He added that the screenplay naturally called for a large cast.

“The script demanded 20 to 25 actors, along with the hero and heroine, all arriving in this village. That’s how we approached the casting.”

‘Getting everyone’s dates together was the biggest challenge’

Samji admitted that coordinating the schedules of so many actors became increasingly difficult as production progressed.

“We had a proper schedule in place initially. For the first schedule, we secured the dates of all 35 actors and completed the shoot smoothly. Later, when the schedule got pushed around, it became difficult because we couldn’t get everyone’s combination dates. Paresh bhai, Rajpal and several others were doing five films each, so it was very tough.”

He clarified that he was unaware of any reported disagreements among the actors and stressed that scheduling was the real hurdle.

“I don’t know anything about egos or fallout between actors. The reason it took time was because we wanted everyone together. That was the USP. We couldn’t shoot them separately. The real struggle was finding dates that worked for everyone.”

Samji also credited executive producer Aniket for managing the complex scheduling process.

“The credit goes to EP Aniket. He deserved a medal because he was constantly trying to work out everyone’s combination dates.”

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‘I’ve never seen Akshay Kumar dwell on failures’

Samji also spoke about Akshay Kumar’s mindset following the actor’s recent run of underperforming films.

“Akshay’s philosophy is simple: keep moving forward. I’ve never seen him sit and evaluate failures in the sense of becoming depressed or letting them affect him deeply. Everyone wants every film to become a huge success, but that doesn’t always happen. I’ve never seen Akshay Kumar sitting there saying, ‘Oh s**t, what happened?’ He’s always like, ‘Move forward in life.’ That’s something I’m learning from him too. He’s a star, and he’ll always remain a star.”

On box office manipulation claims

When asked about the trend of allegedly inflating box office collections and production budgets, Samji said he wasn’t the right person to comment.

“I honestly don’t know how much of it is true, how much is false, or whether there is any manipulation because I’ve always been on the creative side. These business strategies—whether it’s covering up a flop or projecting it as a hit—are things producers and distributors can answer much better.”

Ahmed Khan on Welcome to the Jungle budget

Director Ahmed Khan also recently addressed speculation surrounding the film’s reported budget. In an interview with Screen, Khan said the film was completed within its planned budget because the team kept the shooting schedule under control.

“Rs 125 crore with the P&A (Prints & Advertising). I finished the film in Rs 110 crore. What happens is if I’d have increased the number of days of shoot, the cost would’ve gone higher. I finished the film in 75 days. If your shoot increases by even a day, it just doesn’t increase the number of days, but also the catering cost, per diem, processing fees, and edit and background score expenses.”

Asked if production costs rise more because of longer schedules than the size of the cast, Khan agreed.

“Yes. Had there not been as many actors, I’d have finished the film within 75 days and within Rs 75 crore. I heard at some places that the film’s budget is Rs 200-250 crore. How can anybody say that? If I had spent that much, what’s the point of me being in the industry for 36 years? It’s just that unnecessary myth that if there are so many actors, the budget would be that high. But there’s no truth to that.”

Khan further claimed that the film had recovered its investment even before its theatrical release through non-theatrical rights.

“We recovered the budget even before the film released through satellite, digital, and music rights. It was a hit on paper already (laughs). Now, the box office of the film is out there for everybody to see. My producers are laughing all the way to the bank. It’s a proper, authentic success.”

About Welcome to the Jungle

Welcome to the Jungle is the third instalment in the Welcome franchise and features one of the biggest ensemble casts in recent Bollywood history. Led by Akshay Kumar, the film also stars Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Rajpal Yadav, Jacqueline Fernandez, Disha Patani, Raveena Tandon, Lara Dutta, Johnny Lever, Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff and several others. Produced by Firoz Nadiadwala and directed by Ahmed Khan, the comedy was released in theatres on September 4.