Sep 04, 2015 01:25 AM
18847 Views
(Updated Sep 04, 2015 01:29 AM)
‘Welcome Back’ - A perfectly made sequel to ensure you are enticed and tortured.
‘Welcome’ was an unexpected hit. The audience was expecting the entertainment to continue with the same flow. However, the long gap since 2007 took its toll and the movie lost its sheen and momentum.
Story: Plot remains the same from its prequel. This time it is the father of Uday(Nana Patekar) who visits him to handover his daughter Ranjana(Shruti Hassan) from third wife for safe custody. Also Dr. Ghungroo(Paresh Rawal) realizes his wife had a son Ajay(John Abraham) prior to them getting married and who is now grown up. Uday and Majnu(Anil Kapoor) are desperate to get married but cannot unless their sister Ranjana gets married.
They find out about Ajay and confirm the marriage without realizing that Ajay is not the decent groom they are looking for but rather Ajju Bhai from Mumbai whose number of police cases outnumber the local trains plying on the railway tracks. To make the plot more complicated, there is Honey(Shiny Ahuja) son of Wanted Bhai(Naseeruddin Shah) who is badly obsessed with Ranjana. Ajay and Ranjana realize the threat to their relationship and chart out a plan which sadly was more complicated for the Director to execute thus providing the audience with nothing else but chaos.
Cast Performance: The film starred the heavyweights and veterans from Bollywood industry and hence there was nothing wrong in the acting department. This time due to the lousy plot they were wasted. New additions to the cast were the con-women Mother- Daughter duo - Dimple Kapadia as the Queen of Najabgarh and Ankita Shrivastava as the princess. They both did justice to their characters. Shruti Hassan looked gorgeous and John Abraham aptly suited the strong & muscular desi boy.
Direction: Anees Bazmee has given decent hits in the past with few memorable ones being ‘No Entry’, ‘Deewangee’ and ‘Singh is King’. His direction is unpredictable and unreliable. ‘Welcome’ was a surprise hit. Though the plot is more or less similar in the sequel, this time he has failed to entertain. The editing was in shambles and the screenplay amateurish. The cinematography came about quite okay due to the handpicked locales of the UAE. There was too much crowd onscreen and money squandered lavishly without generating any valuable impact. The dialogues were bland and repetitive even if delivered by veterans. There was too much glamour and color without the core spirit in the plot which made the movie go out of control.
Songs: There were a couple of songs with good music & lyrics but uninspiring choreography. Surveen Chawla did a special appearance in "Tutti Bole Wedding Di" which was the only memorable song. ‘Meet me daily baby’ and ‘20-20’ were passable.
Pros: Cast, landmark locales of Dubai and the UAE, Cinematography
Cons: Same old plot, stale dialogues, awful screenplay, unnecessary chaos
Conclusion: Like all other sequels, this badly made sequel will ride on the success of its prequel and may do well at the box office mainly due to curiosity. The film has a strong cast but fails to deliver. The movie is studded with dialogues “Rishta uparwalla banata hai, par Tang neechewalla adata hai”, “Uski Maaka Raamukaka”, and the like. I definitely missed “Aaloo le lo, Kaande le lo” and horse riding retakes of Nana Patekar. If the entertainment component is compared, “Welcome Back” is not even 10% of its prequel. With mindless comedy and screenplay that makes no sense, this extravagant product is a total waste of time and money. Even if you leave your brain at home, ‘Welcome Back’ would still be a torture and sure to give you a headache. Kids may love it but my honest advise would be to skip it.
