‘Welcome to the Jungle’ may have crossed Rs 186 crore worldwide, but the film’s reception has been criticized for a sluggish, stuffy second half that resembles Ben Stiller’s ‘Tropic Thunder’. In a recent interview, the film’s author Farhad Samji answered everything: from finishing what the late writer Neeraj Vohra started, to how Akshay Kumar he replied playing a hero whose films only look at the screen.
Farhad Samji is carrying Neeraj Vohra’s vision forward
In an interview with SCREEN, Samji explained that the original image of the film came from Neeraj Vohra, who died in 2017, after which Samji stepped in to end the discussion with the public.Farhad opened, “Neeraj Vohra gave the best music in his time. As a writer, I connected with him during Bol Bachchan. He was acting in that film, and as writers, we kept sharing ideas. The idea of Welcome To The Jungle was told to me by Firoz sir; he wanted me to write the conversation. After Golmaals and Housefulls, dialogues have become very important. It took some time, but everything went well. For three and a half years, we were shooting, explaining, and editing the film; it was not an easy process.”The author added, “There were no changes that I had to make. I work exclusively – Kiran Kumar’s dialogue, Farida Jalal’s character, and Johnny Lever going silent while speaking; I combined all of them. There was pressure as the stars of 34 acting films; you have a relationship with all of them. I have done 13 films, and Johnny Lever collaborated with Akshallaver I. 18-19 films What worked for me was the visuals.“
How Akshay Kumar reacted after playing a “flop actor”
One of the most talked about aspects of the film is seeing Akshay Kumar play a Bhojpuri actor whose last 14 films have been action scenes, which was a plot point that many viewers have connected with Kumar’s latest performance at the box office. According to Samji, the actor was not surprised by the similarity at all.Farhad revealed, “I went to London to explain the first draft of Welcome to Akshay, where he was shooting Khel Khel Mein. I was also curious to know how he would do with a flop actor series, where he plays a flop actor who has shot 14 films.” He jumped in and said it was the best line of the entire series. He knew the situation in the film he wanted; it was not a joke on him.”Farhan added, “Having a black money plot or talking nonsense was not our first test; it was Neeraj Vohra’s picture that we were working on and adding laughs to. In Welcome to the Jungle, we knew that this world had producers, who are they, etc. Firoz Nadiadwala, myself, and Ahmed Khan have been in the vanities, which have been going on for 25 years; But the idea was not to put events because we wanted to take it; We wrote 20-25 scripts, went through several sessions, and changed each plan according to the actors. We thought about a lot of ifs, buts, and alternatives. “
Speaking of comparisons ‘Tropic Thunder’ is a crowded second half
On the controversy surrounding the film’s full frames and its similarity to ‘Tropic Bingu’, Samji said about the creative disharmony on the sets, “Firoz still thinks that the frame is empty. Ahmed and I were trying to explain to him that it was enough. He wanted to add more characters; he wanted actors from other countries, too. We also needed to be rational, so we needed to have a lot of things to look at. I didn’t see Tropic Thunder until I was told about the film, and I worked on what I was given. When I worked on the characters, even the second half of the story is different from Tropic Thunder. But what happens is, we play some parts, so that the similarity is there, but we have tried to add something new. “Samji also spoke about the challenges writers face today saying, “Today, as a producer, there is a filter in the mind. Although the first draft had an open mind, when you are revising it, some things should be kept in mind. Sometimes, even when we don’t have that goal, somewhere, people are disappointed. So we have to keep a filter, but this kind of humor was just pointless, and people didn’t check it out. If someone is there to make a wrong choice, that’s different, but I don’t think the audience will do that. If I keep thinking about this, I won’t be able to write.”
What’s next for Farhad Samji?
Samji revealed that he is currently working on three to four new scripts and is expected to announce his directorial venture soon.
More about ‘Welcome to the Jungle’
Directed by Ahmed Khan, ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ is a comedy-drama starring Akshay Kumar, alongside Suniel Shetty, Arshad Warsi, Paresh Rawal, Disha Patani and Jacqueline Fernandez, with a supporting cast of 34 actors in total. The story follows a con man who tries to launder black money by deliberately scripting a big-budget film that is meant to flop, but thanks to its unsuspecting director and a star who fades away to disappear into a real-life gangland in the fictional village of Azad Nagar.