Filmmaker Ahmed Khan has gathered a huge cast for his upcoming adventure comedy ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ and has already grabbed the attention of fans. However, two main actors from the first two installments of the ‘Welcome’ franchise, Anil Kapoor, aka Majnu, and Nana Patekar, aka Uday, are not in the third part.
Ahmed Khan on the absence of Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar
Recently, during his appearance in SCREEN Spotlight, Ahmed said, “Why is that a problem? I didn’t make ‘Baaghi 4’; someone else (A. Harsha) did. I’m making ‘Welcome 3’, and Anees Bazmee (director of ‘Welcome and Welcome Back’) made ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ and 3. The first one was directed by Priyadarshan. Akshay (Kumar) was in ‘Welcome’ (2007), and John (Abraham) was in ‘Welcome Back’ (2015). Akshay was in ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’; now, Kartik (Aaryan) is in ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ and 3. Siddharth Anand made ‘War’ (2019), and Ayan Mukerji made ‘War 2’.”“You can only stretch something to an extent. After that, it snaps. Every film has its limits, but a franchise doesn’t. There were so many Khiladi movies that came out, but no Khiladi had to do anything with the other Khiladis. Similarly, in Welcome, John replaced Akshay in the sequel, so the link in the story was cut right there. Now, Akshay is back again. So, it’s Welcome, but with an even bigger cast. Welcome had black suits, buildings, and girls in shimmery clothes. What we’ve done is get them into army fatigues. We’ve completely changed the terrain and concept into army style. Otherwise, they’d keep singing the same tune in the same suits. So, we’ve to give the audience something new,” added Ahmed.
‘Welcome to the Jungle’ is not slapstick comedy
During the episode, he also revealed that ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ is not slapstick comedy and said, “If you mute the film, you’ll see they’re talking very seriously, with guns in their hands. But if you dial up the volume, you’ll think, ‘What are these idiots doing?’ They’re talking rubbish to each other, but with poker faces. So, that’s what this welcome is about.”
Anees Bazmee on ‘Welcome 3’ without Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar
Earlier, talking to SCREEN, Anees Bazmee talked about Anil and Nana walking out of ‘Welcome to the Jungle.’ He expressed that it’s very fortunate that they both aren’t there in ‘Welcome 3.’ Without them, it’s a tough task. Anees also stated that he wouldn’t have made a ‘Welcome’ without them. He has a different equation with them. If he were directing it, he would’ve made sure they were a part of the film, by hook or by crook.
