Welcome Back (2015)

Welcome Back 2015: a sequel with a long road to release

Welcome Back 2015 is a Hindi crime comedy directed by Anees Bazmee and produced by Firoz Nadiadwala. It follows Welcome from 2007, and anyone who remembers that film will recognise the ingredients: gangsters who are more comic than frightening, mistaken identities and a marriage plot.

Published accounts say the release date moved several times. The makers first shifted it away from a December 2014 slot to avoid meeting P.K. at the box office, then pushed it into early 2015 because shooting was running behind, and finally settled on 4 September 2015. That history matters mainly as context: it explains why you may see older articles quoting different dates.

The premise, as summarised on Wikipedia, is that two foster brothers who have walked away from crime now run legitimate businesses in Dubai. Their comfortable routine is disturbed by two con artists, pressure from relatives about marriage, and a string of comic accidents that risks pulling them back into their old trade.

The ensemble, character by character

The strength of this franchise has always been its ensemble, and the listed cast is large. Anil Kapoor plays Sagar Pandey, known as Majnu Bhai, and Nana Patekar has a dual role as Uday Shetty and Shankar Shetty. Paresh Rawal appears as Dr. Ghunghroo. Per the published cast lists, Patekar, Kapoor and Rawal return from the first film.

New to the series are John Abraham as Ajju Bhai (Ajay Barsi) and Shruti Haasan as Ranjana Shetty. Dimple Kapadia, Naseeruddin Shah, Shiney Ahuja and Ankita Srivastava round out the principal names, with Supriya Karnik, Ranjeet, Neeraj Vora, Mushtaq Khan and Adi Irani in supporting parts. Vijay Raaz is credited as narrator.

On the technical side, Kabir Lal handled cinematography and Steven H. Bernard edited. The songs were composed by several hands, including Anu Malik and Meet Bros Anjjan, with a soundtrack released on 6 August 2015 by T-Series. Raaj Shaandilyaa wrote the dialogue.

Welcome Back release date, runtime and where to watch

The Welcome Back release date was 4 September 2015, in India and worldwide, with Eros International as distributor. Sources differ slightly on length, 152 or 153 minutes, so we leave the runtime out of the structured details.

We did not find a source confirming a current streaming platform or the censor certificate, so we are not naming either. Search the title and year on your OTT app or a listing site, and make sure you pick the 2015 film rather than the 2007 original. The franchise also continues: Wikipedia notes that a third instalment, Welcome to the Jungle, was announced in September 2023.

What kind of viewer it suits

This is aimed at viewers who enjoy loud, star-heavy Hindi comedies where the fun comes from familiar characters and chaos. Critics at the time were mixed to negative, according to the summary we saw, so go in for the franchise nostalgia and the cast rather than for realism. We have not watched it and this is a preview, not a review.