Akshay Kumar and Farida Jalal, stars of Welcome to the Jungle, spoke about the film’s self-deprecating humour and the idea of intentionally making a “flop” comedy as a way of poking fun at themselves.
The actors appeared in an exclusive interview with Indian media ahead of the film’s release this Friday. The movie has been promoted with the tongue-in-cheek tagline: “Fake film. Real jungle. Real danger. Real idiots.”
Speaking about the viral catchphrase, Kumar joked: “There was a film called 3 Idiots; these are 32 idiots. And it’s a fun film. This fake film was given 2,000 crores to flop. What happens in it, you’ll have to see.”
Kumar explained that the film embraces self-mockery, allowing actors to laugh at themselves rather than take their screen personas too seriously.
“I am making fun of myself. The character has to put me down because he doesn’t like me in the film. And that is how the whole thing has gone. It is like Jackie Shroff says, ‘I’ve seen you before’, and how flop films work”.
The actor added that comedy only worked when performers are willing to let go of their egos.
“You cannot make a good film if you start taking things personally”, noting that a light-hearted approach is essential to creating an entertaining comedy.
Speaking about his co-star, Kumar revealed that Welcome to the Jungle marked Jalal’s first full-fledged comedy role.
“We have seen so many of Farida ma’am’s films. We have seen her do serious roles all the time, starring in tragedies and crying. She has even played my mother in the film Elaan (1994), a very good film which I will remember for the rest of my life”, he said.
Kumar added, “But we never saw her in a comedy. I can say that out of all the actors in the film, you will remember her the most. She has never done comedies like this but this is just the beginning”.
Reflecting on how she came on board, Jalal credited filmmaker Ahmed Khan for convincing her to take on the role. “Ahmed sir is like my son and I wanted to do this for him regardless. He narrated something for me and I got very excited”, she said.
She also thanked Kumar for his support, adding affectionately: She further thanked Kumar for his help: “My darling, I love you for what you have done for me”.
With its ensemble cast, self-aware humour and willingness to poke fun at Bollywood conventions, Welcome to the Jungle appears to be leaning heavily into comedy that does not take itself seriously. For Kumar and Jalal, that spirit of fun and self-mockery is precisely what they believe audiences will enjoy when the film hits cinemas this week.