New Delhi: ‘Welcome' welcomed audiences in large numbers back in 2007 despite opening on the same day as ‘Taare Zameen Par'.
Will ‘Welcome Back' also welcome back audiences in large numbers when it releases this Friday?
It's hard to predict a film's performance at the box office but ‘Welcome Back' has the ingredients to be successful.
Here are five reasons why you should watch the Anees Bazmee directed crime comedy.
1. It's a sequel
Director Anees Bazmee has been bitten by the sequel bug. He has three different sequels lined up – ‘Welcome Back' is the first and the ‘No Entry' and ‘Aankhen' sequels will follow in due course. If you saw ‘Welcome', you are already invested in the fates of the characters. You must be curious to know what happened to Dr Ghungroo, Uday Shetty and Sagar 'Majnu' Pandey later. But even if you didn't watch it, you can still enjoy ‘Welcome Back' and then treat the original as a prequel and watch it too!
2. It has an ensemble cast
John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Nana Patekar, Shruti Hassan, Dimple Kapadia, Paresh Rawal. Do we need to say more? It's probably one of the finest casts of actors, as opposed to stars, in a Bollywood film in recent memory. Of course Welcome had a bit more star power with Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif, though it was early in her career, instead of John and Shruti. But in terms of acting chops, Welcome Back has the edge, having added Naseeruddin Shah, one of our finest actors ever.
3. John Abraham is back
Sure, you can watch the film for just about any of the actors mentioned above. But John Abraham is the first among equals, the only star still in his prime among the cast. And he has disappeared from the big screen for the last two years, heightening the sense of anticipation. John's last appearance was in the stylish spy thriller, ‘Madras Café', produced in 2013 by his own banner, John Abraham Entertainment. With rumours swirling that his marriage is in trouble, John must be hoping that the film will overshadow his personal life. He even makes his singing debut with the tapori song “Time Lagaye Kaiko, Arrey Ban Ja Meri Baiko”. What more can his fans ask!
4. The music is pretty cool
The film has a staggering number of music directors, six in all: Meet Bros Anjjan (who are a trio), Anu Malik, Abhishek Ray and Mika Singh. There are some sparkling numbers including a peppy Punjabi wedding song, "Tutti Bole Wedding Di", which involves most of the cast, and the risqué ‘20-20' featuring Lauren Gottlieb doing a sexy belly dance. The highlight of the soundtrack is probably "Damaa Dam Mast Kalandar" by Mika Singh and Yo Yo Honey Singh. There have been many great versions of this famous Sufi song by Bulle Shah. Mika and Honey follow in this rich tradition and do full justice to it.
5. The locations are superlative
The film is shot largely in Dubai and viewers will get a tour of the city from the comfort of their seats. ‘Welcome Back' is the first Bollywood film to be shot at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai as Anil Kapoor excitedly tweeted last December. It is also the first Bollywood film to be shot inside the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. In fact the world premiere of the film was scheduled to be held in Dubai but was cancelled because the cast was too busy promoting the film in India. Well, we hope all those promotions pay off this weekend!
