Anil Kapoor on 15 years of Welcome: ‘Majnu bhai picked up the paintbrush and rest is history’

Anil Kapoor's comedy film Welcome turned 15 on Wednesday. It starred Akshay Kumar, Nana Patekar and Katrina Kaif.

Anil Kapoor has shared a post to mark 15 years of his hit 2007 comedy, Welcome. The actor played the role of a hilarious gangster and artist Majnu bhai in the film that also starred Akshay Kumar, Nana Patekar and Katrina Kaif. His character of Majnu bhai is still popular for his painting of a dog standing on top of a donkey in the film.

Nana Patekar, Akshay Kumar and Anil Kapoor in a still from Welcome.

Sharing a few stills with Akshay, Nana Patekar and Feroz Khan on Twitter, Anil wrote on Wednesday, “15 years ago Majnu bhai picked up the paintbrush and the rest is history! #Welcome was, is and always will be one of my most cherished films for the sheer joy it has brought people! It’s amazing how some stories & characters just live on even years later.” He tagged his co-stars Mallika Sherawat and Paresh Rawal and director Anees Bazmee as well as he added in another tweet, “and Thanks for giving #Welcome & Majnu Bhai so much love!”

A fan commented on his tweet, “Truly iconic. Majnu bhai and Uday bhai are.” Another tweeted, “They don’t make such movies anymore. All time classic.” One more fan said, “Majnu bhai the Great.” A fan also said Nana Patekar's popular word from the film, “control”.

Directed by Anees Bazmee, Welcome was produced by Firoz Nadiadwala. It was a box office blockbuster with collection of ₹117 crore then. Malaika Arora also had a special dance number Hoth Rasiley in the film. It was followed by a sequel titled Welcome Back in 2015. It starred John Abraham, Shruti Haasan as the new lead actors.

Anil was last seen in JugJugg Jeeyo, which also had Neetu Kapoor, Varun Dhawan and Kiara Advani among the ensemble cast. He is currently working on his upcoming film Animal. It stars Ranbir Kapoor and Rashmika Mandanna. Directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, Animal also stars Bobby Deol. It is touted as a crime drama and will release on August 11 next year. He also has a pivotal role in Siddharth Anand's Fighter, starring Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone.