Amid the West Asia conflict, ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ makers call off their Dubai song shoot; to film it in Mumbai to avoid wasting the ensemble cast’s combination dates
Akshay Kumar, Disha Patani, Jacqueline Fernandez, Suniel Shetty, Raveena Tandon and Arshad Warsi. Pics/Instagram
The ripple effects of the West Asia conflict can be felt the world over, including in the Hindi film industry. On March 30, mid-day reported that the Dubai schedule of Shah Rukh Khan’s King had to scrapped (When war affects the King’s strategy, Mar 30). Now, the latest film to call off its Dubai shoot is the Akshay Kumar-starrer Welcome to the Jungle. Director Ahmed Khan was to take his ensemble comedy to the emirate for a song shoot, but is now reimagining it
in Mumbai.
Postponing the track’s filming was out of the question as it includes the entire primary cast — Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Arshad Warsi, Raveena Tandon, Jackie Shroff, Paresh Rawal, Lara Dutta Bhupathi, Disha Patani, Jacqueline Fernandez, Shreyas Talpade, and many others — and getting their combination dates a second time over would have been difficult. So, the director did the next best thing.
Ahmed Khan
A source revealed, “Elaborate sets will be put up in Madh Island, Golden Tobacco Studio, and Film City in Goregaon. Created by production designer Sailesh Mhadik, the sets will depict night clubs, casinos, and private jets. Ahmed and producer Firoz A Nadiadwallah essentially imagined it as a glamorous song that shows how the rich live the good life. That’s why Dubai would have been the perfect location. The unit waited for a month for things to settle down there, but when they didn’t, they shifted the location.”
Khan will begin the song shoot on April 15. Confirming the location shift, the director told mid-day, “We will now shoot the song in Mumbai. It’s a glamorous song with the entire cast.”
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