Johnson Thomas

Welcome
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Nana Patekar, Anil Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Feroz Khan, Katrina Kaif
Director: Anees Bazmee
Rating: *

Anees Bazmee’s Welcome is a mindless comedy that relies more on stagy sitcom effects and ludicrous routines than any genuine humour to bring on the laughs.

Rajiv (Akshay Kumar) and Sanjana (Katrina Kaif) are conveniently set-up  belonging to opposing clans. Yet, they fall in love. Sanjana happens to be the sister of dons Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar), Majnu bhai (Anil Kapoor) and RDX (Feroz Khan). But that’s not exactly true.

Sanjana is Uday’s sister from his father’s second marriage. Majnu just likes to call her his sister while RDX is a mystery better left unsolved. Rajiv’s uncle on the other hand is a doctor who goes by the name Ghungroo and runs a ladies fashion boutique and keeps toppling over semi-nude women at regular intervals.

The script keeps harping on the fact that he is respectable and therefore wants a bride from a respectable family for his nephew. Phew. Is there no end to such benign facetiousness?

There is no story to talk about and the plot just keeps veering in any direction. Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar, Feroz Khan, Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Katrina Kaif strut their regular stuff , flashy and in-your-face, never getting anywhere close to being characters required in a comedy!