Akshay Kumar ‘sad’ after Kartik Aaryan was roped in for Hera Pheri 3, agreed for pay cut to star in the film?

Not too long ago, big movie announcements were made and they involved OMG 2 actor Akshay Kumar. Firoz Nadiadwala announced Welcome 3 aka Welcome To The Jungle and Hera Pheri 3, with the original cast. Interestingly, news reports suggested Kartik Aaryan had replaced Akshay in the Hera Pheri franchise. Now, it looks like Akshay came back into the film after a pay cut.

What happened?

A report on Bollywood Hungama suggests that Akshay was sad that Firoz roped in Kartik for the role of Raju in the Hera Pheri franchise. Thus, the actor approached the producer to make amends. He reportedly even took a pay cut to be able to work in the movie with Paresh Rawal and Suniel Shetty again.

Profit-sharing deal?

It looks like Akshay has signed up for a profit-sharing deal with the filmmaker. Akshay and Firoz will share part of the profit if the film happens to work at the Box Office (which, given the Hera Pheri franchise, there’s a strong likelihood).

Welcome To The Jungle in trouble

Soon after its announcement, Welcome To The Jungle shoot was halted. The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) requested Akshay Kumar to halt the shooting of the film because of Firoz Nadiadwala’s non-payment of dues. According to Times of India, FWICE had already issued a non co-operation order on Firoz three years back. Reportedly, pending dues of Rs. 2 crores are yet to be cleared for the technicians who worked on Welcome 2. It is claimed that Firoz stopped payment of cheques after the initial Rs. 2 crores of the promised Rs. 4 crores were deposited in the bank accounts.

Welcome To The Jungle is helmed by Ahmed Khan and stars Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Disha Patani, Lara Dutta, Raveena Tandon, Jacqueline Fernandez and Johnny Lever in pivotal roles. The movie is slated to release on December 20, 2024.