Ahmed Khan’s Welcome To The Jungle is all set to hit the big screens on June 26. One of the biggest talk points of the film, ever since it was announced, was the huge ensemble cast of about 34 actors from different generations. Recently, Ahmed Khan opened up about the logistics of the film, explaining how he managed the scheduling and coordination of so many stars.
Ahmed Khan about ego clashes on sets
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Ahmed admitted that pulling off a film starring Akshay Kumar on such a huge scale was an uphill task, but he added that all the actors were extremely cooperative. He shared, “Usually, on sets with so many big stars, you expect ego clashes, arguments, or friction. But we had none of that; we had a genuinely wonderful time shooting the film. Of course, bringing that many people together under intense heat, managing strict timelines, sorting dates, setting up the camera frames, and mounting the physical sets took immense effort.”
Ahmed Khan on the huge crew on Welcome To The Jungle sets
The director also revealed that there were days when 30 actors were present on set at the same time. Given that each actor is accompanied by a team of around five people, that alone accounts for nearly 150 people. In addition to these teams, the production had a crew of around 200 members.
The filmmaker added that stunt teams, action fighters, horsemen, 150 to 200 background actors, and large dance troupes often led to the total number of people on set to anywhere between 700 and 900 on certain days.
Ahmed describes the process of shooting the film as feeling like organising a massive music concert every day. He also shared how the production had to secure two large adjacent grounds to accommodate the scale of the operation.
He said, “Imagine setting up a shoot of this scale; we didn’t just need a ground, we had to find two massive, adjacent grounds. Why? Because we needed space to park 50 vanity vans. We needed additional holding areas for the background actors and cabins for the main unit. Then consider the commute. The actors arrive in their cars, the technicians in theirs, plus separate vehicles for the makeup teams, hair stylists, and personal staff. We were dealing with 200 to 250 cars arriving daily. Managing our set was less like managing a traditional film shoot and more like organising a massive music concert every single day!”
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