MUMBAI: Bollywood star Akshay Kumar on Wednesday said he has started shooting for the third part of the comedy film franchise "Welcome".

Directed by Ahmed Khan, the upcoming movie in the series is titled "Welcome To The Jungle". It is scheduled to be released in the theatres on December 20, 2024.

Akshay shared the film update on the microblogging site X.

"Absolute madness of masti begins as we start the shoot of #WelcomeToTheJungle. Will need your wishes for this rollercoaster full of all things fun and crazy. #Welcome3," the actor captioned a video from the set.

"Welcome To The Jungle" also stars Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Johnny Lever, Paresh Rawal, Lara Dutta, Rajpal Yadav, Arshad Warsi, Jacqueline Fernandez, Shreyas Talpade, Tusshar Kapoor, Disha Patani, Kiku Sharada and Krushna Abhishek. Singers Daler Mehndi and Mika Singh round out the cast of the film.

The movie, presented by Jio Studios in association with AA Nadiadwala, is produced by Jyoti Deshpande and Firoz A Nadiadwallah.

"Welcome", the first film in the franchise, released in 2007 and the second movie, "Welcome Back", hit the screens in 2015. Both were directed by Anees Bazmee