Welcome (2007 film)

Welcome

Theatrical release poster
Hindi वेलकम
Directed by Anees Bazmee
Produced by Firoz Nadiadwala
Written by Aneez Bazmee
Rajiv Kaul
Praful Parekh
Starring Akshay Kumar
Nana Patekar
Anil Kapoor
Feroz Khan
Katrina Kaif
Malika Sherawat
Paresh Rawal
Narrated by Om Puri
Music by Anand Raj Anand
Himesh Reshammiya
Sajid-Wajid
Cinematography Sanjay F. Gupta
Edited by Ashfaque Makrani
Production
company
Base Industries Group
Distributed by UTV Motion Pictures
Release dates
  • 21 December 2007 (2007-12-21)
Running time
 159 minutes
Country India
Language Hindi
Budget est.₹48 crore (US$7.1 million)[1]
Box office est.₹116 crore (US$17 million)[2]

Welcome is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language masala[3] comedy film directed by Anees Bazmee and produced by Firoz A. Nadiadwala and Ronnie Screwvala under the banner of UTV Motion Pictures.[4] The film features a large ensemble cast of Akshay Kumar, Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar, Katrina Kaif, Paresh Rawal, Malika Sherawat[5] and Feroz Khan in his last film appearance,[6] whilst Sunil Shetty makes a guest appearance and Malaika Arora Khan appears in an item number.[7] The film spawned a sequel, named Welcome Back and became the first installment of Welcome film series.

Welcome released worldwide on 21 December 2007, to mixed critical reviews and despite initial competition from Taare Zameen Par,[8][9] was a strong financial success at the box office both in India[10] and overseas.[11] According to The Hindu, the film's climax scene is a rip-off from the Charlie Chaplin film, The Gold Rush and Michael Madana Kama Rajan.[12]

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 gangster 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 the sister-in-law of Dr.Ghunghroo whom 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 any more.

Rajiv's actions anger RDX's son, Lucky, who attempts to shoot Rajiv. Sanjana gets hold 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 realising 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 Passing the Parcel (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. But to everyone's shock, the floor breaks and Lucky is found hanging on the edge of the cabin. While Rajiv is trying to rescue him, Sanjana reveals the truth to everyone that she was the one who shot Lucky, but Rajiv blamed himself so that Sanjana wouldn't get in trouble. After Rajiv rescues Lucky, the cabin he is standing on falls off into the cliff. Sanjana keeps crying for him thinking he is dead. However, Rajiv survives the event and 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.

Cast

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.[5][13]

Track listing

Song Singer(s) Music Lyrics Duration
"Honth Rasiley" Shankar Mahadevan, Anand Raj Anand, Shreya Ghosal Anand Raj Anand and Aadesh Shrivastava (music arrangement) Anand Raj Anand 4:40
"Insha Allah" Krishna Beura, Shaan, Akriti Kakkar, Himesh Reshammiya Himesh Reshammiya Sameer 5:38
"Kola Laka Vellari" Himesh Reshammiya Himesh Reshammiya Sameer 5:38
"Kiya Kiya" Anand Raj Anand, Shweta Pandit Anand Raj Anand Anjaan Sagiri 5:02
"Uncha Lamba Kad" Anand Raj Anand, Kalpana Patowary Anand Raj Anand Ibrahim Ashq 4:40
"Welcome" Shaan, Sowmya Raoh, Wajid Sajid–Wajid Shabbir Ahmed 4:18

Box office

At the box office, Welcome opened to a massive response locally, by grossing ₹350 million (US$5.2 million) on its opening week.[14] Despite facing competition from the popular Aamir Khan-starrer, Taare Zameen Par which was also a huge success, Welcome grossed ₹710 million (US$11 million) domestically.[15] It became the second highest grossing film of 2007, just behind Om Shanti Om. The worldwide gross was around ₹1.16 billion (US$17 million).[2]

Sequel

A sequel to the film, titled Welcome Back has been released. The sequel features John Abraham, Shruti Haasan, Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar and Paresh Rawal. Earlier reported to release on 19 December 2014, the project finally released on 4 September 2015.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Welcome". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 1 November 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Top All Time Worldwide Grossers Updated 11/5/2012". boxofficeindia. Archived from the original on 27 December 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  3. ↑ Sukanya Verma (21 December 2007). "Welcome packs in a lot of masala". Rediff.com. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  4. ↑ Rohini Bhandari (8 August 2007). "UTV acquires worldwide rights for Welcome". Business of Cinema. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Welcome Cast & Crew". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "Bollywood actor Feroz Khan dies". BBC News. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "Malaika Arora does an item number in Welcome". Oneindia.in. 12 November 2007. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "Welcome V/S Taare Zameen Par". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  9. ↑ Meenakshi Verma (26 December 2007). "Taare Zameen Par adds to Christmas sparkle at BO". Economic Times. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  10. ↑ "Box Office 2007". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 27 October 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  11. ↑ Joginder Tuteja (27 December 2007). "WELCOME creates record in US, UK, UAE". IndiaGlitz. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  12. ↑ Kamath, Sudish (4 January 2008). "No, thank you! -- Welcome". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  13. ↑ "Welcome songs". Smashits. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  14. ↑ "Top First Week Earners (First 7 days only)". BoxOffice India.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  15. ↑ "Welcome Rules At The Box Office". BoxOffice India.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  16. ↑ "John gets pricey, pockets Rs 15 cr for Welcome Back". India Today. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 2016-05-28.
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