Published: 11:36 AM, 07 July 2026
My potential is still untapped: Farida Jalal
Few actors can boast the longevity and continued relevance that Farida Jalal has enjoyed, remaining one of the industry's most enduring and active performers.
A testament to this is her latest film, Welcome to the Jungle, in which she plays Badi Bi, who speaks incoherently. Yet, the audience has not stopped showering love on the character.
“God’s kind! Everyone has been saying great things. Compliments are flowing in from all quarters. This is our reward as actors,” says Jalal, recalling how the character was fleshed out.
“Akshay (Kumar, actor), Ahmad (Khan, director) and I were all sitting together when Akshay got a call. This girl on the other end kept jabbering away. After the call, Akshay said, ‘Let’s have you do something similar in the film. Everyone knows you for your perfect dialogue delivery, pronunciation, diction, etc. Let’s give you this character now.’ And I thought, ‘Okay, let’s give it a shot.’ And now everyone has only great things to say!” says the 77-year-old.
A film that is a laugh riot was just as much fun on set, shares Farida. “It was one royal picnic. All of us had a blast. Everyone was so much fun and took care of each other. The film has been made with so much love, happiness and hard work. Akshay and Ahmad really looked after everyone,” recalls Farida, adding that despite a gruelling first schedule, they all laughed together all the time.
“Our first schedule was in the unforgiving summer heat. I remember there were advisories asking people to stay indoors, and there we were, shooting under the scorching sun. I said to Raveena (Tandon, actor), people think an actor’s job is all glamorous, but this is how we earn our bread. It is a lot of hard work,” she shares.
