugaad’

Jaaved Jaaferi

Actor, host and choreographer Jaaved Jaaferi was one of the first to bring breakdancing to the mainstream gaze on television shows like Boogie Woogie. "I wasn't technically just a break dancer. I incorporated elements of break with jazz, Indian, martial arts, trope. I was in college then, and I was one of the first few to start in Mumbai. The form evolved with contemporary dance blending with it. A lot of fads come and go, but this form has stood the test of time. Even the fashion [associated with] break dance is still in vogue. They say fashion changes every 10 years but since the 1980s, the clothes peculiar to break dancers - baggy pants, loose tees, long shirts, baseball caps - are still around," he recalls.

Amid some scepticism over why breakdancing has been categorised as a sport, he says, "Breakdance is at the Olympics because it's physically excruciating. It is a mix of dance and gymnastics. Other dances need physical metamorphosis. But breakdance is a physically demanding dance form."

Indian breakers may not have made it to the Olympics, but they have certainly made it to international stages, making it big on talent shows like America's Got Talent and World of Dance. "I don't know what the requirements to qualify for the Olympics are. I don't know the categories. But we have to acknowledge that we started later than the West… Sometimes, the right people just don't have the right opportunity to make it to an audition. I realised this when we were doing Boogie Woogie. Sometimes, the best people would miss an audition and you'd see them five years later and realise they are the most talented you've seen in a while. It's a bit of luck too."

He asks that the community not lose hope over the lack of institutional support, and instead turn to trusty "jugaad". "Today, the phone is the biggest institution for any artist. This phone has democratised talent and bypassed all institutions. A kid in a remote mountain village in Arunachal Pradesh can access the world. The best dancers on Instagram are not coming from institutions. There will be a whole bunch of them in the years to come. Indians are brilliant at jugaad; they will work their way to getting there the next time," he says.