Welcome to the Jungle Movie Review and Release Highlights: Akshay Kumar film crosses Rs 15 cr mark; fans call it ‘brain rot comedy’

In an interview with ANI, Raveena Tandon said, "Everybody has been calling me (after watching the film). Also, today is my son's graduation, that's why I took a day off. I think 26th is a lucky number for me. I'm 26th October born. So, 26th is lucky. Also, we're getting great reviews of Welcome to the Jungle. I think it's superb that in such a comedy where everybody is working hard, people are acknowledging the performance, which I think is terrific. What a great day."

She added, "I can describe this as a good thing for me. I was just thinking about doing a fun comedy and Welcome to the Jungle came my way. It was a lot of fun. We have known each other for so many years. Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Farida Ji, and Kiran Kumar, who played my uncle in my first film. Farida Ji played my mother in 'Ziddi' and 'Salaakhen', and many other movies. Then there is Paresh Rawal. Paresh has played the villain in so many of my films. It was such a great camaraderie. Both the girls, Jacqueline Fernandez and Disha Patani, are such lovely girls. It was so much fun working with both of them. One thing I would like to say is that Ahmed Khan has played a big role in this. He is really a person who is not only a very old friend, but he has also given due respect to every artiste. To have so many artistes in a film and to keep everyone together, to give equal importance is a very difficult task. And I think he has achieved it fantastically. Overall, the film has been appreciated by everybody. There is no one who hasn't messaged or called me to praise me and congratulate me. So, I think this is a moment that all of us should enjoy the success of Welcome to the Jungle."

According to trade tracker Sacnilk, Welcome to the Jungle, currently running across 10,487 shows, has earned around Rs 13.40 crore as of 9 pm on Friday. This brings the total India gross collection to Rs 20.31 crore and total India net collection to Rs 17.15 crore.

User @Bas_AKKiann said via X, "Akshay Sir never disappoints with his comic timing, and this time too, he has made us laugh a lot."

User @akispeaks wrote on X, "Welcome To The Jungle does its job for the most part. If only Jackie Shroff and Raveena Tondon had played along rather than being serious in their roles, this would have gotten a high recommendation. The movie is funny in bits, is self aware, cringe in parts and a bit stretched. Didn't like any songs. Can watch if you're going with family, will have giggles throughout, can skip if you're not into nonsensical comedy."

According to trade tracker Sacnilk, Welcome to the Jungle, currently running across 7,944 shows, has earned around Rs 9.01 crore as of 6 pm on Friday. This brings the total India gross collection to Rs 15.13 crore and total India net collection to Rs 12.76 crore.

User @JAYsVilla tweeted, "Welcome To The Jungle is a proper well made brainrot film. The best part of the movie is that it's a clean family entertainer where kids will definitely enjoy this one. It's a pure fan service movie for Akki fans that too even after having huge cast."

According to trade tracker Sacnilk, Welcome to the Jungle, currently running across 7,037 shows, has earned around Rs 7.33 crore as of 5 pm on Friday.

Although Anil Kapoor's Uday Shetty and Nana Patekar's Majnu Bhai do not appear in Welcome To The Jungle, director Ahmed Khan has introduced two new characters from the same family tree—Yeda Anna and Romeo, played by Suniel Shetty and Arshad Warsi, respectively. Explaining the creative decision, Ahmed said, "Uday Shetty's brother is Yeda Anna and Majnu's brother is Romeo. They share the same bloodline. One thing that they have in common is the dream to become actors. You will like Yeda Anna and Romeo as much. So, we have made it bigger. We made it younger and we have given it a different quest. Of course, you can't take away from them what they have done (Uday Shetty and Majnu Bhai)."

Welcome To The Jungle's choreographer-turned-filmmaker Ahmed Khan shared with PTI that he stayed in constant touch with Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar throughout the film's production. Recalling their conversations, he said, "We talked all the time. We used to call during the shoot. Nana had just called and asked, 'How is it going? When will you show the film to me? Tell Akshay that I am not available.' They keep calling and they talk. Anil sir called and said, 'How is it going? Next time we will plan something.'"

Welcome To The Jungle features an unusual sequence that appears immediately after the intermission slate, offering audiences an unexpected surprise. According to Bollywood Hungama, as the word "Intermission" flashes on screen, Akshay Kumar appears holding a tub of popcorn and jokingly tells viewers that the makers had shot a scene but couldn't decide where to include it in the film. So, they chose to play it right after the interval. The humorous fourth-wall-breaking moment is then followed by the song 'Kyun', featuring Akshay Kumar and Disha Patani, making for a fun and unconventional cinematic experience.

The Indian Express' film critic Shubhra Gupta gave the film Welcome To The Jungle a 1.5 star and shared in her review how the film struggles under the weight of having too many characters and an overcrowded narrative. While Akshay Kumar's comic timing and a few humorous moments stand out, the film is said to be weighed down by an overstuffed screenplay, leaving little room for its talented cast to shine. Despite its nostalgic appeal and star power, the review suggests that the comedy often feels forced, making Welcome To The Jungle an entertaining yet inconsistent addition to the franchise. READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE

X user @Surajkumarrevi1 shared Welcome To The Jungle's first half review and wrote, "The Idea, The Crossover, The meta References everything till now is unexpectedly Entertaining. Agey ka pata nahi but abtak mein feel hua ki trailer kaatne wale ka haath kaatna chaiye."

