Welcome to the Jungle is a 2026 Indian Hindi-language action adventure comedy film directed by Ahmed Khan, written by Neeraj Vora, and produced by Firoz Nadiadwala, Rakesh Dang, and Vedant Vikaas Baali under Base Industries Group, Cape of Good Films, and Seeta Films. The film stars an ensemble cast of Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Paresh Rawal, Arshad Warsi, Raveena Tandon, Jacqueline Fernandez, Disha Patani, Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav, Farida Jalal, Lara Dutta, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Aftab Shivdasani, Yashpal Sharma (actor), and Akshara Singh cameo as a Bhojpuri actress. It is the third installment in the Welcome film series, succeeding Welcome (2007) and Welcome Back (2015) . It is loosely based on the 2005 American film The Producers as well as the 2008 American film Tropic Thunder . Principal photography took place in Mumbai and the United Arab Emirates.
Welcome to the Jungle was released worldwide on 26 June 2026. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a commercial success. It is the 9th highest-grossing Hindi film of 2026.
Plot
Welcome to the Jungle follows Sinha, a wealthy businessman who seeks to avoid paying taxes by creating a ₹2,000 crore film that is deliberately designed to fail. His secretary, Dubey, suggests producing a high-budget movie featuring an unsuccessful actor and an inexperienced director duo.
Sinha agrees to the plan, and Dubey assembles a large cast and crew. Rajiv Kohli is selected as the lead actor, while Dev and Das are appointed as directors. Rajiv's former lover, Nadia, is also brought into the project. However, two underworld figures, Yeda Anna Shetty and Romeo, pressure the directors into giving them prominent roles in the film.
The film's story follows an Indian military mission to rescue a village. During filming, the production encounters numerous accidents, misunderstandings, and unexpected expenses. The project quickly exceeds its budget, creating difficulties for Sinha's plan.
Meanwhile, an income-tax raid leaves Sinha without the money needed to continue production. Desperate to complete the film, he orders Dubey to finish the remaining work within a single day. However, a costly set has already been destroyed without any usable footage being recorded.
The action director, Dominic, suggests moving production to a nearby village that resembles the original set. He warns the crew that the region is threatened by terrorists, but the filmmakers decide to proceed.
When the crew arrives, the villagers mistake the actors for real Indian soldiers who have come to rescue them. At the same time, the filmmakers misunderstand the villagers' fear and reactions, believing that everything is part of the film's production.
As the real danger increases, the fictional military mission turns into an actual struggle for survival. The crew becomes involved in a series of chaotic situations involving criminals, terrorists, and the villagers, forcing the unlikely heroes to confront a crisis beyond the film set.
Cast
Production Principal photography began in December 2023. The film was shot primarily in Mumbai, where a 10-acre jungle set was constructed and a replica of a Kashmiri town was constructed at Film City, Goregaon . Filming also took place in the United Arab Emirates, across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Ras Al Khaimah, where two romantic songs were filmed. In June 2025, the film got delayed due to financial crises. Later in November 2025, the film's shoot resumes with the shooting of a song sequence. Principal photography was completed in December 2025.
Music
The title track "Welcome to the Jungle" was released on 18 May 2026. The second single "Ghis Ghis Ghis" was released on 25 May 2026. The third song, "Ucha Lamba Kad Forever," was a recreated version of "Uncha Lamba Kad" from the first film and was released on 1 June 2026. The fourth single "Deewane Hain" was released on 18 June 2026. The fifth single "Tera Paisa Mera Paisa" was released on 23 June 2026.
The song "Kaanta Laga," sung by Lata Mangeshkar and composed by R. D. Burman from the film Samadhi (1972) and its 2002 remix by DJ Doll, is featured in a sequence with Disha Patani, Jacqueline Fernandez, and Farida Jalal.
Release
Theatrical Welcome to the Jungle was a worldwide theatrical release on 26 June 2026. Paid preview night shows were held on 25 June 2026.
Certification The film received a UA 16+ certificate on 22 June 2026 by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in a total duration of 164 minutes.
Home media The film began streaming on JioHotstar from 21 August 2026.
Reception
Box office On its opening day, the film earned ₹14.80 crore at the domestic box office. Paid preview screenings held a day prior to its release contributed an additional ₹3.93 crore, taking the film's opening collection to ₹18.73 crore.
Welcome to the Jungle grossed worldwide. It grossed in India and in the overseas market.
Critical response
A critic at Bollywood Hungama awarded Welcome to the Jungle is a 3.5-star out of 5, concluding, "On the whole, WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE is a madcap, no-holds-barred comic entertainer that works due to its brainrot humor, grand scale, massy moments, and unexpected developments. The film is not for those seeking logic or subtlety. However, its unabashed madness and crowd-pleasing moments give it a strong chance to find favor in mass centers. At the box office, it can emerge as a wholesome entertainer for viewers looking for paisa-vasool fun."
