‘Everyone wanted to be part of it’: Ahmed Khan reveals how ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ kept adding stars

Some films spend months chasing actors. ‘Welcome to the Jungle’, it seems, had the opposite problem.

Speaking to t2online, director Ahmed Khan revealed that the ensemble for the Akshay Kumar-starrer grew almost organically, with actors themselves suggesting new additions and expressing a desire to join the comedy.

While the casting happened quickly, he admitted that coordinating everyone's dates eventually became the real challenge.

"We actually finished doing the primary casting in a week or 10 days. That is because everyone you see in the film wanted to be part of it from the get-go," Khan told t2online.

According to the filmmaker, the excitement only grew once actors heard the script.

"They wanted to come on board for the sake of fun, and when they heard the story, they were even more sold on the project. They were like: 'There is so much meat for all of us!'"

Khan said the film's cast expanded naturally as those who had already signed began recommending other actors.

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"Each one who was signed turned around and said, 'Let's ask this actor, too, to be a part of the film,' or 'You should cast this actress also.' Then someone would call up and ask, 'Hey, why am I missing from the cast?!' So it just kept on adding like this!" he said.

While bringing actors on board wasn't difficult, finding common dates for such a large ensemble turned into a lengthy exercise.

"Casting wasn't tough, the challenge was to get their dates together. In 80 per cent of the film, all the actors are together. That was tough," Khan told t2online, adding that it took nearly two-and-a-half years to coordinate the schedules of more than 27 actors.

In another conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, Khan also shed light on what happened once those dates finally aligned. On some days, the production involved between 700 and 900 people, including actors, their entourages, technicians, stunt teams and background performers.

"Managing our set was less like managing a traditional film shoot and more like organising a massive music concert every single day," he told The Hollywood Reporter India.

Welcome to the Jungle features one of the biggest ensemble casts in recent Hindi cinema, bringing together Akshay Kumar alongside Raveena Tandon, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Arshad Warsi, Lara Dutta, Jackie Shroff, Disha Patani, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Krushna Abhishek and several others.