Was MONEY the reason for Anil Kapoor not to be a part of Welcome To The Jungle? Here’s what we know

Whenever one talks of ‘Welcome’, two characters immediately pop up in our minds viz., Majnu and Uday. These two iconic characters were portrayed by Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar. Speaking of the two stellar actors Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar, there was recent news that stated these two actors are no longer a part of the next instalment of ‘Welcome’, which has been titled as ‘Welcome To The Jungle’. The news also stated that Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar have been replaced by Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Wars, who will be playing ‘similar characters’ but in different names.

As per a source-based news report in Bollywood Hungama, it has now been reported that, the main reason for Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar not doing ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ was that of monetary issues. The said report further stated that, even though Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar were offered to be a part of ‘Welcome To The Jungle’, but the deal could not come through as Anil Kapoor reportedly demanded Rs. 18 crores to be a part of the film. After hearing this, the film’s producer Firoz Nadiadwala had got the shock of his life, the report stated.

The said news report further added that, Anil Kapoor was adamant about his fees for the film as he felt justified that the film had the potential to do Rs. 300 crore business at the Indian box office and even though Akshay Kumar tried to intervene, Anil Kapoor was reportedly stuck on the said amount. And, with the exit of Anil Kapoor from the film, Nana Patekar also reportedly made a decision to step out of the film as he did not want to play his iconic role of Udaybhai without Majnubhai (Anil Kapoor).

In an earlier interview with India Today, Arshad Warsi had said that the scale of ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ and the cost of the climax was unreal and that it was an insanely larger-than-life theatrical film which he will be a part of.

As for the film, ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ will now star Akshay Kumar, Disha Patani, Jacqueline Fernandez, Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Suniel Shetty and Krushna Abhishek amongst others. The film is being readied to be released during December next year (2024).