Welcome

Director: Aneez Bazmee
Producer: Firoz A. Nadiadwala
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Nana Patekar, Anil Kapoor, Feroz Khan, Paresh Rawal, Mallika Sherawat
Music: Himesh Reshammiya

Hapless bachelor, beautiful girl, perplexed uncle and girl's three notorious brothers…. filled in with some great hilarious comical exploits and you get the finest recipe of comical adventures in 'Welcome'. Welcome to the "Funny-Land" of 'Welcome', where comical movie creates a commotion of laughter that stays in minds and senses till the last reel of the film. Director Anees Bazmee has marvelously vitalized the success of his last super-hit 'No Entry' by pulverizing great comical talents with hilariously penned screenplay into his film.

'Welcome' holds significance, as it is 17th communion of Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal. Besides this unification, it's Anil Kapoor and Feroz Khan coming together after 21 years. The lady luck seems to be smiling big and high with Akshay Kumar as 'Welcome' will surely be one big grosser of this year. 'Welcome' lives up to its high expectations and is all due to perfect scripting (Anees Bazmee, Rajiv Kaul and Prafful Parekh) coupled with mind-blowing cinematography (Sanjay Gupta) and brilliant performances by lead actors.

The plot of 'Welcome' holds some striking resemblance with Hollywood's 'Analyze This' (1999) but the added dimensions of peculiar characterizations and bizarre plots with the equanimity of brilliantly penned screenplay makes it a completely outstanding entertainer. Earlier films like 'Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin' and 'Shaadi Se Pehle' were conceived with similar plots but none of them was finely scripted that can really set the box-office on fire. The concept of comical villainy lives many lives with this film as there are three major actors (Paresh Rawal, Anil Kapoor and Feroz Khan) delivering their best.

Handsome but still bachelor, Rajiv (Akshay Kumar) always falls short of a deserving bride. The reason of this shortcoming is his obstinate and stubborn uncle Dr. Ghungroo (Paresh Rawal) who refuses any and every relation that has criminal backdrop. This Dr. Ghungroo is a special doctor who never misses any opportunity to swivel his head. Now, this should not be misinterpreted with his lascivious behavior but it's just a habit that fails to die.

The relationship between him and Rajiv is great but there is something amiss in it. One Beautiful Girl! Finally, the destiny brings closer to a porcelain beauty named Sanjana (Katrina Kaif) at a burning shopping mall. Now, the anti-climax! Girl saves boy as he is swooned by her immaculate charm and gets burnt in this mishap.

Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar) has an insatiable desire to be Bollywood actor but the destiny makes him one of the dreadful dons of the city. His only dream is to get suitable groom for his sister - Sanjana, but the fateful day looks impossible. Uday's gang is peculiar one and every member is moreover a visiting card of his criminal acts. But still he falls short of a deserving boy as nobody dares enter into relationship with his criminal family backdrop.

Majnoo Bhai (Anil Kapoor), a self-style "Picasso" who dares paint the whole city at gun point lives dangerously. This sibling of Uday Shetty is also concerned with the marriage of his sister and can go to any extreme to make things work. Dr. Ghungroo gets a "Welcome" proposal of marriage for his nephew from Uday Shetty. The acceptance seems to be the last word, so both Majnoo and Uday plan to get him entangled in their web of extortion. There are some funky witty one-liners by Nana Patekar and Paresh Rawal where the whole theatre bursts into laughter.

Do visit the finest of slapstick comedy when Rajiv along with Dr. Ghungroo and his wife gets messed up in a car mishap. It's one of the finest scripted comical acts that can bring house down. Dr. Ghungroo along with Rajiv and his wife take shelter at a beach where the destiny brings closer to Sanjana again.

There is some well-penned screenplay where Katrina Kaif befools Akshay Kumar on an April Day. Do expect another clapping and whistling when things get comically berserk after Paresh Rawal gets trapped on the roof top while escaping from Anil Kapoor and his gang.

Love blooms between Rajiv and Sanjana and finally they meet Uday Shetty for the final marriage proposal. The world turns upside down for Dr. Ghungroo after witnessing Uday and Majnoo as Sanjana's brothers. The fairy tale love story of Rajiv and Sanjana meets opposition from Dr. Ghungroo but he is confronted by Sanjana's brothers. The sequence where Anil Kapoor threatens Akshay Kumar on the seaside is brilliantly shot.

RDX (Feroze Khan), the big boss among these notorious brothers, gets "Welcome" invitation for the Rajiv-Sanjana marriage. The engagement ceremony takes a jolt when Ishita (Mallika Sherawat) spoils the charm by announcing Rajiv as her fiancé. It's a ploy that kills the hope of Uday and Majnoo, but still love-birds fail to separate.

In hot pursuit to make their relation feasible, they try to reform Majnoo and Uday. Ishita poses as Bollywood heroine where Uday gets phony offer to act as lead hero in a film. On other hand, Majnoo is happy at the auction of his senseless paintings.

In both cases, Ishita plays a vital role while Rajiv and Sanjana hold the key to this reformation drama. RDX and his son get upset by the reformed attitude of Majnoo and Uday and decide to visit them.


RDX's son gets hospitalized after being shot on his head. The climax of 'Welcome' is one of the finest scripted "slapstick-comical" acts where the entire gang gets stuck on rooftop through the musical choir game.

Commercially speaking, 'Welcome' will be one of the biggest openers of this year and is expected to draw major crowds at multiplexes.