Welcome (2007)

A man falls in love with a beautiful woman, but later discovers that her brothers are gangsters.

Director:

Anees Bazmee

Writers:

Anees Bazmee, Rajeev Kaul

Stars:

Akshay Kumar, Nana Patekar, Anil Kapoor

2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Akshay Kumar	...	Rajiv Saini
Nana Patekar	...	Uday Shankar Shetty
Anil Kapoor	...	Sagar 'Majnu' Pandey
Mallika Sherawat	...	Ishika / Isha
Katrina Kaif	...	Sanjana S. Shetty
Feroz Khan	...	Ranvir 'RDX' Dhanraj Xaja
Paresh Rawal	...	Dr. Ghunghroo
Malaika Arora	...	Dancer
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Asrani	...	Bollywood Producer
Charlie	...	Municipal worker
Snehal Dabi	...	Sagar's goon
Paresh Ganatra	...	Municipal officer
Adi Irani	...	Uday's lawyer
Supriya Karnik	...	Mrs. Ghungroo
Mushtaq Khan	...	Balu

Storyline

After the passing away of his dark-skinned wife, from who they sired Uday, Dubai-based criminal don, Shankar Shetty re-married a fair-skinned woman, who gave birth to fair-skinned Sanjana. After the couple's passing, Uday takes over in his dad's footsteps, and takes it upon himself to try and get Sanjana married - in vain, as no one wants to be associated with a crime family. Then Uday's associate, Sagar Pandey, aspiring live-action painter, who had loved Iravati, got beat-up by her brothers, and was re-named Majnu, assists in finding a young man, Rajiv, who lives with his maternal uncle, Dr. Ghunghroo and aunt, and through extortion compels Ghunghroo to accept this alliance. But Ghunghroo, at the very first opportunity, gets Rajiv to fall in love with another young woman in Sun City, South Africa. When the time comes to get Rajiv formally engaged to this woman, he finds out that Sanjana and she are the very same woman. With no escape from this predicament, the wedding is planned, ...

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Plot Keywords:

engagement | painter | acting | freeze frame | presumed dead | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

21 December 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Добро пожаловать

Filming Locations:

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$31,203,567

Company Credits

Production Co:

A.G. Films, Indian Film Company (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

159 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Katrina Kaif's character is named Sanjana, which is a trademark of director Anees Bazmee. Most of his films including 'Welcome', 'No Entry', 'No Problem', 'Ready' and 'Thank You' feature a character of this name.

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Goofs

In the fire scene, when Rajiv sees Sanjana, his shirt is initially not under his coat, but in the next shot it is completely under the coat.

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Quotes

Rajiv Saini: [over the phone] Lucky ran away from the graveyard!
Uday Shankar Shetty: Ran away!
Ranvir 'RDX' Dhanraj Xaja: Who run away?
Uday Shankar Shetty: The Pandit ran away, as he come to knew your name.
Ranvir 'RDX' Dhanraj Xaja: Get that bastard!
Uday Shankar Shetty: [over the phone] You heared what Sir's saying... Get that bastard!
Rajiv Saini: Get that bastard... Okay!

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Crazy Credits

There are two versions of the title credits of the film. The main version shows Feroz Khan's name in the beginning of the credits, whereas an alternate version shows Anil Kapoor's name instead.

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Alternate Versions

There are two versions of the title credits of the film. The main version credits Feroz Khan in the beginning of the credits, whereas an alternate version credits Anil Kapoor instead.

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Connections

References Khal Nayak (1993)

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Soundtracks

Kola Laka Vellari
Written by Sameer
Composed by Himesh Reshammiya
Performed by Himesh Reshammiya
Courtesy of Junglee Music

User Reviews

A fun, good-natured comedy

"Welcome" is a enjoyable, masala comedy with an amusing cast. It has plenty of ridiculously unbelievable, cheesy moments and the film requires viewers who don't take themselves or the movie too seriously, and who know how to suspend their disbelief. Unfortunately, there are plenty of people who are unable to take the movie in the spirit it was made. Is it full of buffoons and a silly plot? Of course! But what makes this movie so charming is that - like plenty of other Bollywood films - it tells its story with such sincere, earnest conviction that you can't help but get sucked in.

The story is centered on a mafia family headed by two dons, played by the unfailingly charismatic Feroz Khan and the gifted Nana Patekar. Nana Patekar is trying to find a boy from a nice, decent family to marry his sister, played by Katrina Kaif (surprisingly, she is tolerable in this film). Aiding the don in his quest to find a suitable boy is one of Nana Patekar's lesser dons, played by Anil Kapoor. When they find a suitable boy (Akshay Kumar), things are complicated by the suitable boy's uncle (Paresh Rawal), who is not terribly excited about his nephew marrying into the mafia. And from this tangled web of conflicting goals ensues chaos and mayhem. Mallika Sherawat is also entertaining (if extremely confusing) as a random girl who is...confusing people.

It's a silly movie full of childish, mischievous comedy and feel-good moments, but I think that, in the end, that's what we value about Bollywood films: their family-friendly messages, the dazzling spectacle in scene after scene, fun filled madness and a talented cast. Nana Patekar and Paresh Rawal were especially impressive and quite adorable. It was amusing to see Akshay Kumar play a clueless good guy after being so used to seeing him as an action hero.

The only way to enjoy this movie is to throw brains and common sense out the window and enjoy it for what it is - a family-friendly comedy with lots of laughs and entertainment. It's a question of expectations. If you get this movie expecting to see something similar to a Hollywood film, then you will disappointed. Bollywood isn't anything like Hollywood, and there is nothing wrong with that. I didn't get this DVD expecting to see an Indian version of The Godfather. There are plenty of funny references to The Godfather in this movie, but the director clearly intends to parody the world and lifestyle of a mafia don, and I think he did a good job. It's a happy story that laughs at itself at every turn, and that's great.