Titas Chowdhury of News18 gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5, also writing, "Basically, Welcome To The Jungle throws everything at the wall, right from meta humor, slapstick, and nostalgia to action and gibberish, and somehow, enough of it sticks. There’s nothing that lies beneath the noise, and it may not make sense, but then again, sense was never really the point. It works best when you surrender to its wild, logic-defying energy and simply go along for the ride."
A critic at Scroll noted, "A comedy inspired by The Producers and Tropic Thunder, which itself is ripe for parody, cheerfully acknowledges its unending appetite for nonsensical scenes." Rahul Desai of The Hollywood Reporter India juxtaposed, "Whereas Tropic Thunder sent up everything from method acting to war-movie tropes, Welcome to the Jungle spoofs its own ilk: tax-evasion projects disguised as jingoistic spectacles, opportunistic filmmakers, exes working together, spineless stars who magically grow a conscience, film industries preying on the anxieties of a nation, and the formula of box-office success. The premise is localised."
Agnivo Niyogi of The Telegraph pointed out, "Yet throughout the film, one cannot help but miss the manic brilliance that Nana Patekar and Anil Kapoor brought to the earlier Welcome films. Their absence leaves a noticeable void that no amount of star power quite manages to fill.
Rishabh Suri of Hindustan Times gave the film 3 stars out of 5, praising the comic timing of Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav, the acting performances of the ensemble cast, the chemistry of Akshay Kumar with his Hera Pheri colleagues (Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, and Rajpal Yadav), and the dialogues by Farhad Samji; however, he was disappointed by the film's soundtrack and found the climax too stretched out.
Vinamra Mathur of Firstpost gave it 3 stars out of 5, also concluding, "But Welcome To The Jungle works more than it doesn’t due to its self-awareness. It’s a film that fully commits to its idiocy. It stops at nothing. It halts at nothing. We may not take back anything. But a smile amid the time of gloom also works if you can’t entirely guffaw."
Archika Khurana of The Times of India rated the film 3/5 stars as well, appreciating the comedy in the film remaining, 'largely clean and situational rather than relying on forced vulgarity or loud gimmicks.'
Vineeta Kumar of India Today rated the film 2.5/5 stars, writing, "Welcome to the Jungle could have been a jungle comedy about anything. Instead, it wants to do it all—being a spoof, an action film, a patriotic drama, a romance, a social commentary, a war movie, and also a showcase for every celebrity with a free weekend."
Sukanya Verma of rediff.com gave the film 2.5 stars out of 5 and also wrote, "Welcome To The Jungle's crowded chaos strays wholly from its loony gangsters theme to achieve its 'big is better' beliefs. Director Ahmed Khan replaces Anees Bazmee for this sillier-by-the-second spectacle starring a swarm of stars. As a matter of fact, one hour of its 164-minute-long circus is spent introducing its unending stock of characters as part of Welcome To The Jungle's grand humorous plan."
Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated the film 2/5 stars, remarking, "Welcome to the Jungle bungs in whatever it can rustle up and get away with. While it is at it, it lampoons, among other things, the overdose of patriotic fervor that Hindi films about anti-terror secret agents peddle these days."
Aishani Biswas of Outlook gave it 2 stars out of 5 also and remarked, "Welcome to the Jungle never reaches the heights of the original Welcome, nor does it fully recapture the brilliance of the Priyadarshan-Neeraj Vora era that clearly inspired it. The writing is messy, the politics are unnecessary, and much of the humor belongs to another time. Even so, buried beneath all that noise is a film that occasionally reminds you why this style of Bollywood comedy became so beloved in the first place.
Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film 1.5 stars out of 5, elaborating on the discourse around Bollywood's brain rot phenomenon, "The trouble with going down the brain rot path is that it needs to be consistently rotting our brains at a fast pace. Remember David Dhawan, who worked at a time when there was no internet constantly telling us how to define pop culture, in his heyday? This welcome, groaning under the presence of all the heavyweights, lumbers about, giving us time to think. Where are the zippy writers when you need them?"
Anuj Kumar of The Hindu critiqued, "The moments are engineered as a collection of 30-second conceptual hooks designed to trend on social media. Though CBFC scissors have a role to play as well, it seems the makers are more interested in creating viral Instagram reels to generate buzz than in building a substantial story. As a result, the trailer is excellent, but the theatrical experience crumbles, leaving the actors visibly stranded on screen."
References
External links