Welcome Back Review {3.5/5} & Review Rating
When a certain movie clicks with the cinegoers and also enjoys a strong recall value, many filmmakers encash on it by making sequels. There have been many such films that mirror this trend. Franchises like DHOOM, TANU WEDS MANU, MURDER, DON, GOLMAAL, HOUSEFULL have been very successful with the film loving audiences. While some of the sequels hit goldmine at the box-office, others bit the dust. This week's release is WELCOME BACK, which happens to be the sequel to the 2007 hit comedy WELCOME. Will this film repeat the box-office success of WELCOME or will it bite the dust, let's analyze.
WELCOME BACK starts off with the picturesque Dubai and the grand entry of the 'now-transformed-but-still-unmarried' Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar) and Majnu Pandey (Anil Kapoor). Just as these dons start enjoying their reformed 'clean' lives as respectable members of society, there enters Babita aka Rajkumari Chandni (Ankita Shrivastava) and her gorgeous mother Poonam aka Maharani (Dimple Kapadia). Even though they claim to be the princess and Maharani of Najafgadh, the actual fact remains that they are thugs of the highest order whose main motive is to con the rich men and siphon off their money. Unaware of their background, Uday and Majnu fall in love with the Rajkumari, so much so that there comes a situation when their best friendship is at stake. Just when Uday and Majnu initiate their matrimonial meet with Rajkumari and Maharani, there enters Uday's 'poor' father (Nana Patekar in a double role), who 'thrusts' the responsibility of his daughter Ranjhana's (Shruti Haasan) marriage to Uday and Majnu. Seizing this opportunity, Maharani lays a condition that her 'princess' daughter's wedding with either Majnu or Uday will happen only after Ranjhana's wedding. In the meantime, due to certain circumstances and situational misunderstandings, Ranjhana falls in love with Ajju bhai (John Abraham) who is a Mumbai based goon and also Dr. Ghungroo (Paresh Rawal)'s step son from Mrs. Ghungroo (Supriya Karnik). In order to create a good impression before Uday and Majnu, Ajju 'disguises' himself as a decent, sober, well-mannered guy when he comes to Dubai. But when Uday and Majnu discover Ajju's true identity, hell breaks loose and they seek the help of the deadly Wanted Bhai (Naseeruddin Shah) in order to eliminate Ajju. Things take an unexpected u-turn when they realize that Wanted Bhai's only son (Shiney Ahuja) is not just a drug addict, but also blindly in love with Ranjhana. Will the 'still-bachelors' Uday and Majnu ultimately find love, will they ever discover Maharani and Chandni's true identities, will it be Ajju or Wanted Bhai's son who will win over Ranjhana and a comedy of errors is what forms the rest of the film.
Director Anees Bazmee (who also doubles up as the film's writer) needs to be patted on the back for having handled an ensemble cast (read 'plethora of stars'), all under one roof, with utmost ease. All those who loved WELCOME will not be disappointed with WELCOME BACK. WELCOME BACK does not really have a uniform storyline, but yet the whole affair turns out to be very funny. The film looks lavish and has been shot at very grand and expensive locations in Dubai, which definitely makes this film for a big screen watch! The best part about the film is that, Anees has equally balanced the craziness between the first and the second half of the film. The flip side of the film is that there are too many plots and sub plots, which ends up confusing the viewers at times. Had it not been for a handful of stretched subplots, the overall film would have been tighter and a sheer delight to watch. Though the screenplay is not very strong, it is the 'individual scenes' that work in the favor and progress of the film. Despite the film being lengthy overall, it manages to entertain with its non-stop humor. Though certain scenes in the film take you on a high comically, there are some sequences where the humour doesn't quite work. All in all, even though the film does not have any story as such, still director Anees Bazmee has smartly integrated the scenes around the WELCOME franchise. WELCOME BACK bears the quintessential 'Anees Bazmee stamp' throughout.
The comedy scenes and one-liners in the film are brilliant. Do not miss the 'graveyard scene' with Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar. Also, their interactions with Paresh Rawal and Naseeruddin Shah are simply outstanding.
Despite being an ensemble cast, it is the inimitable Nana Patekar and 'jhakaaas' Anil Kapoor who carry the film on their shoulders, both of whom are in full form. This duo pulls all stops to come up with yet another memorable show with WELCOME BACK. While the entire first half of the film belongs to Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar and their antics, the second half gets taken over by the talented Naseeruddin Shah. It is really nice and endearing to see him do such an out and out comedy film after a long time. Paresh Rawal, on the other hand, chips in his set of trademark style comedy and delivers a powerful act. The seasoned and 'the ever-dependable' actor that he is, Paresh makes no mistakes in tickling your funny bone with his antics and performance. The film sees the veteran actors carry the film with ease and make it a laugh riot. John Abraham, on the other hand, has a meaty role and he does his part well. This film will see him playing a typical 'Mumbaiyya tapori'. This role comes as a breather amidst all his 'macho-action' roles. Amongst the ladies, Dimple Kapadia is as gracious as ever with her in her role. This versatile and talented actress is extremely funny in her role of a con-artist. On the other hand, Shruti Haasan and the debutante Ankita Shrivastava perform their parts decently. Shiney Ahuja, in his 'comeback role' does leave an impression on the audience with his decent portrayal. Hopefully, this film will help him get the much needed 'welcome back' from the film industry.
While the film's music (Anu Malik, Meet Bros & Anjjan, Mika Singh) fails to impress and is a big letdown, it is the background score (Aadesh Shrivastava) that has the film moving. The film's actions (Abbas Ali Moghul) are executed really well. The entire climax sequence (directed by Firoz Nadiadwallah) is very sleek and has never been done before in any Bollywood film so far! The film's cinematography (Kabir Lal) is very impressive. The film's editing (Steven Bernard) could have been more tailored in order to make it more entertaining. Had the film's length been shorter with a deletion of a few scenes, the film wouldn't have suffered the lag. Special brownie points to the film's dialogue writer (Raaj Shaandilyaa) for coming up with hilarious situational one liners that will leave the audiences in splits.
On the whole, if you enjoy slapstick comedy that defies logic and have enjoyed WELCOME, then WELCOME BACK is surely a paisa vasool entertainer for you.
