Junglee Pictures to follow up Raazi success with impressive set of films
Priti Shahani, the president of Junglee Pictures, is all smiles these days. And she has every reason to be happy, especially after the success of the Alia Bhatt-starrer, Raazi, which her company has produced.
Speaking about how her team developed the script for the movie from Harinder Sikka’s book, Calling Sehmat, over nearly two years, Shahani says, “We have an entire unit dedicated to identify books that are to be adapted [into films]. We get thousands of such entries, and we take into consideration what is relevant and deserves to be heard. Both Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017) and Raazi are films adapted from books. When I came across Calling Sehmat, I knew this had to be showcased.”
The producer adds that several perspectives are discussed before the company decides on a script. She also says that a lot of things can make for a movie, but a successful movie needs a good story at its core.
After a great start to the year, the production house currently has films such as Junglee, Talvar 2 and a Vishal Bharadwaj-directed film in the pipeline. To take things up a notch, the production house has teamed up with American film director Chuck Russell for Junglee, which stars Vidyut Jammwal. Speaking about the film, Shahani says, “The film addresses pertinent issues such as elephant poaching. And who better to collaborate with than Chuck Russell — he is brilliant with animals and VFX. Some of my favourites by him include The Mask (1994), The Scorpion King (2002), and Eraser (1996).”
She adds, “Chuck has worked with actors such as Dwanye Johnson and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and he will bring in a fresh perspective to the filmmaking process. We’re very excited for the project and are hopeful that the audience is, too.”