New Delhi: The trailer of the action-comedy Welcome to the Jungle was released on Thursday, starring Akshay Kumar. Crediting late Neeraj Vora for the movie’s story, Akshay said that he has learned everything in life from people like Priyadarshan, Rajkumar Santoshi and Vora.
The four-minute trailer reveals a “film-within-a-film” setup. Rajiv, played by Akshay, is a struggling actor shooting an action movie in a jungle, which spirals into a hilarious case of mistaken identity when locals think they are real army men.
“The story of this was very important to me, written by Neeraj Vora,” he said.
Apart from Akshay, the film also stars Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Arshad Warsi, Disha Patani, Jacqueline Fernandez, and Raveena Tandon, among others.
Directed by Ahmed Khan, the film is set to release on 26 June. The trailer of Welcome to the Jungle is packed with chaotic comedy and several nostalgic references to Vora’s earlier work. It revisits the love-hate dynamic between Akshay and Shetty that audiences loved in the Hera Pheri franchise. The trailer also brings back Majnu Bhai’s iconic donkey painting from Welcome, an artwork widely appreciated in internet culture.
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The Akshay-Neeraj combonation
Vora, who died nearly a decade ago, started his Bollywood career in 1993 with Ashutosh Gowariker’s directorial debut film Pehla Nasha. The story was written by Vora and starred Deepak Tijori alongside Pooja Bhatt and Raveena Tandon. The film was filled with cameos by Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan.
He then made his mark in Bollywood with the Ram Gopal Varma-directed Rangeela. He wrote the dialogues and screenplay for the film, but as an actor was not present on the set, Varma replaced the actor with Vora, making his acting debut in the multi-starrer film alongside Aamir Khan, Jackie Shroff and Urmila Matondkar. After that, Vora’s acting journey also started, along with his core skill of writing comedy. He later acted in films like Virasat (1997) and Hello (1999).
Vora remains one of Bollywood’s most celebrated writers of slapstick comedy. Many of his memorable works featured Akshay Kumar, and the journey began in 2000 with Priyadarshan’s Hera Pheri, for which Vora wrote the screenplay and dialogues. Following the film’s success, he continued his association with Akshay with films such as Phir Hera Pheri (2006), Bhagam Bhag (2006) and Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007).
He made his directorial debut with Khiladi 420 (2000), the seventh instalment in the popular Khiladi franchise associated with Akshay Kumar and created by Abbas-Mustan. Before establishing himself as a writer and director, Vora appeared as an actor in Ketan Mehta’s Holi (1984).
Though he rarely played lead roles, Vora left a lasting impression through memorable character performances. His roles as Dr Rusi Surti in Baadshah (1999), the principal in Maine Dil Tujhko Diya (2002), Madhav in Khatta Meetha (2010) and Maakhan in Bol Bachchan (2012) continue to be remembered by audiences.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)