Welcome Back Review

Defying logics and embracing buffoonery and mobster comedy with childish glee, Anees Bazmee is back with the sequel to his 2007 money spinner ‘Welcome’ inspired from 1999 Hugh Grant starrer ‘Mickey Blue Eyes’.

‘Welcome Back’ is pleasant and true to its genre with an added parodist tribute to the mobster comedies (the Asian trend started with the Korean 2002 blockbuster ‘Marrying The Mafia’), Bollywood Manmohan Desai, supernatural horror and what not.

This typical no brainer entertainer where anything can happen to anyone at anytime has a couple of undeniable laugh out loud rib tickling crackers proving enough for the crowd concern though the madness takes a while to set in to start hitting its stride.. Having the Irresistible Nana and the ‘Jhakaas’ Anil Kapoor delivering the maximum laughs.

Bigger in scale, canvas and approach Welcome Back takes off from where it ended… well The original 1999 Anglo American comedy ‘Mickey Blue Eyes’ by Kelly Makin, didn,t enjoyed the same following which its buffoon bollywood remake did with Akshay, Katrina and of course the ‘Laurel Hardy’ of b- town ‘taporis’ gangsters willingly played by Nana and Anil.

Writers Anees Bazmee, Rajeev Kaul and Rajan Aggarwal are right on track with the ‘sharif’ reformed Uday (Nana) and Majnu (Anil) Bhai again on duty to find an upright life partner for Uday’s suddenly landed sister Ranjhana (Shruti) from his father’s third wife.

The search for the perfect guy put brakes to the bhais coochie cooing dreams of marrying Chandni (Ankita Srivastava). Chandini is a con woman trained by her mother Poonam (Dimple Kapadia) who is wooing both Uday and Majnu as a fake Princess of some unkown gadh in India.

Circumstances bring Dr. Ghungroo (Paresh Rawal) and the bhais together after Sanjana (Katrina) marriage.. both Dr. Ghungroo and the bhais have one common link in between - Ajju Bhai (John) son of Dr. Ghungroos wife from her previous affair.. and lover of Shruti.

Ajju is Mumbai ka tapori who challenges the ex hoodlums Uday and Majnu to stop him from marrying their sister.

‘Wanted Bhai’ (Naseer) comes in for rescue with a comic twist in the tale of his druggie son played by Shiney Ahuja (yes yes.. the same..  come on move on now)..

A series of funny, not so funny and couple of out and out hilarious events brings all of them together and the audience is in for fun wrapped in buffoonery and parodic tribute to Bollywood, Hollwood supernatural  and even Manmohan Desai. Wah bhai. Clap clap.

Raaj Shaandilyaa dailouges at places pack solid wit. The cemetery scene and the innovative and interesting iconic climax takes the cinegoer into an unexpected lampooned oblivion that lifts this buffoonery from the common range.

The Irresistible Nana Patekar and the most dependable ‘Jhakas’ b-town bhai Anil Kapoor makes the audience crack with laughter once again.

The exceptionally talented Naseer is hilarious. Paresh Rawal is fantastic. debutante Ankita Shrivastava is charming. Kabir Lal cinematography is eye boggling. Abbas Ali Moghul)’s action are praiseworthy.

The climax said to be shot by Firoz Nadiadwallah is iconic.

On the flip side, the replacement of Akshay Kumar in John Abraham is weak. The absence of Akshay is clearly felt. And John is not able to reach to the expectations to that level. Though he does a decent job in his capacity and limitations. John macho metro city hunk image goes against the strong street smart tapori in Ajju Bhai.. John lacks the finesse in comedy and is a non dancer.  A classic case of a weak actor saved by an interesting strong role.

Shruti Haasan is wasted. Ditto for Dimple Kapadia. The movie takes time to settle in and could have being easily trimmed for at least 10 -15. The portions between Shruti and John are pale.

Music by Anu Malik, Meet Bros & Anjjan, Mika Singh is strictly okay.

All said and done, ‘Welcome Back’ the sequel to the 2007 money spinner ‘Welcome’ by Aneez Bazmee its true to its genre. Not a knock out rib tickler but pleasant throughout and is bigger and ambitious in its approach.

Those who have loved ‘Welcome’ will certainly find enjoyment. Nana, Anil, Naseer outstanding acts overcome the flaws and make sure that the lovers of buffoonery pop corn fun are in splits.