Join WhatsApp Channel
It’s the craziest romp you will ever go on. The film’s kooky ads spell it out correctly: ‘Fake Film; Real Jungle; Real Danger; Real Idiots.’ The plot is loony: an uber-rich tycoon, Sinha (Zakir Hussain) is warned by a politician (Brijendra Kala) to be careful with his excessive black money. His deputy, Dubey (Johny Lever), who has a kink of going mute for a while in excitement, suggests making a flop film to show losses, with a director duo, Dev-Das (Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Naurang Yadav) known for 14 consecutive flops and a once-hit-now-failed star, Rajiv (Akshay Kumar).
The trio, along with Dev-Das’ half-blind cameraman, ironically named Nayansukh (Shreyas Talpade) and Sinha’s moronic blonde daughter, Jenny (Jacqueline Fernandez), sign Rajiv for a record Rs. 200 crore, when he is willing to do any film for a mere Rs. 50,000! The film’s budget is pegged at an impossible-to-recover 2000 crore (Is that a hint at filmmakers today, we wonder!) and has a crazy plotline devised to be shot in a remote jungle where the cast will play army officers. A host of other idiots come into the cast as Dubey wants the budgets to hit the roof to maximize losses.
Rajiv’s once-loving girlfriend, Nadia (Disha Patani) is also signed deliberately to keep the vibes cold. Romeo (Arshad Warsi) and Yeda Anna (Suniel Shetty) have to recover money from Sinha and Dubey and instead decide to star in their new film as heroes. Dubey inveigles Rajiv as well as the duo to think that each is a hero and the others like “kutte” (dogs). A grand launch is held and the unit leaves for location. Their trainer is the no-nonsense Teja (Lara Dutta), who believes that she can turn these “keede” (worms) into “sher” (tigers).
Mayhem ensues even here with the rivalry between Rajiv and Romeo-Anna, who we are informed have a tenuous link with Majnu and Uday, gangsters shown in the earlier Welcome films.
Finally, two untoward things happen: on-sets, an unintended and untimely explosion destroys a colossal set and two, Sinha is raided by revenue officers and left wearing only his underclothes. The result: Sinha now wants to wrap the film up in a day and also try for a hit movie to make money!
The unit has to shift to a remote area where terrorists led by Zatara (Jackie Shroff) are victimizing a village and attack periodically (like dacoits did in yesteryear films like Mera Gaon Mera Desh and Sholay!). Zatara lusts for Zoya (Raveena Tandon). The unit is unaware of this ‘Real Danger’ when they land there and think that the villagers are actors! What happens later?
The film is one huge cocktail of masala that is unbridled, unadulterated and unapologetic. Even logic in the illogic does not become the mantra: WTTJ is one extravagantly spouting fountain of fun, kept strictly family-oriented, with characters and lines adding to the crazy orgy, and the right dollops of emotion, drama and even patriotism.
The film is unceasingly madcap, and from the beginning we know that Rajiv will locate his missing in action father of 15 years, that Rajiv and Nadia will clear the misunderstandings between them, that Rajiv, Romeo and Anna will become friends, that Zatara will be vanquished and so on. Any similarities in tenor to (several) older movies, the makers seem to assure us, are intentional and are either aimed at the success of this film (not just of the film within it!) and so on. We see ‘gentle reminders’ of films like Awara Pagal Deewana, Dhurandhar and Bajrangi Bhaijaan to name just three.
The late Neeraj Vora (who had given his own delicious spin to the Malayalam movie Ramoji Rao Speaking with the 2000 laugh-riot Hera Pheri, followed by many other films in the comic genre) is credited with the story and screenplay and Farhad Samji once again does the dialogues. The characters are fleshed out amazingly: we have Jenny the blonde doing the stupidest things (as blondes traditionally do) with total aplomb, and hilarious characters like Murad Chacha (Kiran Kumar) and Badi Bi (Farida Jalal) and of course, Dubey, Nayansukh, Teja and the rest.
The idea is for the audience to forget all of life’s blues for 164 minutes and in that intention, the film and its director, Ahmed Khan, triumphantly succeed. Cinematographed adequately but in an old-fashioned manner by Kabir Lal and Shashi Lal, the film is edited briskly (Nitin Pathak) and the songs as always are a mix of old songs redone from the franchise as well as forgettable new ones.
The plethora of actors and actresses do the needful. Akshay Kumar does his best as Rajiv, and his turn into a cad towards the end and his reform is well-done. Suniel Shetty is in great nick after a long break. Lara Dutta is outstanding as Teja but her footage is suddenly cut off, wonder why? Rajpal Naurang Yadav as Das steals a march over Paresh Rawal as Dev due to a better-nuanced character, but Tusshar Kapoor has nothing to do. Raveena Tandon is alright as Zoya, Vindu Dara Singh as Ghoni and Disha Patani ditto.
Johny Lever is in his element again, as is Zakir Hussain. Daler Mehndi is there as a gimmick but is amusing all the same. But the scene-stealers, in order, are Farida Jalal, followed by Jacqueline Fernandez and Kiran Kumar. I will not detail their roles, but they simply dazzle like superstars in this star- and actor-heavy ensemble.
Purely as a film for whose intentions are matched by the result, the film will generally have a great repeat value. Co-producer Firoz Nadiadwallah once again brings us a sheer entertainer after Hera Pheri, Awara Pagal Deewana and Welcome. Go and have a (family) blast!
Rating: ***1/2
Base Industries Group’ Cape of Good Films’ & Seeta Films’ Welcome to the Jungle Produced by: Firoz A. Nadiadwallah, Vedant Vikaas Baali & Rakesh Dang Directed by: Ahmed Khan Written by: Neeraj Vora & Farhad Samji Music: Sajid-Wajid, Anand Raaj Anand, Vikram Montrose, Talwiinder, NDS & Ankit Gupta Starring: Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Lara Dutta, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Paresh Rawal, Johny Lever, Jacqueline Fernandez, Disha Patani, Kiran Kumar, Kiku Sharda, Pankaj Dheer, Feroze Khan, Rajpal Naurang Yadav, Krushna Abhishek, Vindu Dara Singh, Daler Mehndi, Aftab Shivdasani, Mukesh Tiwari, Yashpal Sharma, Zakir Hussain, Urvashi Rautela, Hemant Pandey, Brijendra Kala, Puneet Issar, Sudesh Berry, Rushad Rana, Jeetu Verma, Akshara Singh, Vrihi Kodvara, Bhagya Bhanushali & others
