The makers of Welcome to the Jungle, released the film's announcement teaser earlier this week. Headlined by Akshay Kumar, the upcoming comedy-drama is the third installment of the popular Welcome franchise.
However, as per reports, the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), has now demanded a halt on the shoot of the film over an issue of non-payment of dues involving producer Firoz Nadiadwala.
According to a report by ETimes, the FWICE issued a non-cooperation order on Nadiadwala for defaulting payments amounting to Rs 2 crore and has approached the film's cast seeking to halt the shoot.
BN Tiwari, President of FWICE, told ETimes in an interview, "We have informed all the actors of the film, including Akshay Kumar and Disha Patani, that the federation has issued a non-cooperation on Firoz Nadiadwala for defaulting payments and that they should not shoot for the film unless pending dues of Rs 2 crore are cleared for the technicians."
He added, "Firoz Nadiadwala had paid the technicians of Welcome 2 in 2015, and the amount was about Rs 4 crore, which was later reduced to Rs 2 crore. However, Nadiadwala stopped payment of the cheque after we deposited it."
The president further stated that they will not allow Nadiadwala to shoot Welcome to the Jungle until he has cleared all the dues. "We issued non-cooperation in 2015 but will implement it now, as he has finally begun work on his next film and we will not allow him to shoot it till the payment is cleared," Tiwari said.
In addition to Akshay, Welcome to the Jungle also stars Raveena Tandon, Lara Dutta, Jacqueline Fernandez, Disha Patani, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Arshad Warsi, Paresh Rawal, Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Krushna Abhishek, Kiku Sharda, Daler Mehndi, Mika Singh, Rahul Dev, Mukesh Tiwari, Sharib Hashmi, Inaamulhaq, Zakir Hussain, Yashpal Sharma, and Vrihi Kodvara.
Welcome to the Jungle is helmed by Ahmed Khan and produced by Jyoti Deshpande and Nadiadwala. It is scheduled for its theatrical release on 20 December 2024.
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