Welcome Back review: A welcomed sequel which tickles the funny bone

Direction: Anees Bazmee
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar, John Abraham, Paresh Rawal, Shruti Haasan, Dimple Kapadia, Naseeruddin Shah, Ankita Srivastava

Ratings:

Sequels tend to be superfluous. In Bollywood one that comes seven years after the original, and delayed by a year, becomes more so. But Welcome Back is a comedy that sticks to the tried-and-tested formula because it delivers laughs. Logic? What's that? It doesn't even bother coming up with a new storyline. Once again gangsters Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar) and Majnu Bhai (Anil Kapoor) have fallen for, and deceived by, the same woman (Ankita Srivastava). Shetty's ageing father lands at his doorstep, this time in Dubai no less, with another sister (Shruti Haasan), who is desperate to get married. Another menacing buffoon of a big don (Naseeruddin Shah) becomes a nuisance towards the end. Yet it all works because in doing so it doesn't take itself too seriously or attempt to be clever. With Raj Shaandaliya in the dialogues department and the great partnership of Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar, it consistently keeps viewers rolling on the floor with laughter or just giggling away. This is a nonsensical comedy which actually succeeds in being one with copious amount of quotable one-liners. "Gun aur gun ki spelling ek hoti hai" and "Unke ghar mein makkhiyaan bhi dupatta leke udti hai" being two of the many.

Welcome Back Review: The Bhais and the laughs are back

Buddy comedies as a genre in Bollywood hasn't seen many hilarious, memorable efforts since Andaz Apna Apna's loveable fools, Amar and Prem, had audiences rooting for them. Khalujan and Babban from Ishiqya regaled us with their misadventures. With Welcome Back it's fair to say that Uday and Majnu are worthy representatives of the club of #bestfriendsforever who constantly court trouble. It only helps that you have two experienced actors in Patekar and Kapoor who genuinely seem to enjoy each other's company, and whose repartee is worth watching. Uday is a man constantly trying to compose himself with the classic "Control", and Majnu is his trusted sidekick who struts about in the tackiest T-shirts and jackets still hoping to lead a dangerous organisation. The duo is also still in search of true love, and harbour the dream to get married. But as Welcome Back shows that they are best together.

Much to Majnu's dismay they have decided to clean up their act and become "shareef" people. But the past catches up with them when romance brews between Shetty's sister Ranjana (Shruti Haasan) and a notorious criminal Ajju Bhai (John Abraham) back in India. In a twist, he happens to be the son of Doctor Ghungroo's (Paresh Rawal) wife from another man. Barring the opening scene between Ranjana and Ajju, their love story can be dismissed. So can the innumerable songs, which mar the film's pace, feature poor choreography and are intolerable cruelty to the ears.

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Instead Welcome Back works best when Uday and Majnu find themselves trying to get out of tricky situations. The graveyard sequence where a spontaneous antakshri unfolds between the living and the dead is a strong contender to be one of the funniest this year. Throw in their exchanges with Ghungroo and their minions and the result is even more amusing.

But this leave-your-brains-at-home entertainment also has its limits. The second half is not as effective as the first. By the time Wanted Bhai (Naseeruddin Shah) emerges with his junkie son Honey (Shiney Ahuja) and the narrative is stretched with what seem laboured twists, Welcome Back begins to test your patience. The high-pitched battles and the ostentatious sets begin to numb the senses. Dimple Kapadia as a con woman and her daughter stand out more with their tacky outfits than their performance. Abraham can be summed up as how Majnu best describes him - someone who was perhaps born in a gym. His physique cannot compensate for his poor comic timing, which is more apparent when he has to share screen with Rawal, Kapoor and Patekar. Even Shah feels underused here. The OTT climax has its moments - there are mini helicopters and camels and a desert storm - but it also feels dragged.

If not for Patekar and Kapoor, the two jovial leads, Welcome Back would have been a forgettable affair. Anees Bazmee, Rajiv Kaul, Rajan Aggarwal and Praful Parekh with the help of Shandaliya pack the script with just enough word play and gags. It manages to be a welcomed sequel, one which tickles the funny bone.