Welcome to Karachi

Story: Shammi (Arshad Warsi) and Kedar Patel (Jackky Bhagnani) are like Lloyd and Dunne of Dumb and Dumber. They are bestiez who have grown up together. Kedar is the son of Mitesh Patel (Dalip Tahil) who is an event manager for weddings in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Shammi on the other hand is an ex-navy officer who is kicked out of the force thanks to his stupidity. While Kedar is obsessed with going to the U.S., after being rejected a visa because of his surname.

On a drunk night, Shammi suggests that he and Kedar leave for America on a cruise, even though they laugh it off in that instance, in a freak accident by the sea, Kedar and Shammi who are supposed to manage a wedding baraat on a cruise, leave without the baraatis only to lose their direction and land up in Karachi, Pakistan.

What entails is a series of stupid events as they enter forbidden territories of Taliban.

Star Performances: Arshad Warsi as Shammi Thakur is decent enough. He does what he is best at, excel at the comic timing but it's just that the content does not support much here. We have seen him do much more rib tickling fun in other films and I wonder what made him choose this.

Jackky Bhagnani as Kedar Patel tries his best to perfect the Gujarati accent and he does manage a good attempt. Only in a certain scenes, it becomes ham but overall he holds it well. His character is an understatement for dumb and he pulls it off just fine.

Lauren Gottlieb promoted this film with full swing but little did we know that she has only a blink and miss performance in the film. She essays the role of an Intelligence officer but other than her song Shakira, she hardly has any screen space.

Direction,editing & screenplay: Ashish R Mohan directs this film and well, I have a lot of complaints for him. To start off, the film's special effects look pathetic and the scene where Shammi and Kedar are caught in the sea storm, the special effects used are so weak that even TV serials have better ones.

Secondly, if it is a comedy film, one need not use background music that hammers into your head the cues for every upcoming joke. I am completely not in favour of those 'tings' and 'tongs' that play pre and post jokes as if watching a comedy show.

The first half in itself is a tiring ride with majority of the gags failing and so when the second half kick starts, you have already given up on the film. The curse of the first half continues in the second, leaving you wanting to see predictable ending. The film has an open ending and well, if they earlier thought of continuing with a sequel, the makers need to sleep on it and forget this dream.

Basically, the director tries nothing to save his already shoddy content as even the music has disappointing tracks.

The Last Word: Welcome to Karachi promises nothing but slapstick humor. There is not one moment in the film where you get a good laugh and sadly not even a satirical one. This proved to be a yawn-fest for me and I am going with a 4/10 for the film.

A spoof is good when reality is twisted in a very obvious way. This movie demonstrates a complete lack understanding of Pakistan. Just for clarity, Pakistan is not like a Muslim ghetto in India.

There are many comedies made by misplacing characters in different geographical situations. This is absolute rubbish.

On a very broader, macro level, 'Welcome To Karachi' is heavily inspired from the concept which created Dumb and Dumber franchisee: The protagonists are dumb, half-wit but smart enough to pull it through.

It takes guts to experiment with such cinema in Bollywood, as comedy lies in the crust and everything seems like a spoof, a deliberate alternate take on the realities. The script has to be intelligent, the dialogues need to be sharp, witty and there should be an underlying message for the audience.

I am glad to say that Ashish R Mohan's 'Welcome To Karachi' proves it's mettle on every count, and thus, a new form of cinema has been created which needs attention. If Rohit Shetty's Golmaal series and Sunday can become 100 crore grosser, then Welcome To Karachi at least deserves applause. (Incidentally, Ashish was Asst. Director for Rohit Shetty's previous movies)

I am really appalled by the negative reviews this movie has received from major critics. Considering that the movie is fictional, the characters are dumb (intentionally) and there is high degree of brain dead comic sequences, why has the critics tried to discover logic here.

Arshad Warsi is the pillar of this movie, with his impeccable performance and timely humor, he dominates the screen. But credit should go to Jackky Bhagnani, as he has improved a lot. In some of the comic scenes, he has acted fabulously, as the audience finds hard to resist the laugh.

But the highlight of the movie is the screenplay: its twisted, bended and molded as per the situation and rather builds up the tempo at every point. Yes, the graphics and special effects could have been better, but it's the way of telling a story which makes all the difference, and Ashish has done a remarkable job here. Special mention of the way Pakistan has been shown – its actually funny. Director has thought creatively here, and has tried to interlink global issues, including terrorism with the plot. Songs are again, unconventional and radically different from what regular Bollywood movies churn out. 'Chal Bhag' will remain with you long after you leave the theater.

