They have made audiences laugh across three franchises and now the cult quartet is ready to take on the undead. mid-day had earlier reported that producer Firoz A Nadiadwallah was planning to reunite Paresh Rawal, Nana Patekar, Anil Kapoor, and Suniel Shetty, potentially for the fourth instalment of the Welcome franchise (More mischief in the making, March 8). Now, a source reveals that the foursome will reunite in director Ahmed Khan’s yet-untitled zombie comedy, headlined by Tiger Shroff.
The film will see the veteran actors reprise their iconic characters — Yeda Anna (Shetty), Uday Shetty (Patekar), Majnu Bhai (Kapoor), and Dr Ghunghroo (Rawal) — crowd favourites since Awara Paagal Deewana (2002), Welcome (2007) and Welcome Back (2015). “While the movie is a horror-supernatural-drama, it is also a comedy as it will cater to all kinds of audiences, including children,” shares a source from the creative team. Nadiadwallah wants the film to be “a part of the family universe”. While Kapoor and Patekar did not feature in Welcome to the Jungle, Rawal appeared as Das rather than Dr Ghunghroo. “The idea was to bring back their characters in some way as people love and miss them.”
Firoz A Nadiadwallah
Shroff’s action hero persona is certain to draw children to theatres, the source assures. “Tiger will play the main protagonist who fights the zombies. Children love and connect to him and that was a major reason for getting him on board.” The veteran actors are also “excited to play the 2.0, new-age versions” of their iconic characters. “Firoz wants a grand, stylish, and larger-than-life look and feel of the film with ample VFX and comic doses. The film will be shot in UAE, Europe, and across India, and is expected to roll by end of the year. Once the scripting is complete, the heroines will be finalised,” adds the insider.
Tiger Shroff
Tiger Shroff’s zombie action comedy will be shot in UAE, Europe, and across India
Other zombie films in Bollywood
◆ Saif Ali Khan’s ‘Go Goa Gone’
◆ Ranveer Singh-starrer ‘Pralay’ that is under production
[popcorn number=”Rs 192.5 CR” desc=”Approximate worldwide BO report of ‘Welcome to the Jungle’” class=”Default”]