Filmmaker Ahmed Khan’s Welcome To The Jungle has had a positive first weekend at the box office. The film has also largely generated an encouraging response from the audience. It has a long list of cast members including Akshay Kumar, Disha Patani, Suniel Shetty, Arshad Warsi, Raveena Tandon, Johnny Lever, Jacqueline Ferandez, Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav and others.
But despite the huge ensemble of known actors, two people who have succeeded in standing out are veteran actors Kiran Kumar and Farida Jalal. For the unversed, Jalal’s character Badi Bi lisps and speaks in a gibberish way. The only person who is able to understand her is Murad Chacha (Kumar). However, he explains whatever Badi Bi says in chaste Urdu, which makes the characters more confused. In an exclusive chat with Bollywood Hungama, Kiran Kumar spoke about the appreciation he is getting for Welcome To The Jungle and more.
What do you have to say about your character being appreciated to this extent in Welcome To The Jungle along with the film?
It is a big film which has Akshay Kumar and such a big star cast like Johnny bhai, Paresh ji, Arshad ji, Rajpal Yadav and many others; you name it. This is a light-hearted film. It is not a film about any message. It is like – you come, watch the film, enjoy and go home. It has been written with so much conviction. Our director Ahmed Khan sahab has done such a fine job in handling so many actors. People have also liked the work of Farida ji and me. They have responded well to our characters. When your audience appreciates your work, naturally it gives a good feeling to the actor.
Actually, I don’t like taking credit for anything. I don’t like saying, ‘Maine kamaal kar diya, maine yeh kar diya, woh kar diya’. Whatever I did was under the guidance of the director. Akshay babu helped me a lot in carrying out this role. This is his genre. My line, ‘Badi Bi sahi keh rahi hai’ has done well. I had a great time working with all of them. With some, I hadn’t worked before; I did that in this film.
What was your reaction when you were offered such a character?
I actually wanted to be a part of this film. I knew it was Akshay babu’s film. I also wanted to work with the other people in the cast. I had never worked with director Ahmed Khan and producer Firoz A Nadiadwallah, so I wanted to work with them as well. Basically, every actor would like to be a part of a big film. So, the role wasn’t very important. But the role was defined. He is a person whose language nobody understands. He has a wonderful relationship with Farida Jalal ji’s character, who plays Badi Bi. I got that line, ‘Badi Bi sahi keh rahi hai’. Sometimes, a single line can do what 10, 12 or 15 scenes can’t. This is what has happened with me. The audience has appreciated it.
But the credit doesn’t go to me alone. It goes to the writer, director, Akshay babu and the rest of the star cast. The way Johnny bhai reacts saying, ‘Yeh aadmi kya bol raha hai?’ in a close-up shot and how other actors respond takes my character even higher. I never work for personal glory. If Kiran Kumar does a fine job but the film doesn’t do well, I don’t like that. But if Kiran Kumar does a theek thaak job and the film does well, I prefer that. My film becoming successful is more important to me.
How was your rapport with Farida Jalal during the shoot? You had all your scenes with her
I have worked a lot with her in the past. She is a very fair actor. She is a fabulous actor. Whenever she says something, I am standing with her. I react to what she is saying because only Murad, my character, understands her language. Her character lisps in the film. And she has lisped so beautifully. She expressed all her emotions in every scene while lisping. This is a very big achievement. Very few actors are able to do this.
Your character had to speak some heavy Urdu dialogues. How challenging was this?
Urdu is also a language of India. When I had just started out, my father (late legendary actor Jeevan) had advised me to work on my language and diction. I did that. It is his blessings. My father used to read and write in Urdu. So, my father’s genes have entered into me. Yes, it used to take some time for me to memorize the lines. But the dialogues were going with the situations, so I only had to change the words. So, it wasn’t that difficult. I won’t say it was very easy, but I won’t say it was very difficult or impossible either. It was very well written by Farhad Samji sahab. And Ahmed Khan gave me all the time to memorize the lines because he knew it wasn’t easy to say these lines. For that, I am thankful to my director and writer.
What next after Welcome To The Jungle?
I have a lot of films coming up. But I don’t have any film of this level. Now that this film has worked and people have liked my work, maybe I will be offered films of this level. When you work in a film of a big level and people like your work, other producers and directors also consider you. Toh hoga toh hoga, nahin hoga toh nahin hoga. Kya farak padega? Life is going on well. My life has always been like a giant wheel – sometimes up, sometimes down. So, I take life as it comes.
And I thank the complete star cast of my film. My special thanks to Mr. Akshay Kumar. I have worked with him before as well. We did Dhadkan, which did well and then we didn’t get a chance to work together for some time. I would like to tell the people to go and enjoy the film. In today’s times, people have so many problems and tensions; the kind of period that is going on. So, it’s good to go for a two and a half to three-hour movie and laugh out loud. Laughter is very necessary. This is what this film has given.
More Pages: Welcome To The Jungle Box Office Collection , Welcome To The Jungle Movie Review
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