With three back-to-back comedies in Total Dhamaal, Pagalpanti and Welcome 3, Anil says necessary to exercise caution while selecting films in the genre
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; February 15, 2019)

A quick scan at his upcoming projects indicate Anil Kapoor’s proclivity for comedies. As Total Dhamaal inches towards release, the senior actor has begun work on yet another comic caper — Anees Bazmee’s Pagalpanti. Known to be discerning about his choice of projects, Kapoor says he practices all the more caution when it comes to giving a nod to laugh riots.

He reasons, “The beauty of comedy lies in its writing. The gags and punches have to be sharp. There will be more pressure on actors if the writing isn’t good. Fortunately, in most of my films, including Total Dhamaal, the writing is genuinely funny. It helped further that Indu ji [Indra Kumar, director] has impeccable comic timing.”

If all goes well, kapoor may continue his love affair with the genre — rumours are rife that producer Firoz Nadiadwala is planning the third instalment in the Welcome series. Probe him on it, and he says, “I have been working with him for 33 years. Inshallah, there will be Welcome 3 and 4 soon.”

For now though, his focus is trained on Total Dhamaal that sees him reunite with Madhuri Dixit- Nene after Pukar (2000). “Once we met on the set, it felt like we had never stopped working. It’s like swimming, where you never lose rhythm.”