X page @Its_CineHub shared a take on Welcome to the Jungle Movie and wrote, "Done watching Welcome To The Jungle and OMG it is so so HILARIOUS Meta references of all the OG comedy classics like Phir Hera Pheri, Awara Paagal Deewana, Welcome and so many iconic Akshay Kumar films… and they actually land. Akshay Kumar absolutely STEALS the SHOW, especially in his 2nd role ! His comic timing is just UNMATCHED. Suniel Shetty is SUPERB, and all our OG comedy legends like Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav and the entire supporting cast deliver GOOD PERFORMANCES The storyline is decent, but the REAL HERO is the execution. Dialogues, parody, comedy, references to older films, fake identity confusion, hilarious situations… everything is designed purely for entertainment Just keep your brain at home and go have a gala time with your family! The entire auditorium was LAUGHING, CHEERING and ENJOYING every other scene ! The film starts on an average note but picks up insanely well around 20 mins before the interval. From there, it’s comedy, comedy and more comedy."

X page Bollywood Talkies posted Welcome To The Jungle review and wrote, "WTTJ is pure brainrot in the best way possible. It is chaotic, mad and genuinely funny. The film creates a world of its own, where logic takes a backseat and chaos, comedy and madness do all the talking. It keeps the entertainment flowing with silly humour, fun one-liners and plenty of over-the-top moments that actually land. The background score also adds nicely to the madness and helps maintain the film’s fun, high-energy vibe throughout. There’s simply no one like Akshay Kumar when it comes to comedy, and Ahmed Khan gives him plenty of aura-farming moments, backed by some spectacular action sequences that elevate his screen presence even further. The supporting cast adds to the fun too, with Suniel Shetty, Arshad Warsi, Paresh Rawal and others keeping the entertainment going. Jackie Shroff is fun as the villain, and seeing Akshay Kumar and Raveena Tandon together again is a lovely nostalgic touch. Despite the huge cast and all the chaos, the film manages to stay entertaining for most of its runtime. It does go a bit overboard in a few places, but the overall fun factor stays intact. It’s loud, silly and completely brain-off, but that’s exactly the point."

Trade analyst Joginder Tuteja took to X to post his review for the Akshay Kumar's film and posted, "Welcome To The Jungle- Non-stop action comedy that moves at a rapid pace. If Manmohan Desai had made Sholay with Amar Akbar Anthony then he would have made Welcome To The Jungle. As the great filmmaker used to say, a commercial movie needs to have a highlight sequence every 10 minutes. This is what happens here as comedy, action, music peppers the screenplay and then gets into a repeat mode to ensure that there is no dull moment. Akshay Kumar is simply excellent in his comic avtar and surpasses a lot of his other legendary characters this time around. His double role act is a hoot. Also, his scenes with Raveena Tandon are the best part of the film. It’s wonderful to see Suniel Shetty back on screen. He is superb and so is Arshad Warsi who is just natural. Veterans Johny Lever, Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav bring the house down."

X user @kshetrapalbhati posted, "No logic, no physics, just pure chaos and laughter till interval. Public is enjoying brainrot comedy till interval… and loving every second of it."

User @_mrchaturvedi took to X and wrote, "WelcomeToTheJungle - started off really slow and kinda boring.. up until the entire cast was trying to make a film.. but then something happened, and now they have to finish shooting somehow in one day.. now after this point,, the film gets really hilarious. Some sequence are very good, I had a good laugh.. public enjoyed too.. So basically… quarter half of first half is kinda very funny and yeah, interval is not regular interval but have a Akshay and Disha song as interval. There are some negatives too but they will be in full review. First half."

Director Ahmed Khan revealed what a regular day on Akshay Kumar-starrer adventure comedy Welcome to the Jungle looked like -- 900 people, 50 vanity vans, and 250 cars.

Sharing a poster of Welcome to the Jungle on his Instagram Stories, Akshay Kumar wrote, "Critics and influencers, please replace star ratings with laughter emojis."

Sharing a promo of Welcome To The Jungle song "O Mere Balam", Akshay Kumar revealed that the paid previews of the comedy film will begin at 7:30 pm today.

In an interview with Rediff, director Ahmed Khan talked about shooting with 34 actors. He said, "It wasn't tough. Everybody thought that there will be a problem for me, but there was no problem. I had only one problem, though. When everybody used to come on set, half of the time was wasted in greeting each other. Everybody was like, 'Arre, how are you?' 'What are you doing?' and things like that. Now, he (pointing at Akshay) comes on time. Anna (Suniel Shetty) comes on time. The next one-and-a-half hour would be followed by everyone's arrival. I used to be a little worried about that. But as soon we would start rolling camera, it was super smooth."

Welcome to the Jungle boasts a star-studded ensemble cast featuring Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Disha Patani, Jacqueline Fernandez, Arshad Warsi, Jackie Shroff, Paresh Rawal, Raveena Tandon, Lara Dutta, Farida Jalal, Johnny Lever, Shreyas Talpade, Tusshar Kapoor, Rajpal Yadav, Krushna Abhishek, Kiku Sharda, Daler Mehndi, Mika Singh, Aftab Shivdasani, Mukesh Tiwari, Yashpal Sharma, Kiran Kumar, Zakir Hussain, Vindu Dara Singh, Pankaj Dheer, Urvashi Rautela, Hemant Pandey, Brijendra Kala, Firoz Khan, Puneet Issar, Sudesh Berry and Jeetu Verma.