‘We want to tell entertaining stories’: Priti Shahani of Junglee Pictures

Junglee Pictures has consolidated itself as a production house that delivers hits. After the star-studded Dil Dhadakne Do (2015), it ventured into convincing cinema with Talvar (2015) and followed it up with the sleeper hit Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017) and the spy-drama Raazi earlier this year. Priti Shahani, President, Junglee Pictures, shares with us their strategy and future plans.

What was your banner’s vision when you started off?

The one-line mandate we got was to create valuable IP (Intellectual Property) and tell entertaining as well as engaging stories. Being a part of a media house, we wanted to tell stories that were inspired by real incidents and some fictional ones. That’s why we made Talvar based on the Aarushi Talwar murder.

You seem to have consolidated your position as a production house that makes medium-budget, high-content movies?

That wasn’t a conscious thought. It’s not that we’re trying to make a medium-budget film and make it work. Alia Bhatt, who is talented as well as a star, took Raazi’s plot forward. When it comes to casting, we refer to the story and the director. It’s the kind of talent our tale requires that has held us in good stead.

After BKB and Raazi, your next is a film based on The Exile: The Stunning Inside Story of Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda in Flight. Are adaptations a part of your strategy?

In keeping with our vision, we have created a writers’ room, wherein we have talent with different thought processes working closely with us. We also have a readers’ room that is spread across various cities in the country. We get books that we want to read, not just by Indian but international authors too that our readers give to us in a story format. The trick lies in writing, adapting and making it relevant to us. The moment I read Calling Sehmat, I knew this was a story that needed to be told. Meghna Gulzar and screenwriter Bhavani Iyer’s adaptation is spot on. The way they have created the characters and brought them alive has resonated with the audience.

We acquired The Exile because it made headlines and had an impact on South Asia. What are your future plans?

We have Badhaai Ho and Junglee releasing this year. We’ve also announced Talvar 2 with Vishal Bhardwaj again. It’s in the development stages. Our plan is to create this series inspired by real-life crime incidents. There’s also Hanu-Man (tentatively titled), a superhero flick with Anurag Singh. It’s a big live-action film. We’ve announced a web series, based on the book The Mahabharata Murders, too that will be made by Srijit Mukherjee.