Welcome to the Jungle, which marks actor Akshay Kumar’s return to the franchise and the third instalment in the comedy film series, has opened to rave reviews online by early audiences, who caught the special screenings and first day shows. Netizens have called the Ahmed Khan directorial a “laugh riot” and “paisa vasool”, while trade analysts have a positive feeling about how the multi-starrer will translate into footfall, eyeing an opening day of roughly ₹20 crores.
Calling the film the “need of the hour” which caters to a huge audience beyond the metro, trade analyst Taran Adarsh says, “It’s like a 1980s masala film, a fun ride which caters to a huge audience. Bollywood has stopped making those kinds of films. There’s a huge audience beyond the metro that loves mindless entertainers and this film is one of those. You just go, don’t question the logic, leave with a few laughs, feeling entertained.”
“Abhi tak jo hai, like ₹17-18 crores ki range mein toh hai hi, isse upar bhi ho sakta hai because of word of mouth, because audiences in theatres are enjoying the film,” says film trade analyst and industry expert Atul Mohan, adding, “Aaj kal ki filmon se zyaada achhi hai. It’s a family entertainer, neat and clean, lots of humour and grandeur. An absolute value for money.”
Describing the film as an “out and out commercial entertainer”, film exhibitor Akkshay Rathie says it will appeal to the grassroots of the Indian audience, the larger chunk of our population. Talking about the opening day numbers, he predicts, “Anywhere between ₹17-20 crore is my guess. And we are talking about an opening weekend of ₹60 crore plus. This one looks promising.”
Alongside Akshay, the film boasts of an ensemble star cast including actors such as Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Aftab Shivdasani, Jackie Shroff, Daler Mehndi, Raveena Tandon, Lara Dutta, Jacqueline Fernandez, Disha Patani, Urvashi Rautela, Farida Jalal, Krushna Abhishek, Mukesh Tiwari, Yashpal Sharma, Vindu Dara Singh, Kiran Kumar, Zakir Hussain, late Pankaj Dheer, Puneet Issar, Kiku Sharda, Feroze Khan (Arjun), Sudesh Berry, and Vrihi Kodvara.