Directed by Ahmed Khan, ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ has a huge ensemble cast of over 30 actors, yet several names among them have been originally attached to the project. Sanjay DuttSharib Hashmi, Rahul Dev, and singer Mika Singh, were notably absent from the finished movie. Breaking his silence on Sanjay’s exit, Khan has now pushed back against claims of tension between the actor and the production team. He explained that the actor’s departure came down to a clash in his schedule, adding that Dutt had also flown to the US for treatment at the time. According to the director, the crew had already wrapped a few scenes with Sanjay when he walked out of the film.
Sanjay Dutt liked the script, says Ahmed Khan
Ahmed revealed that Sanjay was indeed keen to be a part of the film, mainly because several of his close friends from the industry also starred in it. “Sanju Baba loved the script, and he really wanted to be a part of the film. Film May Eaten Sara Bandhu The Unke (several of his friends were working in the film) – Jaggu Dada (Jackie Shroff), Akshay Kumar, etc. He was thrilled. We shot a part of the film with him. But he had problems with dates. He had to go to the United States. He went there for his treatment, and I couldn’t change the dates of so many actors,” Khan told News18.
Sanjay Dutt helped find his replacement
According to Ahmed, once Sanjay walked away from the film, he personally helped find someone to fill his shoes. The director shared that Dutt himself reached out to Sunil Shetty, convinced him to step into the role intended for him, and then persuaded Jackie Shroff to take on the part originally written for Sunil. “He kindly called Sunil Shetty and asked him to play the role he was supposed to play and requested Jackie Shroff to play the role that Sunil Shetty was initially set to play. He set a solution for her unavailability. We will always be grateful to Baba for that,” he added.
The film crossed the Rs 100 crore mark despite Sanjay Dutt’s exit
‘Welcome to the Jungle’, which has an original cast including Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty. Disha Patani, Jacqueline Fernandez, Arshad WarsiJackie Shroff, Paresh Rawal, Raveena Tandon, Lara Dutta, Farida Jalal, Johnny Lever, Shreyas Talpar, Tushar Kapoorand Rajpal Yadav, has already crossed Rs 100 crore at the worldwide box office.
