Welcome (2007 film)
| Welcome | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Anees Bazmee |
| Produced by | Firoz A. Nadiadwala |
| Screenplay by | Praful Parikh Rajiv Kaul Anees Bazmee |
| Story by | Praful Parikh Rajiv Kaul Anees Bazmee |
| Narrated by | Om Puri |
| Starring | Akshay Kumar Katrina Kaif Nana Patekar Anil Kapoor Mallika Sherawat Feroz Khan Paresh Rawal |
| Music by | Sajid-Wajid Anand Raj Anand Himesh Reshammiya |
| Cinematography | Sanjay F. Gupta |
| Editing by | Ashfaque Makrani |
| Distributed by | Base Industries Group |
| Release date(s) | 27 December 2007 |
| Running time | 159 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget |  40 crore |
| Box office | 71 crore |
Welcome (Hindi: वेलकम) is a 2007 Bollywood comedy film directed by Anees Bazmee, and produced by Firoz A. Nadiadwala. The film stars Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Feroz Khan, Nana Patekar, Anil Kapoor, Malika Sherawat and Paresh Rawal in lead roles, whilst Sunil Shetty appeared in a guest appearance, and Malaika Arora Khan in an Item number. It released on 27 December 2007.
Upon release, the film received mixed to positive reviews from critics, though was supported by the solid response from the public audiences. It turned out to be a huge critical and commercial success and was nominated for many Filmfare Awards, specially for its comic humour. The film was also the second highest grossing film of 2007, just behind Om Shanti Om.
It was Bollywood legend Feroz Khan's last film before he died from cancer in 2009.[1]
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[edit] Plot
Uday (Nana Patekar), a criminal don, takes it upon himself to get his kindhearted sister, Sanjana (Katrina Kaif) married, but he is unsuccessful since no one wants to be associated with a crime family. Dr. Ghunghroo (Paresh Rawal) has also been trying to get his nephew, Rajiv (Akshay Kumar), married but due to his condition--the alliance must be with a purely decent family--he is also unsuccessful.
When Rajiv jumps into a burning building to save Sanjana, he is smitten by her. Uday and Majnu (Anil Kapoor), Uday's brother, hatch a plan for an alliance with Dr. Ghunghroo. The plan works and Dr. Ghunghroo confirms the alliance, thinking that Uday is a very decent man. But when he is later told that Uday and Majnu are mobsters, he quickly takes his family and flees to Sun City, South Africa to escape. However, Majnu and Sanjana have come to Sun City as well. Rajiv meets Sanjana again and the two fall in love.
Dr. Ghunghroo reconciles with Uday and Majnu and finally agrees to the alliance. Uday and Majnu invite a powerful don of the underworld, RDX (Feroz Khan) to the engagement. At the party, a girl named Ishika (Malika Sherawat) arrives, claiming to be Rajiv's childhood betrothed. Ishika is actually a friend that Dr. Ghunghroo asked to come and try to break off the engagement. Ishika manages to do so, leaving Rajiv and Sanjana heartbroken. Dr. Ghunghroo reveals that he did this for Rajiv's mother, who had married into a crime family and was harassed and tortured, thus telling Dr. Ghunghroo to raise Rajiv away from crime when he was born. Dr. Ghunghroo decides he will agree to the marriage only if Uday and Majnu give up their life of crime. Rajiv and Sanjana do this by reawakening Uday's love for acting and encouraging Majnu to pursue his love for painting. With these things keeping them busy, Uday and Majnu have no time for crime anymore.
Rajiv's actions anger RDX's son, Lucky, who attempts to shoot Rajiv. Sanjana gets ahold of the gun and fires a shot that hits Lucky, causing him to go unconscious. RDX is informed of his son's death and comes to attend the cremation. However Lucky, who is still alive, escapes, trying to show his father that he's actually alive. RDX sets the pile of wood on fire, believing he is cremating his son's body. However Lucky, who had been hiding under the wood, jumps out upon realizing the wood is on fire, and the truth is revealed to RDX.
Rajiv, Ghunghroo, his wife, Ishika, Uday, Majnu and Sanjana are captured by RDX and brought to a cabin set next to a cliff. The frightened group is forced to play "Hot Potato" with a globe--but the one who ends up with the globe must jump off the cliff. When Rajiv refuses to pass the globe to Sanjana, Lucky angrily yanks it out of his hands, just as the music stops. Now that his son has the globe, RDX figures the only way he can maintain his image is by killing everyone. Before he can, several government brokers sneak up and cut the footings of the cabin, causing the house to start falling over the cliff, with everyone trapped inside. However, the cabin is suspended by only one column. Hilarious chaos ensues as the group tries to balance the cabin together and keep it from falling off the cliff. Rajiv finds a rope and the group uses it to get back onto stable ground. Rajiv is reunited with Sanjana and his family. Lucky and RDX are grateful to Rajiv for saving their lives and RDX gives up his life of crime, allowing Rajiv and Sanjana to finally get married.
[edit] Cast
- Akshay Kumar as Rajiv
- Katrina Kaif as Sanjana
- Anil Kapoor as Sagar Pandey (Majnu)
- Nana Patekar as Uday Shankar Shetty
- Paresh Rawal as Dr. Ghungroo
- Feroz Khan as Ranvir Dhanraj Xaja (RDX)
- Mallika Sherawat as Ishika / Isha
- Shereveer Vakil as Lucky (RDX's son)
- Supriya Karnik as Rajiv's aunty
- Sanjay Mishra as Pandit
- Ranjeet as Kapoor
- Mushtaq Khan as Ballu
- Malaika Arora in a Special Appearance in song "Hoth Rasiley"
- Suniel Shetty in a Special Appearance
[edit] Other cast
- Vijay Raaz as Director
- Asrani as Producer
- Adi Irani
- Snehal Dabi
- Harry Josh
- Paresh Ganatra as Pappu (Municipality worker)
[edit] Soundtrack
The song listing is as follows.
| Song | Singer(s) | Music Director |
|---|---|---|
| Hoth Rasiley | Shankar Mahadevan, Anand Raj Anand, Shreya Ghosal | Anand Raj Anand and Aadesh Shrivastava |
| Insha Allah | Krishna, Shaan, Akruti Kakkar, Himesh Reshammiya | Himesh Reshammiya |
| Kola Laka Vellari | Himesh Reshammiya | Himesh Reshammiya |
| Kiya Kiya | Anand Raj Anand, Shweta Pandit | Anand Raj Anand |
| Uncha Lamba Kad | Anand Raj Anand, Kalpana | Anand Raj Anand |
| Welcome | Shaan, Sowmya Raoh, Wajid | Sajid-Wajid |
[edit] Reception
The film received mainly positive reviews from critics, and solid response from public. At the box office, Welcome opened to a massive response locally, by grossing Rs. 335 million on its opening week.[2] Despite facing competition from the popular Aamir Khan-starrer, Taare Zameen Par which was also a huge success, Welcome grossed Rs. 71 crores domestically, and was elevated to "Blockbuster" verdict.[3]
Soon enough, it became the second highest grossing film of 2007, just behind Om Shanti OmThe worldwide gross was around 127 crores.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Welcome at the Internet Movie Database
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