Welcome Back

Casts: John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar, Shruti Haasan
Banner: Eros International, Base Industries Group
Director: Anees Bazmee
Producer: Firoz Nadiadwala and Sunil A Lulla
Writers: Rajiv Kaul and Anees Bazmee
Music: Anu Malik, Abhishek Ray Meet Bros Anjan & Mika Singh, Komail Shayan (KK)
Release Date: 4th September 2015

Story line: Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar) and Majnu bhai (Anil Kapoor) the protagonists from the film WELCOME have left the underworld, and are now big businessmen. Two women, Chandni(Ankita Srivastava) and Maharani (Dimple Kapadia) posing as princess and Queen of Nazafgardh, enter their life;Chandni(Ankita Srivastava) is the new lady love in Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar) and Majnu s(Anil Kapoor) life and both the friends dream of tying the knot with her at the earliest. However Appa - Uday s father (Nana Patekar), plays spoilsport by bringing another daughter Ranjana (Shruti Haasan) from his third marriage. He tells Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar) to get her married to someone from a good family. Maharani (Dimple Kapadia) puts a condition that only after their sister is married Chandni (Ankita Srivastava) will marry one of them. Now a search to find a suitable boy for their sister Ranjana (Shruti Haasan) starts .An idea strikesan and they think of Dr. Ghungroo (Paresh Raval) who may have a far off relative from his extended family since they are already familiar with his credentials. As fate would have it, the day Dr. Ghungroo (Paresh Raval) wife Supriyaconfesses to her husband about Ajay (John Abraham), her grown up son, from a past marriage of his wife. This comes as shocking news to Dr. Ghungroo (Paresh Raval). UdayShetty (Nana Patekar) and Majnu (Anil Kapoor) when they come to know about Dr. Ghungroo (Paresh Raval) son he feel themselves the most happiest as there could be no good family than Dr. Ghungroos (Paresh Raval).Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar) & Majnu (Anil Kapoor) fix their marriage, thinking Ajay (John Abraham) to be a decent boy. However they don t know that Ajay (John Abraham) is a street smart guy and a known Bhai in MumbaiDr. Ghungroo (Paresh Raval) is shocked, and fears that if UdayShetty (Nana Patekar) and Majnu (Anil Kapoor) come to know about the truth of Ajay (John Abraham) being a bhai. They shall break Dr. Ghungroo s (Paresh Raval) bones. As luck would have it though, Ajay (John Abraham) falls in love with Ranjana (Shruti Haasan) and vice versa. Her brothers however on knowing the truth about Ajay (John Abraham), refuse to let them marry. Ajay (John Abraham), who is deeply in love with Ranjana (Shruti Haasan), refuses to leave her. Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar) and Majnu (Anil Kapoor) try every trick in the book to get them separated but does not succeed. So they decide to take help from the most powerful under world don Wanted bhai (Naseeruddin Shah), whose son Honey baba (Shiney Ahuja) is already infatuated with Ranjana (Shruti Haasan) at first site, Now both Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar) and Majnu (Anil Kapoor) are in a fix one, a noted Gunda and a bhai, the other a druggist and a womanizer, and the son of the most dangerous under world Don Wanted Bhai. Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar) Majnu (Anil Kapoor) tries every feather in their arsenal to save their sister from the clutches of the dons son, but fail. So they finally accept Ajay (John Abraham) their sister s real lover.


Know more about the captain of the Ship, the director:  Bazmee started his career in 1988, as a dialogue writer for the film Hum Farishte Nahin. He then took a year break, and returned in 1990 as a writer for the film Swarg, which was directed by David Dhawan and starred Rajesh Khanna and Govinda. He would subsequently collaborate with Dhawan several times.

In 1995, after having written over ten scripts for ten films, including hits such as Aankhen, Bazmee made his directorial debut with the film Hulchul. Starring Ajay Devgn and Kajol, the film went unnoticed critically and commercially as well. However, his attempt to cast Devgan and Kajol once again in 1998 for his second directorial venture, Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, proved successful. The film was both a major critical and commercial success, and turned out as one of the industry's biggest hits that year.

After the success of Pyaar Toh Hona Hi Tha, Bazmee took a five years break from directing. He returned in 2002, with the thriller Deewangee, which performed above average business at the box office. In 2005 Bazmee directed the multi-starrer comedy film, No Entry. The film became the biggest hit of the year, earning over Rs 430 million in its domestic box office. He had a great success with Welcome and Singh Is King. Starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif in the lead roles, the films were commercially successful.

My Gut Feel and comments:
I had watched the trailer of “Welcome Back” thrice back to back to understand and to assess if this latest offering by Anees Bazmee holds same entertainment value as its prequel “Welcome”. Although trailer has been smartly edited with mass appealing dialogues, however I found it too loud to handle and not sure if this will live up to the expectations of the audiences.

“Welcome” had its share of flaws in the script and screen play, however overall it was an entertaining film. Owing to the same fact one can find in featuring on one or the another movie channel  almost every month, still one can watch it even in bits and pieces and cherish it. It had managed to capture the attention of cine lovers who appreciate light hearted comedy with some real funny scenes.
More or else, with the same star cast and similar story line “Welcome Back” can be considered as a fast food meal that will somewhat manage to curb ones hunger for humor.  Though I would not advise to expect anything beyond few laughs and inconsistently scripted story line which is considered to be “OK” by today’s audience.
Going by the impression created by “Welcome”, huge star cast and extensive promotion chances are that “Welcome Back” will register financial success at box office.

Evaluating movie critically would lead to 2.5 stars out of 5 stars from my side 3 days before the release.

Labels: , , , , , , ,