Welcome (2007)

Comedies about mafia dons have rarely been done in Bollywood, since the subject of a mafia don is serious - Parinda, Agneepath, Satya, Vaastav, Company, etc. After directing the blockbuster comedy No Entry, Anees Bazmee directs this mafia-styled comedy and does a good job.

FIRST HALF

Storyline

The film starts off with the introduction of Dr Ghungroo (Paresh Rawal) narrated by Om Puri - RIP. Ghungroo is looking for a bride for his nephew Rajiv and rejects the proposal of the criminal Kapoor’s (Ranjeet) daughter because Ghungroo is looking for a family that has nothing to do with criminal activities. The next to be introduced Rajiv (Akshay Kumar) who rescues Sanjana (Katrina Kaif) trapped in a fire that was accidentally started by Rajiv. Rajiv tells his aunt Payal (Surpiya Karnik) that he’s in love with Sanjana and wants to get married to her. Payal tells her they should pray to God that Sanjana’s family are purely decent folks.

Sanjana’s elder brother is Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar) a mafia don. Uday is trying to get Sanjana married but no one wants to be related to a family of criminals. In a chance encounter, Rajiv comes across Majnu Pandey (Anil Kapoor), Uday’s second-in-command whom Uday considers his brother. Majnu finds out Rajiv is unmarried and from a respectable family. So Uday and Majnu hatch a plan to get Sanjana married to Dr Ghungroo.

1.     Majnu threatens Ghungroo with extortion

2.     Uday saves Ghungroo from giving in to Majnu and asks Ghungroo to help him find a bridegroom for Sanjana.

3.     Ghungroo believes Uday is a decent man fixes Rajiv’s relationship with Sanjana

Later Ghungroo finds out Uday and Majnu are mobsters so he takes his family to Sun City, unaware that Majnu and Sanjana are also there. Rajiv’s romance with Sanjana furthers and even Sanjana takes a liking to him.

1.     Majnu cuts off Ghungroo’s nephew’s (Rajiv) proposal with Sanjana because Sanjana has found someone (Rajiv) unaware that Ghungroo’s nephew and Sanjana’s lover are the same person.

2.     Rajiv goes to talk to Uday about his and Sanjana’s marriage unaware that Uday is a criminal don

3.     Rajiv cuts off his proposal with Majnu’s sister (Sanjana) because Sanjana’s brother (Uday) is the biggest figure of the town. Majnu is unaware that Rajiv is talking about Uday.

Later at Rajiv and Sanjana’s engagement, Ghungroo finds out Sanjana is Uday and Majnu’s sister and they are back to square 1. Majnu threatens Ghungroo and Rajiv with dire consequences if they try to run away this time.

Tracks and Songs

Since this movie is a comedy made in 2007, it is free from the melodrama that Bollywood would always force in their comedies from the 70s, 80s and 90s. There’s no dramatic sequences between Uday’s or Ghungroo’s family.

The comedy is very good. Paresh Rawal has a habit of tilting his head at the wrong time. Nana Patekar’s and Anil Kapoor’s introductions are hilarious. The scenes where Anil Kapoor threatens Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar are funny. Nana Patekar’s private jail scene was funny. Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal’s car chaos when Akshay Kumar breaks the wheel brought the house down. Nana Patekar’s anger management is another highlight of the first half.

There’s also a romantic track between Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif. The interactions between them are sweet because Kat keeps pranking him. 

The first duet is "Kola Laka Vellari". Himesh Reshammiya’s voice makes this song bearable. The next song "Honth Rasiley" is mainly used to show off Malaika Arora Khan’s body. The third song "Uncha Lamba Kad" is notable because of its starting visuals and its Punjabi tone. Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif’s dancing is good.

Acting

Paresh Rawal has got maximum focus. His head tilting is funny and his anxiety is well shown. I’ll be honest he’s not as funny as Priyadarshan usually makes him. As of now, he’s a great addition to the cast and his expressions are immaculate as always. 

Nana Patekar is superb. He’s always good as gold when it comes to pokerfaced comedy. His anger management is funny and his "Control Uday Control" is another asset to his character. He has good chemistry with Anil Kapoor.

Anil Kapoor does a great job. His introduction and first scene with Nana Patekar is funny. The scenes where he loses his temper is funny. He also looks refreshingly young.

Akshay Kumar is a bit of let-down. When you hear a Akshay Kumar comedy, you think of Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Garam Masala, etc. He looks like he’s reprising his Agastya Rao role from Jaan-E-Maan.  His expressions when Anil Kapoor threatens him are the best.

Katrina Kaif looks beautiful and complements Akshay Kumar well. She owns the scene where she saves Akshay Kumar from the fire and dances well.

