Welcome

Welcome comes with many expectations from Anees Bazmee whose last movie No Entry was a big hit. It has a superb cast boasting Anil Kapoor as a tapori don and Nana Patekar as a serious don yet again. Paresh Rawal as Akshay Kumar‘s uncle is downright funny and excels at comedy. All these high performers ably carry what could have been a great movie on their shoulders. Avid movie buffs will find a lot of similarities between Welcome and the Hugh Grant starrer Mickey Blue Eyes, so much for Bollywood’s take on originality.

Rating: 3/5

Katrina Kaif and Akshay Kumar in Welcome

Coming to the story, Paresh Rawal, As Dr. Ghungru is seeking a suitable bride from a reputed family for his nephew, Rajeev, essayed by Akshay Kumar. He wants the bride to be from a distinguished family without any criminal record. However, Rajeev falls in love with Sanjana, Katrina Kaif. She is the sister of two dons, Uday Shetty played by Nana Patekar and Anil Kapoor. These two dons are also seeking a good groom for their sister. They zero in on Rajeev and con him into agreeing to marry their sister. The scene where they do this is hilarious, more so since they do not know about Rajeev and Sanjana. When Dr. Ghungru comes to know of Sanjana’s background, he wants no relationship with her family. However, the two lovebirds have other plans. In addition, there is a bigger don from Italy played by Feroze Khan who comes with his muse, Mallika Sherawat for the wedding.

Anil Kapoor and Mallika Sherawat in Welcome

The movie has its funny bits between these stars, but is stretched by thirty minutes. There are some good comedy scenes like the death scene in the end and the car scene in the beginning. Many scenes seem to make no sense but are funny. The music is passable with no outstanding tracks. The styling of the movie is good though the editing could have made the movie tighter and less of a drag. There is no connectivity in a major part of the movie and it seems that all the actors have played their parts independently and the editor simply strung the various parts together. The usually scorching chemistry between Akshay and Katrina seems lacking for some reason and the first half of the movie has a dated look as if it was shot ages ago.

Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal in Welcome

Of all the actors, Akshay’s performance is average and Katrina simply plays a glam doll. Surprisingly Mallika does some good acting while Feroze Khan seems lost and tired. Anil and Nana excel while Paresh yet again proves why he is such a good actor. Overall Welcome may be worth just a look if you like any type of comedy.

Rating: 3/5

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