Dialogues are crispy, hilarious and hard hitting: Apt for such type of cinema, where the main characters have to justify their stupidity at every scene. Somehow, each of these factors are aligned perfectly to create an intelligent yet half-wit laugh riot which will make you laugh out loud, with guarantee.

Due to the daring attempt at creating a cinema which has, unfortunately, few takers in India, I will give 'Welcome to Karachi' 7/10. Go, watch it if you are taking life seriously!

I will get straight to the point and save you time by explaining (and hopefully convincing) why you should skip Welcome 2 Karachi for life.

The story about two Indian idiots, Kedar (Bhagnani) and Shammi (Warsi) trying to go to America through seaways using a motor boat and, instead landing in Pakistan sounds like an ideal base for a satire. However, the film starts, fools around, and ends with absurdity as its main and the only ingredient. Since it is a satire one does not pay attention to the story. But to depend on extremely unpleasant jokes and cooked-up situations is like depending on the US to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.

The performances are not pleasant either. Bhagnani acts pure dumb, but then he does not put much effort into it as acting dumb comes naturally to him. Although, he does play the comedian if we compare him with the lunar eclipse Warsi, who looks dull after his long hiatus from the screen. Gottlieb cannot act, nor can she deliver her dialogs properly. She should stick to brain-numbing dancing.

All said and done, one will enjoy only few chuckles that are caused by random comic situations, which are, for your information, only present in the first half. The second half is worse than Roy (2015) and Kuch Kuch Locha Hai (2015) put together. Plus, I could also sense some exaggeration regarding the depiction of the Pakistani life. Clearly, Pakistan as a country is not as bad as the film showcases it to be.

BOTTOM LINE: Welcome 2 Karachi is a satire film which takes it audience on a 2-hour long ride so that it can show how it is NOT a satire film. Skip for life.

RATING: 1 star out of 10.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

For friends who might be considering the film to be based on a novel idea revolving around two friends unknowingly getting into Pakistan territory facing the terrorists groups, the subject was recently seen in the award winning movie FILMISTAN (2014) too, that unfortunately couldn't reach a wider audience missing any 'star- value'. And exploiting the same plot in a much wackier manner defying every kind of logic right from its first sequence itself, WELCOME 2 KARACHI turns out to be a pretty ordinary project in comparison that ironically had a more entertaining 3 minute trailer than the entire 2 hour film to be straight.

Directed by Ashish R Mohan (post KHILADI 786), it begins with a lazy instrumental track used in the titles and then goes on offering all over the top, crazy or annoying insertions that desperately try to entertain the viewers without any major success. For instance, you get everything thrown in from a 3 IDIOTS inspired child birth, dumb looking terrorists groups and a good looking Intelligence agent to a weird change of identities of two Indians as Pakistani officers, introducing their extended families by news channels and then sending them back to India again with their fresh Indian Passports and disguised looks adding to the senseless confusion (Now who actually wrote that?).

But above all there is one particular sequence staged around the Indian Consulate in Pakistan showcasing a sudden, mindless cross firing from every country's consulate on that road (including China, USA, Israel and many more) which simply makes you wonder that what exactly the makers wished to portray here in the name of political satire or comedy?

The film's basic storyline moves with no specific direction and just keeps wandering into various sub-plots offering only a few interesting moments in its climax as the saving grace. The cinematography doesn't give you anything extraordinary to mention but the VFX are pretty amateurish right from the first sequence of a ship drowning in a sea-storm. Background score tries hard to generate some forced laughter whereas the soundtrack doesn't come up with even a single impressive track despite the presence of a terrific dancer Lauren (in an item number).

As a performer with superb comic timing, Arshad Warsi mostly (tries to) steals the show but Jackie comes up with a few witty one liners too at regular intervals making his presence felt. Yet their act together cannot be termed as something highly entertaining due to the lackluster script and its meaningless progression written vaguely. Lauren Gottlieb is simply there because of her eye-catching looks and dancing ability. Plus the supporting cast fails to make any significant impact on the viewer, particularly the actors portraying the roles of American officers dragging the film to the levels of a poor B-grade venture.

In all, apart from few entertaining dialogues and a somewhat engaging culmination, the film has nothing much to offer in terms of either comedy or satire. But then it also depends upon 'what exactly you consider to be too stupid or funny' as per your personal choice. Besides, friends who have already seen FILMISTAN are going to find some exactly similar sequences too as the one focusing on Cricket match between India and Pakistan.

Moreover I really doubt how sportingly the film would be taken by our Pakistani friends watching such silly depiction of their people, the city and the authorities in its various scenes.