‘I Get Emotional Seeing Audiences Lapping Up My Film’

The success of Ahmed Khan’s comedy Welcome To The Jungle has come as a pleasant surprise. He talks of the many ups and the few downs of the experience:

I’m so grateful that people are enjoying the film. Watching audiences laugh and clap in theatres is incredibly rewarding. In fact, they are lapping up so many jokes we thought people wouldn’t understand. The audience is embracing the film, I’m so grateful to the Almighty for that.

It must have been tough directing so many actors!

The challenge wasn’t the camera or the locations — it was bringing together such a large cast and securing long shooting schedules, sometimes stretching to 30 days. That was the real hurdle my team had to overcome.

Managing the ensemble cast, however, was never a problem because the actors know each other so well. Arshad has told me once or twice, “Ahmed, when we come to your set, it feels like a college reunion.” In fact, that was the only thing that irritated me—it would take them nearly half an hour to finish greeting each other and catching up. I’d finally have to step in and say, “Guys, enough now, let’s start shooting.” But once the cameras rolled, everything would fall into place.

It was a massive setup too. But Firoz bhai (producer Firoz A. Nadiadwala) left everything in my hands. He simply said, “Ahmed, do whatever you feel is right. You should feel like you’re the producer.” Every detail was taken care of, and I never had to worry about a thing.

Actors like Lara Dutta and Daler Singh hardly have anything to do, isn’t it?

Each one had a role. Lara took her responsibility of training the actors to perform as fighters very seriously, and I think she did a brilliant job. As for Daler paaji, it was a unique idea to cast him in the film. He was there throughout the movie. He knew his limitations as an actor, and also the worth of his presence as a huge singer. I never considered anyone else for that role.

There’s lots of in-house humour—like Akshay and Raveena reuniting after twenty years, and Lataji’s ‘Kanta laga’ playing for Farida Jalal.

Putting the humour together was no joke. It’s a clean film with no double-meaning dialogues, so the whole family can enjoy it together, and I think that’s why audiences have connected with the humour.

Which do you enjoy directing more—action or comedy?

I’ve been a dance choreographer, so people often ask when I’ll make a musical. But that’s not a big challenge for me—I already choreograph five or six songs in most films. I also love directing action because I’ve been into martial arts since childhood and shooting action sequences gives me a real rush. And when it comes to comedy, I feel I have a natural flair for it.