Welcome to the Jungle

When the first Welcome came out in 2007, the comic camaraderie between Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar as Majnu and Uday delivered on its laugh out loud promise. With the second one, Welcome Back, the madness appeared to be losing its edge save for the lone, loony graveyard scene elevated by Anil and Nana’s superbness in a leave-your-brains-behind brand of comedy. Third time’s the charm? If chuckling five times in three hours is the new definition of hilarity, sure, why not? Welcome To The Jungle’s crowded chaos strays wholly from its loony gangsters theme to achieve its ‘big is better’ beliefs. Director Ahmed Khan replaces Anees Bazmee for this sillier-by-the-second spectacle starring a swarm of stars. As a matter of fact, one hour of its 164 minutes long circus is spent introducing its unending stock of characters as part of Welcome To The Jungle’s grand humorous plan.

An action-comedy that never finds its way out of the woods, Welcome to the Jungle jangles along mindlessly down a messy path. It delivers chaos, cacophony and confusion in bushels. Like it or lump it. The film gives an unwieldy cast the kind of freedom that only a muddled, overstuffed screenplay can. The actors stop at nothing, hamming it up like there is no tomorrow. While they have a ball, and then some, the Firoz Nadiadwala-produced film, directed by Ahmed Khan (who has toted up quite a few sequels and takes over the reins of this one from Anees Bazmee), lurches merrily from one massive wobble to another.