Nana Patekar revisits time when Anees Bazmee came to him with Welcome; told him, ‘Swear on your mother…’

Nana Patekar, who is not part of the recently announced instalment of the Welcome franchise, Welcome to the Jungle, spoke about how he was reluctant to do the first film, helmed by Anees Bazmee.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | October 1, 2023 04:18 PM IST

3 min read

Nana Patekar opened up about being reluctant about starring in the 2007 film Welcome.

Listen to this article

Your browser does not support the audio element.

Veteran actor Nana Patekar, who was recently seen in Vivek Agnihotri’s The Vaccine War, has opened up about how filmmaker Anees Bazmee convinced him to do his comedy caper, Welcome (2007). Patekar said that he was not open to doing such films and initially refused the offer.

In an interview with Aaj Tak’s Sudhir Mishra, Patekar said, “When Anees Bazmee came to me with Welcome, I said, ‘I don’t do these types of roles and I don’t know much about it. He said, ‘No, no please people will like this a lot.” I said ok, ‘swear on your mother and say I should do this film.’ He did not understand what was happening. I said if you feel from within that I should do this film, then swear on your mother.”

Bazmee swore on his mother and Patekar agreed to do the film, which became a hit upon its release. It also starred Feroz Khan, Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Paresh Rawal, and Mallika Sherawat, in pivotal roles. Patekar was seen playing Katrina and Anil’s brother, Uday Shetty, in the movie.

The veteran actor said that a lot of people liked him in Welcome and now, sometimes they recognise him as Uday Shetty.

The makers of Welcome have recently announced the next installment in the franchise. However, Nana Patekar is not a part of the film. He opened up about the same at the trailer launch of The Vaccine War.

Also read | Nana Patekar calls recent hit films ‘ghinoni’: ‘I could not even sit through it; makers are forcing people to…’

Patekar said, “I’m not doing ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ because they may think I’ve become dated, that’s why they didn’t take me. The industry is never shut for you, if you want to do good work. People will keep coming to you and offer you parts if you want to keep working hard. You need to know if you want to do a role. You need to know whether you wish to work.”

Welcome to the Jungle stars Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Lara Dutta, Raveena Tandon, Johnny Lever, Suniel Shetty and Arshad Warsi among others. The film is being helmed by Ahmed Khan.

From the homepage