Banner: Base Industries Group
Producer: Firoz Nadiadwala
Director: Anees Bazmee
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, John Abraham, Nana Patekar, Anil Kapoor, Shruti Haasan, Ankita Shrivastava, Shiney Ahuja, Paresh Rawal, Dimple Kapadia, Sakshi Maggo, Lauren Gottlieb, Reema Debnath, Supriya Karnik, Rajpal Yadav, Neeraj Vora, & Surveen Chawla
Music: Meet Bros Anjjan, Anu Malik & Abhishek Ray

Director Anees Bazmee certainly needs no special introduction as far as his mainstream filmic career goes. So much so that he has indeed delivered hit after hit films in the mainstream arena. Unlike certain director’s films you don’t have to leave your brains behind at home to watch an Anees Bazmee stamped film. And now almost more than half a decade later he has carried forward the legacy of the prequel ‘Welcome’ by bringing back its picture perfect, as far as a full on entertainment for one & all is concerned, sequel as his latest offering ‘Welcome Back’.

The intricately plotted scenario of ‘Welcome Back’ starts off with the picturesque Dubai and the grand entry of the ‘now – transformed – but – still -unmarried’ Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar) & 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 & Maharani of Najafgadh, the actual fact remains that they are thugs of the highest order whose main motive is to con rich men and siphon off their money. Unaware of their background, Uday & 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 & Majnu initiate their matrimonial meet with Rajkumari & 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 & 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 & 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 & Majnu, Ajju ‘disguises’ himself as a decent, sober, well -mannered guy when he comes to Dubai. But when Uday & Majnu discover Ajju’s true identity, all 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 realise that Wanted Bhai’s only son (Shiney Ahuja) is not just a drug addict, but also blindly in love with Ranjhana and thereafter a comedy of errors is what forms the crux of the film.

Director Anees Bazmee certainly deserves kudos for his multiple efforts in putting up such a magnitude of film with an ensemble cast of 9 actors who are stars in their own right. The lovers of ‘Welcome’ will definitely lap up its franchise namely ‘Welcome Back’. I can safely vouch for the fact that it is a fun filled laughriot, in fact a rollercoaster ride of full on entertainment, all through the way. Besides its production values are lavish beyond imagination. Not to forget the fact that it has been shot at a very grand & most expensive locales of Dubai. And now for the ‘Kamzor Kadi’ of the film is that of a lack of a proper script which is why the film wavers at time like it is cruising on a speed breaker. But still Anees Bazmee succeeds in holding the cine goers interest by conceiving most of the non – stop hilarious scenes that keeps you in splits right till the end and the masses leave the auditorium clamouring for more. I won’t reveal those scenes and spoil your fun. In fact the highlight of the film are its comedy tracks & one – liners. A due credit also goes to its behind the scenes men namely the film’s action by Abbas Ali Moghul, “Climax” scenes conceived by Firoz Nadiadwallah, cinematography by Kabir Lal, editing by Steven Bernard,  dialogues by Raaj Shaandilyaa and above all not to forget its brilliant background score by the Late Aadesh Srivastava & musical scores by Meet Bros Anjaan, Annu Malik and above all Abhishek Ray for whom ‘Welcome Back’ happens to be his 1st musically super hit experience in the mainstream arena.

Performance wise I would like to add that every actor of ‘Welcome Back’ has tried to grab the cine goers eyeballs. But with due respect the credit goes to all the performers for having delivered their act with finesse even at the cost of hamming at the right places in the appropriate situations. But of course the top scorers are the inimitable pair of Nana Patekar & Anil Kapoor who literally bring the roof down everytime they grace the screen with their comically interluded histrionics. Next in line memorable act comes from the supremely talented Naseeruddin Shah & Paresh Rawal, Need I say anything more about the quartet of actors mentioned above. Amongst the younger generation of actors it is John Abraham who has delivered an outstanding act as the typical Mumbaiyya Tapori’. He is too good to be true both as a sane guy as well as a tapori and for once he did not have to flaunt his innerwear a la ‘Dostana’. That apart it is a real pity to see a once extremely talented actress Dimple Kapadia ham away to glory in each & every scene. Next in line in the ladies brigade are Shruti Haasan & debutant Ankita Shrivastava who had nothing much to do against the entirely male brigade show but yet they both succeeded in putting up a decently applaudable act. And last but not the least is Shiney Ahuja who has really impressed in his comeback role after having disappeared into oblivion due to his personal life controversy.

Tail Piece: For all lovers of the earlier film ‘Welcome’ I would just like to add that ‘Welcome Back’ to the party for a full on joyous ride of entertainment galore.