New Delhi: It’s been twenty-five years since Jungle stormed into theatres, leaving a lasting impact on Bollywood’s action-thriller genre. Directed by Ram Gopal Varma, the 2000 film stood out for its raw intensity, gripping narrative, and powerful performances, especially from Fardeen Khan, Urmila Matondkar, and a chilling Sushant Singh as the bandit Durga Narayan Chaudhary.
For the unversed, Jungle also marked the debut of actor Rajpal Yadav. In an exclusive interview with News9Live, the actor opened up about working with RGV and reflected on his Bollywood journey.
It’s been twenty-five years since Jungle. How are you feeling?
Rajpal: Yes, I’m very happy that it’s been twenty-five years since Jungle. And my silver jubilee is being celebrated with that film. In 1999, I had done three to five films — among them were Shool, Mast, Dil Kya Kare, and Luck Luck Lakeerein, which was a children’s film. So in 1999, these were the films where I had small parts. And because of Shool — since Ram Gopal Varma was the producer of that film — he saw one particular scene and cast me in Mast. Then Jungle was announced. We shot in the jungles of Bandipur. I remember the first day of shooting was 19th November 1999. The film released on 14th July 2000.
And I remember joking that my life has had a jungle mein mangal moment — but that actually came true. That was the time when the superhit Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai had released. The first Videocon Awards had happened and Hrithik had won Best Debut, Best Actor — and I won Best Actor in a Negative Role for Jungle.
But it was amazing — because for six months after Jungle released, I didn’t get any work because of it.
Why do you think that happened?
Rajpal: Because no one had seen my face. In our cinema, family dramas were more common than films like Jungle. But when people in the industry saw me at the award ceremony, when they saw my face — only after that, in a span of one and a half months, I got 16 film offers.
Post-Jungle, there were two films with Salman Khan Productions, films with David Dhawan and Priyadarshan. Jungle was the film that established me as an actor. And Hungama gave me a lot of popularity.
Then came Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya — Ram Gopal Varma gave me a comic role in that. Then I did a supporting role in another film. After that came Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon and Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh.
So Ramu saw me in Jungle and then went on to explore all the layers I had as an actor. I got love for lead roles, supporting roles, comic roles, and even the negative roles I played.
Do you remember your first meeting with Ram Gopal Varma?
Rajpal: Of course I do. Our first meeting was in Kamalistan Studios. He was shooting Mast there. Ramesh Katkar introduced me to him and told him that I had done that scene in Shool. I had shot for one day in Bihar for Shool with Manoj Bajpayee, Anurag Kashyap, and Raveena Tandon. Ram saw that scene after the release.
Back then, we didn’t have mobile phones. There were only phone booths and PCOs. So getting in touch with someone wasn’t easy. When I met him for the first time, he shook my hand and said, “You’ve done a wonderful job.” He said it in English — I remember it clearly.
Then he told his team to call me for the film Mast that was Neeraj Vohra’s film where I was cast along with Vijay Maurya and K.D. Maurya. That was Aftab Shivdasani’s debut film.
After that Mast was released, and then Jungle was announced. That’s when I had my second proper meeting with Ram in his office, where he offered me the role in Jungle. And I have to tell you this after Satya, we boys from NSD — me, Nawazuddin Siddiqui , and the others — used to go to Ramu’s office at least once a week. But when Jungle was announced, I didn’t go. Because I didn’t think I’d fit in a film like that.
Then I got a call from Prabal Pandey, who was the assistant director on Shool. He said Ram Gopal Varma wants to meet you. So I went. Jaideep Shahani, the writer of Chak De India and Raju Kher were there too.
Ramu asked me, “Why didn’t you come meet me?” I said, “I didn’t think there would be a role for me in Jungle, and I didn’t want to unnecessarily bother you.” Then he narrated the character to me in just two lines — he said, “It’s a boy who is wild, rogue, and kills like he’s eating biscuits. He’s innocent, almost childlike. This is definitely for you, Rajpal.”
It was just one scene. All of us — me, Nawaz, Vijay Raaz— we were playing henchmen. But when that one scene was shot, Ramu ended up writing seven more scenes for me. And that changed everything.
So in these twenty-five years, I’ve been blessed with a lot of work — released and unreleased, big films and small — with lead, supporting, comic roles. Probably 200 to 250 films. And Jungle is still alive in people’s minds. That film allowed me to do more and more diverse characters — Dhol, Malamaal Weekly, Waqt, Chup Chup Ke — all gave me room to experiment. Jungle really did surprise me in my own life. It made a Mowgli out of me!
How do you look back on these twenty-five years?
Rajpal: I look back on these twenty-five years and think — it’s been rocking. I feel I’m the luckiest. Back at NSD, we’d always talk about how actors get typecasted so quickly.
So when I got Jungle, I decided — even if I get similar genres of characters, I’d change the mindset of each one. That’s what gave me space to experiment.
There are dozens of films I said no to because they were too similar. I wanted to offer something better, different — not just repeat the same thing. Be it Chup Chup Ke, Hungama, Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh — the range of roles I got has made me happy.
I studied at the institute for five years, did theatre for ten to twelve years, and then twenty-five years in cinema. I also did television for about three years, from ’97 to ’99 — around 10 to 12 serials which included Mungerilal ka bhai Naurangilal. So it’s been nearly 28 years of screen work, and before that, over a decade in theatre.
I started with one-liners in nukkad nataks. And today, I’ve lived over 500 characters. I feel I’ve lived 500 lives in half a century. And now, I feel like — from being an unknown struggler in 1999 — I’ve become a well-known beginner.
Going back to Jungle — what kind of scene would you like to explore now?
Rajpal: Until now, I’ve worked based on the director’s vision. It’s like I was a part of Bollywood’s Team Eleven — and even got to be man of the match a few times.
But now, I want to be part of the world cinema Team Eleven — and be man of the match and man of the series there too.
What’s the story behind your look in Jungle?
Rajpal: When I think of Jungle, I remember — and you can ask the crew — both my feet were covered in calluses from running barefoot in the jungle.
The character wore just a bermuda — no trousers. My hair wouldn’t straighten with washing, so for 40 days I didn’t wash it. We didn’t have proper baths for 40 days. We avoided using pillows — we didn’t want to dirty the beds.
I want to say this — Ram Gopal Varma is a daring man and a daring director. I don’t know what made him fall in love with my performance — but he experimented with me in every kind of role — supporting, main, comic. That opened many doors. I can never thank him enough.