Actor Raveena Tandon, who has been part of several seminal Bollywood comedies, has said that humour in the 90s was uninhibited and unapologetic, while today it is difficult to replicate that in movies, as one never knows what will trigger a social media debate.
Raveena Tandon on humour in the 90s
Raveena credits comedy hits like Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Aunty No. 1, Dulhe Raja, and Pardesi Babu as the backbone of her career in Bollywood. But she believes the landscape has changed drastically over the years.
“Making people laugh without someone getting offended is probably the ultimate tightrope walk today, it is tough… In the 90s, there was an uninhibited, innocent, and totally unapologetic madness to our films. Chi Chi (Govinda) and I would react purely on instinct. We weren’t overthinking how a joke would look on a 15-second internet clip or if a line would trigger a social media debate. That raw, purely character-driven, loud-and-proud humour of the 90s is rare now because filmmakers are constantly second-guessing themselves. We’ve become a bit too cautious, and comedy desperately needs freedom to breathe,” the actor told PTI in an interview.
Raveena recently returned to comedy with Ahmed Khan’s Welcome to the Jungle, a multi-starrer comedy that reunited her with her Mohra co-stars Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty.
“Comedy taught me spontaneity, improvisation, and the importance of losing all inhibitions on screen. It is an incredibly giving genre; if you can successfully make people laugh, they keep you in their hearts forever. Returning to it now with ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ feels like coming home to a room full of old friends,” the actor added.
About Welcome to the Jungle
Welcome to the Jungle is the third instalment in the Welcome franchise, which began in 2007 with the Akshay Kumar-starrer Welcome. The sequel, Welcome Back, starring John Abraham, was released in 2015. Both films also starred Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar and were directed by Anees Bazmee.
The new instalment, directed by Ahmed Khan, is doing well at the box office and has already earned over ₹100 crore worldwide since its release last Friday.
The film boasts a large ensemble cast, including Paresh Rawal, Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Aftab Shivdasani, Jackie Shroff, Daler Mehndi, Mika Singh, Lara Dutta, Jacqueline Fernandez, Disha Patani, Urvashi Rautela, Farida Jalal, Krushna Abhishek, Mukesh Tiwari, Yashpal Sharma, Vindu Dara Singh, Kiran Kumar, and Zakir Hussain