Movie enthusiasts were thrilled when Akshay Kumar announced the third instalment of the Welcome franchise, Welcome To The Jungle. The announcement video featured a delightful surprise with the beloved duo Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi standing alongside Akshay. However, excitement turned to disappointment when rumours surfaced that Sanjay Dutt had exited the project. These reports have been confirmed, but contrary to speculation, Dutt’s departure is not due to any fallout with co-star Akshay Kumar.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, a source revealed that Sanjay Dutt withdrew from Welcome 3 months ago because he struggled with the physical demands of the action scenes after his long battle with cancer.
“Sanjay was very enthusiastic about the film and had even begun shooting. Unfortunately, after completing just one day of filming in Madh Island, a few months back, he informed the director that he couldn’t continue due to health reasons following his battle with cancer and the subsequent treatments. Although Welcome 3 is a masala movie filled with humour, it also involves a lot of action (Sanjay’s character had a lot of action in the movie), which he didn’t anticipate and found himself unable to perform,” the source shared.
Arshad Warsi, who was excited to reunite with his Munna Bhai co-star, had to adjust to the change when Suniel Shetty stepped in to replace Dutt. The source added, “Arshad (Warsi) was quite happy to reconnect with his Munna Bhai co-star, however, it did not work out. As soon as Sanjay informed the team about his decision, Suniel Shetty stepped up to fill in for the former’s role. The filming is almost done and the crew is surprised as to why this negative news has been doing rounds now because this all happened many months ago.”
Besides Akshay, Arshad, and Suniel, Welcome 3 boasts an ensemble cast including Raveena Tandon, Lara Dutta, Jacqueline Fernandez, Disha Patani, Paresh Rawal, Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, and Krushna Abhishek. Directed by Ahmed Khan, the film is set to hit theatres this December.