With Welcome to the Jungle, Raveena Tandon successfully attempted one of her biggest ensemble comedies. But a big-scale production isn’t necessarily what the actor is looking for in her second innings. Instead, she is choosing the strength of a role over the scale of a production. A choice evident in her upcoming slate, where big-budget projects like Suriya’s Vishwanath & Sons, and Maa Vande share space with a yet-untitled OTT film alongside Kapil Sharma.
“A well-written character will always be the foundation. At this stage in my career, I’ve done the songs, the dances, and intense dramas like Aranyak [2021] and KGF: Chapter 2 [2022]. Now, I want to surprise myself,” said Tandon.
A still from ‘Welcome to the Jungle’
That has become her guiding light as she sifts through scripts. The actor elaborated, “A massive canvas like Welcome to the Jungle is exciting because of the scale and nostalgia it brings, but if the character doesn’t have a distinct voice, the scale means nothing to me. I am looking for roles that challenge my own assumptions of what I can do, while giving my audience a reason to say, ‘Wow, Raveena still surprises us’.”
The medium too is not a criterion for the actor, who wants to continue exploring theatrical and OTT offerings. While agreeing that streamers gave us “incredible stories”, she asserted that the theatrical experience cannot be paralleled, especially when it comes to comedies. She noted, “The community experience of sitting in a dark theatre and laughing till your stomach hurts with 300 strangers was sorely missed. Hindi cinema neglected mass comedies for a while. Life is stressful enough; people want to go to the cinemas to escape, and be happy.”
Rs 98CR
Estimated domestic collection of ‘Welcome to the Jungle’