Welcome Back : Reviews and Box Office thread - Page 4

Welcome Back

September 3, 2015 Team Pinkvilla

Bollywood's bonafide love for mindless entertainers finds validation in films like Welcome Back, which is so unfunny that one would prefer getting run over by a bus than watch it. Don't blame us for the rant, blame Anees Bazmee who returns with a script as old as the hills, blame the producer who was fine with a sizeable chunk of his fortune being wasted on buffoonery or blame the audience for the monetary love they bestowed on them last time around, that they've audaciously dared to make this lame sequel.

Welcome Back is a painful film. It is dumb to the extent of being torturous. Why do filmmakers presume that the intellect of their audience runs in negative? There is no sane justification as to why such stupidity will be branded as a movie and get endorsed by a few of the industry's most luminous actors. Bazmee has evidently never been a believer of evolved humour. Being loud was always a part of his DNA and he quite mastered it with panache. There is nothing wrong with comedies, or even with loud comedies for that matter. Screwball as a genre has its own takers and for most, our favourite Sunday watch will invariably be a slapstick comedy. But Welcome Back has nothing sprightly about it. For starters, it is poorly written and almost gives its prequel a run for its money in the department of bad writing.

Welcome, too, was equally banal but there was a certain freshness in its rendering. Eight years on, the writers pick up the same story, which give the film its dated feel. The highlights of the original was Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar's camaraderie which is just as zany even in this installment but that in no way can salvage this ludicrous and tacky film.

Trying to elucidate the plot will be a futile attempt. We bet even Anees will have a hard time narrating his own story. In a gist, dons Uday (Nana) and Majnu (Anil) have long retired from the world of crime and are now successful businessmen. They are looking for a suitable boy for their sister Ranjana (Shruti Haasan). She, however, falls for the reigning loal superdon - Ajju (John Abraham). Meanwhile, Majnu and Uday are being watched in close quarters by mother-daughter con duo as the daughter lays a honeytrap for them. A mishmash of it all triggers off this chaotic comedy.

Anees carries forward the incessant mind numbing gags of Welcome. It is easy to grudge him for that and many more new ones he refurbishes from recent films. Besides reveling in his own mediocrity, he even shamelessly takes a jibe at Rajkumar Hirani's nuanced semi-satire PK. As lowly minds work, the writers find irreverent humour in redoing the transistor scene from the Aamir Khan starrer, replacing the star with Rajpal Yadav. Such instances are disappointing and makes it evident that Anees is trying way too hard. Wasn't he the one who showed us a good time in No Entry? Between then and now his conotation of fun has merely depreciated.

As drama ensues in this hotchpotch film, it is hard to miss the lack of a solid coherent story. With disconnected claptraps strung together in the name of plot, the film's hilarious scenes are only a handful. The first half is marginally better than its dismal second half, but the lack of basic intelligence can't be compensated for.

It is disappointing that a bunch of such brilliant actors have been wasted in the movie. You feel the worst for Dimple Kapadia, who barely has a role to her name. John is sincere and does his best to match up to Anil and Nana's terrific antics. Shruti Haasan is just a pretty face in the film and she with her drop-dead gorgeous looks lives up to the criteria. Naseeruddin Shah shines in his gratuitous part.

From mumbling bizarre one-liners to gyrating to strange dance steps, Anees resorts to the lowest forms of physical comedy to evoke laughs. The stock antics aren't delightful enough and the story doesn't allow any of its actors to flaunt their vivacious comic streak to the fullest.

We are sure that our paap score ain't that bad that we deserve to sit through the anguishing, vexing and almost punishable experience of Welcome Back.

We rate this film a 30% on the Pinkvilla Movie Meter.

CREDITS: PINKVILLA Read more at: http://tr.im/X0fAA

taran adarsh @taran_adarsh

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.

Friday 04 September 2015 16.00 IST