Jaaved Jaaferi: Anees bhai told me about the spin he wanted to add to my character days before leaving for Australia | Bollywood

The character of Mika, brought to life by Jaaved Jaaferi, in Singh is Kingg remains undeniably one of the most hilarious ones. The actor himself acknowledges that although there were several improvisations made during the filming process, the initial script by director provided a solid framework for his performance. “It was written so well by Anees Bhai. He told me, ‘Usse dikhta nahi hai aur sunta nahi hai’. So, it was naturally funny. But on set, while working, he’d keep tweaking a few things,” says Jaaferi, revealing that even the spin in the character was a last minute decision by the director.

“Everyone was going to Australia for shoot and Anees bhai had to leave before. So, he sat with me and told me about the spin he wanted to add to my character and reveal it through a short song with four lines — ‘I am Mika’. He said, ‘Tum baith jaao (music composer) Pritam ke saath and bana lo gaana’. It was to bring my character’s negative side out and surprise the audience,” recalls the actor, who even sung the track.

Elaborating on the making and shooting of the song, the 59-year-old adds, “Pritam and I sat and created the basic tune. And then I pulled an all-nighter with his assistant, called the writer to get the lyrics done and then recorded it. We went to Australia with the recording, where the song was planned to be shot, but because the team couldn’t find dancers, we decided to do it nicely in Mumbai. After the entire film was shot, we did that song. Choreography bhi jo Boogie Woogie mein bacche the, unke saath mil kar kari humne. The two minute sequence was shot in 1.5 days.”

Jaaferi goes on to share that his character was inspired by late wrestler-actor Dara Singh. “Of course I spoofed it and added my touch but the inspiration was Dara Singh sahab. I added a Punjabi touch in my lines. Akshay (Kumar), Anees bhai, and everyone liked it and suggested to use more Punjabi in the dialogues after that, kyunki usme zyada maza aa raha tha. However, during dubbing, the team had concerns and decided to change a few things again because we didn’t want heavy punjabi that the audience would find difficult to understand. Toh dubbing ke time humne thoda change kara,” he recalls.

Besides his character Mika, Jaaferi had a dual role where he also played father to Ranvir Shorey’s character in the film, and he reveals it was not written for him. “That was so crazy. The team tried to get a local actor in Australia, but koi theek actor nahi mila. And one night, when we were sitting together, Anees bhai said ‘Tum kar lo’. It was so random. No one would have imagined that I will play Ranvir’s father by changing my get-up and voice. But a little improvisation made the entire scene so funny. Jo comedy mein craziness hoti hai na, woh inhi cheezon se aati hai,” ends the actor.