Welcome

About the film

Welcome is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language comedy film co-written and directed by Anees Bazmee. A loose remake of the 1999 English comedy Mickey Blue Eyes, it stars Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar, Paresh Rawal, Mallika Sherawat, and Feroz Khan in his final film role. Khan's character and dialogues became largely popular among the masses even after his demise. Suniel Shetty made guest appearance.

Made on a budget of ₹320 million (US$3.4 million) which includes making and marketing costs, Welcome was distributed by UTV Motion Pictures. It was theatrically released worldwide on 21 December 2007, coinciding with the Christmas festival. The film received mostly mixed-to-positive reviews from critics with particular praise towards Patekar and Kapoor's performances. Nevertheless, the film emerged as a major commercial success and went on to become the second highest grossing Hindi film of the year with global revenues of ₹1.22 billion (US$13 million). It is considered as a modern cult film.

Plot

Dr. Dayal Ghungroo lives with his wife and his son-like nephew Rajiv, an auctioneer who is his late sister's son, whom Ghungroo wants to get married, but Ghungroo will only allow Rajiv to marry a into family that doesn't have a criminal history. Meanwhile, a don, Uday Shetty, wants his half-sister, Sanjana, to get married, but all his attempts fail due to his criminal background, and sometimes, due to the revelation by his lawyer. Rajiv is smitten by her after a chance meeting. Uday and his best friend/foster brother, Sagar Pandey, a.k.a. Majnu Bhai, want their marriage to happen. But after learning that they are mobsters, Ghungroo flees to South Africa with his family. Majnu and Sanjana also arrive there for a holiday. She and Rajiv meet again and fall in love.

Uday and Majnu compel Ghungroo to accept the alliance by emotional blackmail and invite their boss, the powerful underworld Don, Ranvir Dhanraj Xaka, a.k.a. RDX, for their engagement. Ghungroo sends his sister-in-law, Ishika, to break the alliance, who succeeds by falsely claiming to be Rajiv's childhood betrothed at the engagement party. Ghungroo reveals that Rajiv's criminal father harassed and tortured Rajiv's mother, who then requested Ghungroo to keep Rajiv away from crime. Ghungroo says he'll agree to their alliance only if Uday and Majnu give up their lives of crime. Rajiv and Sanjana attempt to do this by reawakening Uday's love for acting and encouraging Majnu's passion for painting. They also plant Ishika to pretend to be in love with both brothers. With these things keeping them busy, Uday and Majnu do not have time for crime anymore.

Rajiv's actions anger Lucky, RDX's son, who attacks Rajiv. Sanjana gets hold of the gun and fires a shot that accidentally hits Lucky, which makes him unconscious. RDX is informed that Lucky has died, and he comes to attend the cremation. However, Lucky, who is still alive, escapes while being followed by Rajiv, Uday, Majnu, and their henchmen while trying to show his father that he's alive, but fails and hides inside the cremation area. RDX sets the pile of wood on fire, believing he is cremating his son's body. However, Lucky, who is hiding under the wood, jumps out upon realizing the wood is on fire, revealing the truth to RDX.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Anand Raj Anand, Himesh Reshammiya and Sajid–Wajid. The lyrics were penned by Anand Raj Anand, Sameer, Shabbir Ahmed, Ibrahim Ashq and Anjaan Sagiri. According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 15,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's fifth highest-selling.

Reception

At the box office, Welcome opened to a massive response locally, by grossing ₹35 crore (US$3.7 million) on its opening week. Despite facing competition from the popular Aamir Khan-starrer, Taare Zameen Par which was also a huge success, Welcome grossed ₹97.43 crore (US$10 million) domestically. It became the second highest-grossing film of 2007, just behind Om Shanti Om. The worldwide gross was around ₹117.91 crore (US$12 million).

The film received mostly mixed to positive reviews from critics and praise towards Patekar and Kapoor's gangster characters. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and stated "Welcome is one of those entertainers that deliver what it promises: Funny sequences, super performances and loads and loads of laughter. Without doubt, it will be welcomed with open arms by the aam junta!". The Times of India gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, and stated "Go for end-of-the-year gags and season-of-goodwill giggles." Hindustan Times stated, "Akshay Kumar has a flair for comedy but even that is beginning to bore which is quiet evident in Welcome." Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and stated "it's the extraordinary camaraderie between the actors, completely consumed by the foolhardiness that surrounds them, that tickles the bone. And hard."

Tajpal Rathore of the BBC gave the film 3 out 5 stars and stated "Comedies should always be taken lightly in Bollywood and Welcome is as zany as they come. And while it emerges as an addition to Kumar's repertoire of films that have little style and even less substance, it is the formidable ensemble cast that ultimately succeed in welcoming you to the theatre hall."

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