Ahmed Khan clarified that Sanjay Dutt walked out of Welcome to the Jungle due to scheduling conflicts and a medical trip to the United States.
Khan dismissed rumours of any fallout between Dutt and the film's production team.
Sanjay Dutt had already filmed several initial scenes for the movie before his exit.
Sanjay Dutt left Welcome to the Jungle after shooting a few initial scenes. Earlier, Akshay Kumar shared a reel, where he was seen riding on a horse while Dutt followed him on a bike.
Director Ahmed Khan revealed the real reason behind Sanjay Dutt's departure, rejecting rumours of a fallout between the actor and the team.
Scheduling conflicts and treatment
Sanjay was highly motivated to join the project because close friends, including Jackie Shroff and Akshay Kumar, were part of the cast.
"Sanju Baba loved the script, and he really wanted to be a part of the film. Film mein itne saare friends the unke (Quite a few of his friends were working on the film) – Jaggu Dada (Jackie Shroff), Akshay Kumar, etc. He was thrilled. We shot a part of the film with him. But he had date issues. He had to go to the US. He went there for his treatment, and I couldn't shift the dates of so many actors," Ahmed told News18.
How Sanjay came with a solution of replacement
Sanjay called Suniel Shetty to take over his character and requested Jackie to assume the role initially meant for Suniel.
"He graciously called Suniel Shetty and told him to play the character that he was supposed to play and requested Jackie Shroff to play the role that Suniel Shetty was initially set to play. He set up a solution to his unavailability. We'll always remain grateful to baba for that," Ahmed added.
Welcome to the Jungle, that hit the screens on June 26, features more than 30 actors. Apart from Akshay, Suniel and Jackie, the adventure comedy also stars Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Arshad Warsi, Raveena Tandon, Disha Patani, Jacqueline Fernandez, Lara Dutta, Farida Jalal, Johnny Lever, Shreyas Talpade, Tusshar Kapoor and others.
It has already crossed the Rs 100 crore mark globally.
