EXCLUSIVE | Jesse Lever: 'Shah Rukh Khan was from TV, dad from stage; Manoj Bajpayee is now the Amitabh Bachchan of OTT'

In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, legendary actor Johny Lever’s children Jamie and Jesse Lever talk about their show A Spin Around Dubai that streams on MX Player, their first memories of Dubai, and the content on OTT.

On their first memories of Dubai

Jesse: All the nine challenges. We never thought we would be on the 53rd floor, do the skywalk, experience the sunrise on a hot air balloon and also meet Chef Vineet. These are the first things that come to our mind.

Jamie: The experience on the hot air balloon was quite amazing, and also to witness the Museum of the Future, it’s a new thing that has come up in Dubai.

On the concept of the show

Jesse: I was super excited because I love Dubai and I love to travel. Also, I’m very comfortable around Jamie surprisingly. With MX Player involved and the Dubai Tourism, it cannot get better than this.

On exploring new activities

Jamie: We never thought we would go on a hot air balloon ride. We never had any bucket list in life. We started the journey at 4 in the morning and by 5, we were sitting on the basket of the hot air balloon. We saw the Dubai sunrise, we saw the dessert, we saw the animals. Hot air balloons are always put into a romantic category, so I never thought even siblings would be able to enjoy this so much.

On an activity that scared them

Jamie: We were taken on the 53rd floor of our hotel, we had a harness around us and we had to hang from there. We were literally hanging in the air, we had our doubts, anxiety, and nervousness. I was a little more confident since I’ve done skydiving before. But there’s someone with you at that time so you feel safe. The overall experience was very thrilling and adventurous. We were dancing in the air so it was fun.

On Dubai and suggestions for future visitors

Jesse: It’s full of glamour and everything is so good. It’s safe and everything that they have is the best. Even the locals there are unaware of many activities. They have heard of the Burj Khalifa but they still don’t know they also have a hot air balloon. To see these nine activities, you should definitely watch the show.

Jamie: People do the typical thing when they go to Dubai. They’ll go and see the Burj Khalifa, the Dubai mall, the dessert safari. If you’re preparing an itinerary, you can plan a trip with your siblings. You should watch the show and then plan your itinerary.

On the OTT platform and evolution of content

Jamie: It’s been great for a lot of artists, there are so many actors who were not getting the right platform. We were always relying on one film or one television show, but now we have so many OTT platforms. The actors who were once termed character artists are now valued much more because of this giant. And it’s not just the OTT, even social media has played a great role. When Jesse and I didn’t have work during the lockdown, we began making videos on social media to entertain people. We didn’t get any money out of it but we did get a lot of fan following, response, and love, which was priceless.

Jesse: When television came in the 80s and 90s, it created a lot of stars, Shah Rukh Khan also came from there. There was an era of stage artists so my dad (Johny Lever) came from there. And now you can see that actors like Manoj Bajpayee, who’s now the Amitabh Bachchan of OTT, so it’s truly a great platform.

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