Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi have reportedly replaced Nana Patekar and Anil Kapoor in Welcome 3, officially titled Welcome To The Jungle and set to release next year on Christmas.
Released in 2007, Welcome has become a cul comedy over the years and has become a pop culture phenomenon with its memes still being used after 15 years of its release. Apart from Akshay Kumar leading the film, the crime comedy starred Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar as Majnu Bhai and Uday Bhai and their roles became iconic.
In 2015, the sequel Welcome Back was released with John Abraham replacing Akshay Kumar as the main lead and Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar reprising their roles. However, it failed to recreate the magic of the first part and received negative reviews from audiences and critics.
Now, after 9 years, the third part Welcome 3, officially titled Welcome To The Jungle, is set to release on Christmas 2024. Akshay Kumar will return to the franchise but the characters of Uday Bhai and Majnu Bhai will be played by Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi as Anil and Nana have refused to come on board for the threequel.
Now, as per a recent report, it has been revealed that the Mr. India star demanded a whopping fee of Rs 18 crore for Welcome 3 and hence, was replaced and after his replacement, even the Parinda star refused to be a part of the upcoming film.
A source was quoted telling Bollywood Hungama, "There can't be Welcome without Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar. They were first offered the film, but the conversation soon fell through. Producer Firoz Nadiadwala got the shock of his life when Anil Kapoor demanded Rs. 18 crores to act in the film."
"Anil felt that Welcome is Welcome because of Majnu and the film will just get wider in the third part with the addition of Akshay Kumar. He felt that he deserved the money as the third part is a potential Rs. 300 crore film at India box office and even he deserved the amount he asked for. He tried to put forth his point, but when Firoz refused, he willingly backed out of the film. Akshay Kumar also tried to intervene and get Anil on board, but Anil was stuck on getting Rs. 18 crores", the source further added.
The report also stated, "Uday and Majnu are like Pav and Bhaji. There is no fun to eat either Pav or Bhaji and it makes sense only to have both components together. Once Anil backed out, Nana also took a backseat. Akshay and Firoz then decided to bring in Munna and Circuit in Welcome 3."
While Welcome and Welcome Back were directed by Anees Bazmee, Welcome 3 is reportedly going to be helmed by Ahmed Khan who previously collaborated with the producer Firoz Nadiadwala for Fool & Final in 2007.
READ | Shah Rukh Khan to reportedly reunite with director of one of his biggest hits after nine years
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