Welcome Trial Show Was A Flop, Reveals Anees Bazmee - Here's How It Became A Blockbuster

Anees Bazmee is currently busy shooting for the third sequel of the popular horror comedy franchise, Bhool Bhulaiyaa. Amid this, he took some time out for an interview with a famous YouTuber where he opened up about how Welcome, one of his most successful films, was a debacle after its trial show. The film stars Akshay Kumar, Anil Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, and Nana Patekar in the lead roles.

Welcome's trial show was a flop

Speaking to Siddharth Kanan, the filmmaker recalled how they first showed the film to only 200 people, and all of them were sitting blankly and no one laughed. Seeing this, the producer Firoz Nadiadwala called Anees the next day, expressing his concern about the release of the film. "After a discussion, he went by my conviction, and we did not make a single change in the film, no addition or subtraction," he added.

He added that the film was met with overwhelming response on the first day and was later declared a smashing hit. The comedy-drama went on to become the second highest-grossing Hindi film of the year with global revenues of ₹1.22 billion. In its opening week, the film minted ₹35 crore, despite clashing with Aamir Khan starrer Tare Zameen Par. Domestically, the film earned ₹97.43 crore, while ₹117.91 crore worldwide.

DYK Anees Bazmee was facing health issues during the Welcome shoot?

In the same conversation, the director revealed that once he was shooting in a hospital. The director was accompanied by Nana Patekar in the hospital who was privately suggested by the doctor that the director should be admitted. The scene in reference was one where Nana Patekar and Anil Kapoor arrived at the hospital to find RDX (played by Feroz Khan)'s son Lucky. After shooting that scene with "great difficulty," his nose was bleeding.