Main role: Akshay Kumar Welcome to the jungle is on track! Recently, there have been a lot of rumours about the film being shelved after Jio Studios reportedly backed out of the project. The makers have put an end to all the speculations and announced that half of the shooting has been completed and they are now working towards the next schedule.

To refute all the claims, the makers on Sunday (August 25) released a new photo from the sets featuring Akshay, Suniel Shetty, Arshad Warsi, Johnny Lever, Disha Patani and others.

Director Ahmed Khan addressed the rumours and said that they would start the next schedule from October.

In a statement, Khan said, “There is no truth to these rumours. The film is going ahead as per schedule and we will start the next leg of our international marathon programme from October, for which my technical team has already started its initial reconnaissance.”

The third film in the comedy series Welcome is one of the most awaited films of the year. The film has garnered enough attention thanks to the star cast of 34 actors including Akshay, Raveena Tandon, Jacqueline Fernandez, Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Krushna Abhishek, Kiku Sharda, Mukesh Tiwari, Yashpal Sharma, Sayaji Shinde, Jackie Shroff and Aftab Shivdasani. Sanjay Dutt was also a part of the film. However, he left the project due to scheduling issues.

The film has already completed its marathon schedule in Mumbai and Kashmir in August; around 70% of the shooting has already been completed.

The speculation began after it was announced that Jio Studios had dropped out of the project because many fans noticed that the film’s announcement video had disappeared from JioStudios’ official YouTube channel.

Presented by Base Industries Group and produced by Firoz A. Nadiadwallah, the film was originally scheduled to release later this year but has now reportedly been postponed to next year.

(With contributions from agencies)