Sanjay Dutt: Ahmed Khan opens up on why Sanjay Dutt walked out of ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ midway through the shoot, ‘We shot a part’ | Hindi Movie News
‘Welcome to The Jungle’, helmed by Ahmed Khan, features a massive ensemble of more than 30 actors, yet several names originally attached to the project, among them Sanjay Dutt, Sharib Hashmi, Rahul Dev, and singer Mika Singh, were noticeably 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 medical treatment around that time. According to the director, the crew had already wrapped a few scenes with Sanjay by the time he stepped away from the film.
Sanjay Dutt loved the script, says Ahmed Khan
Ahmed revealed that Sanjay was genuinely eager to be part of the film, largely because several of his close friends from the industry were also starring in it. “Sanju Baba loved the script, and he really wanted to be a part of the film. Film mein itne saare friends the unke (Quite a few 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 date issues. He had to go to the US. He went there for his treatment, and I couldn’t shift the dates of so many actors,” Khan told News18.
Sanjay Dutt helped find his replacement
According to Ahmed, once Sanjay stepped away from the film, he personally pitched in to help find someone to fill his shoes. The director shared that Dutt himself reached out to Suniel Shetty, persuading him to step into the role meant for him, and then convinced Jackie Shroff to take on the part originally written for Suniel. “He graciously called Suniel Shetty and told him to play the character that he was supposed to play and requested Jackie Shroff to play the role that Suniel Shetty was initially set to play. He set up a solution for his unavailability. We’ll always remain grateful to baba for that,” he added.
Film crosses Rs 100 crore mark despite Sanjay Dutt’s exit
‘Welcome To The Jungle’, which features a key cast including Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Disha Patani, Jacqueline Fernandez, Arshad Warsi, Jackie Shroff, Paresh Rawal, Raveena Tandon, Lara Dutta, Farida Jalal, Johny Lever, Shreyas Talpade, Tusshar Kapoor, and Rajpal Yadav, has already crossed the Rs 100 crore mark at the worldwide box office.
