Welcome Home (2020 film)
2020 film by Pushkar Mahabal
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Welcome Home is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language horror thriller film inspired by a real-life incident.[1] It stars Kashmira Irani, Swarda Thigale, Boloram Das, Shashi Bhushan, and Tina Bhatia.[2] The film was written by Ankita Narang and directed by Pushkar Mahabal[3]. The music was composed by Meghdeep Bose, with cinematography by Saee Bhope, and editing by Pushkar Mahabal.[2] Produced by actor Paresh Rawal and his wife, model and actor Swaroop Rawal, Welcome Home premiered on SonyLIV in 2020.[4] As of May 2024, the film is no longer available on SonyLIV for undisclosed reasons.[citation needed]
Swaroop Rawal
Swarda Thigale
Boloram Das
Shashi Bhushan
Tina Bhatia
| Welcome Home | |
|---|---|
| |
| Directed by | Pushkar Mahabal |
| Written by | Ankita Narang |
| Produced by | Paresh Rawal Swaroop Rawal |
| Starring | Kashmira Irani Swarda Thigale Boloram Das Shashi Bhushan Tina Bhatia |
| Cinematography | Saee Bhope |
| Edited by | Pushkar Mahabal |
| Music by | Meghdeep Bose |
Production companies | Playtime Creationn Monolith |
| Distributed by | SonyLIV |
Release date |
|
Running time | 125 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
Plot
The plot revolves around two old women, Anuja and Neha, who are high school teachers and have been tasked with collecting population data for the census. On their way to collect the data, they arrive at a deserted house where a pregnant woman named Prerna welcomes them. When asked about the people who reside there, Prerna answers that there are four people in the house: Prerna, her grandmother, an old man, and Bhola (the cook). One of the women points towards her baby bump and asks her if it will be her firstborn. Prerna replies with a no and says that after being born, all the newborns cry for some time before hopelessly dying. Although skeptical, the two women leave.
Cast
- Kashmira Irani as Anuja
- Swarda Thigale as Neha
- Boloram Das as Bhola
- Shashi Bhushan as Ghanshyam, Prerna's father
- Tina Bhatia as Prerna
- Akshita Arora as Amma
- Siddhesh Wanikar as Naru
- Hardish Anil Pandya as a Caputured man
- Romil K as Anuja's fiancé
- Swapnil Abhyankar as Amol Joshi
- Mahesh Raipurkar as Anuja's landlord
- Sarang S Abhyankar as Government officer
Reception
Critical response
The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, with praise for the performances and writing. Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in wrote "In the SonyLIV film Welcome Home, Boloram Das is far more effective and terrifying as a man who promises to perform horrible deeds and goes right ahead. Welcome Home has other strong performances too, especially by its female leads, who movingly bring out the film’s themes of imprisonment and liberation."[5]
Avinash Ramachandran of The Indian Express said "Welcome Home might seem like a gritty chamber drama, but it is also an affecting commentary on patriarchy."[2]
Devasheesh Pandey from News 18 gave the film 2.5 stars out of 5 and wrote "Welcome Home is not just another movie but carries gracefully a narrative that seeks transformation and liberation from victimhood, which as Anuja points out, does not rest upon gender, but can happen with anyone."[6]
Pallabi Dey Purkayastha of The Times of India gave 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote "Welcome Home’ gives hope: hope that every time a leach elbows a naïve-looking girl, she will fight back. Hope that every time a wife, mother or daughter is assaulted or murdered, the women would fight back and seek justice."[4]