Supriya Karnik is passable Sanjai Mishra isn’t much to shout about Adi Irani is funny Snehal Dabi is superb Mushtaq Khan rendition of his dialog is funny Ranjeet is a delight

SECOND HALF

Storyline

Rajiv tells Uday and Majnu he won’t get married to Sanjana at gunpoint so Uday and Majnu apologize to Ghungroo for their past misbehaviour.

For Rajiv-Sanjana’s engagement, Uday and Majnu call their boss RDX (Feroz Khan) to attend their engagement. At the engagement, Rajiv’s childhood friend Ishika (Mallika Sherawat) arrives claiming to be Rajiv’s fiancée. Later it turns out Ghungroo told Ishika to enact a drama so the marriage is broken off. Ghungroo tells them that Rajiv’s mother had got married into a criminal family and on her deathbed, she made Ghungroo promise to keep Rajiv away from crime. Rajiv and Sanjana decide that to honour Rajiv’s mother’s wish and get their relationship on track, they need to take Uday and Majnu out of the crime world.

They help Uday get a role into movies - fake shooting and fake director. The plan works for some time. However due to Majnu’s temper, this plan becomes a cropper. So they get Majnu to pursue his love for painting. Ishika is used to swing the both boys into each plan. Ishika is Uday’s film’s actress who starts a love affair with him and Ishika is Majnu’s painting’s buyer who also starts a love affair with him.

RDX’s son Lucky (Shereveer Vakil) is angered because Uday and Majnu are not making enough time for crime. Lucky attacks Rajiv and Sanjana and during the brawl, Sanjana fires a bullet at Lucky’s neck.

This starts off a hilarious scenario - the entire gang has to prevent RDX from finding out about Lucky’s death. They plan a fake funeral with Ghungroo acting as Lucky. However it turns out Lucky is alive and RDX accidentally ends up setting fire to Lucky. At the end, RDX forces everyone to a cottage next to a cliff and makes them play Pass the Parcel but with a slight twist - the one with the parcel is thrown off the cliff. Amidst the game, a few government workers sneak up and cut the footings of the cottage, causing the house to start falling over the cliff, with everyone trapped inside. However, the cottage is suspended by only one column. Chaos ensues as everyone tries to stop the house from falling. Eventually everyone makes their way out the cottage but Lucky is left trapped. Rajiv risks his life and saves him so RDX spares everyone’s lives.

Tracks and Songs

The comedic track is used here just as good as the first half. The engagement party scene is funny. Feroz Khan’s one-liner "Abhi Hum Zinda Hai" evokes a smile and Anil Kapoor making fun of it is hilarious. The track of Nana Patekar working on a fake film is funny because he is forced to sell onions and the horse scene was hilarious. The scene where Anil Kapoor goes to apologize to Paresh Rawal is funny because he starts shouting. The chase and the play with the dead body at the pre-climax is surely hilarious.

The romantic track between Anil Kapoor and Mallika Sherawat has been used to comic effect.

There is two emotional moments - Nana Patekar recounting that his past sins are stopping his sister’s marriage and Paresh Rawal’s scene after the engagement party.

The song "Kiya Kiya" is a good tune to listen to and has the interesting picturisation of Mallika Sherawat courting Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar. The song "Insha Allah" is the best because it’s the funniest and has good vocals from Krishna Beura, Shaan, Akriti Kakkar, Himesh Reshammiya. The last song "Welcome" is heard at the end credits.

Acting

Akshay Kumar is decent in the 2nd half. He goes through the motions and doesn’t get that much funny lines to deliver except the scene where he shouts "Miracle Miracle" at the end. However he does make us laugh in the "Insha Allah" song.

Katrina Kaif doesn’t get that much scope in the 2nd half. Hers and Akshay Kumar’s subplot receives less relevance to the plot later on.

Mallika Sherawat is a decent addition to the second half. The scenes where she flirts with Nana Patekar and Anil Kapoor is interesting and the way she analyses Anil Kapoor’s painting is hilarious.  

Paresh Rawal tones down the head tilting and towards the climax he felt he was more funny, especially during the house tumble.

Feroz Khan - God Bless his Soul. His dialog delivery is brilliant and I liked his dialog "Abhi Hum Zinda Hai". When he shouts "Get that bastard" to Nana Patekar, I laughed so loud. Although I enjoyed his presence, he feel he was just there to set up a funny cremation scene.

Supriya Karnik is funny at the cremation scene Mushtaq Khan is funny Adi Irani, Snehal Dabi don’t get as much scope as the first half

Moving onto the aces of the 2nd half; Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar. Their scenes with Mallika Sherawat, Akshay Kumar and in the climax are the highlights of the 2nd half. Their characters overshadow all the other characters and subplots. Both of them are adorable and their one-liners, facial expressions keep the momentum going.