Jumma Chumma In London to Welcome To New York - Bollywood Brings Back Reality Concert On The Big Screen

Back in 1990, Amitabh Bachchan had spearheaded one of the biggest Bollywood tours at overseas when he visited London. Titled Jumma Chumma In London, the concert was held at the prestigious Wembley stadium and was a runaway success. Soon enough, the concert was released as a documentary film and found some good popularity going for it, especially in the video circuits.

Now almost three decades down the line, a similar experiment is being played out all over again, this time with IIFA as the backdrop. Held in New York last year, the event was a very good success and was attended by who’s who of the industry. However, instead of it being released as a documentary, there is a new kind of experiment being played out in the form of a film, Welcome To New York.

"That's right," says a source attached to the film, "For the first time ever there is a complete spin-off of the event by means of a feature film no less. Yes, the backdrop is that of the IIFA awards and there are quite a few scenes in the film that would feature the proceedings that took place during the event. However, to top it up all, there is a film which has been planned around these events."

Directed by Chakri Toleti (who is making his Bollywood debut with this Vashu Bhagnani production), Welcome To New York tells the story of two commoners - Sonakshi Sinha and Diljit Dosanjh - who gain an opportunity to visit IIFA awards and mingle up, close and personal with the celebrity crowd. The show is hosted by Karan Johar and Riteish Deshmukh (who play themselves) with appearances by Sushant Singh Rajput, Lara Dutta, Boman Irani and Rana Daggubati as well. While there are gags and fun galore, twist in the tale comes when Karan Johar's (evil) twin brother Arjun comes into the scene.

"This is what makes Welcome To New York interesting because fact and fiction have been merged seamlessly into the narrative," our source continues, "So basically there are three narrative points. One is the real footage, second is the footage that is shot around the real Bollywood personalities and third is the footage which is shot with fictitious characters. It may all sound plain, simple and easy but believe me, it is not. There are a lot of factors involved here, both from writing as well as technical perspective, and you need to be really smart in your storytelling style to get it right."

What is also quite important is to note that this is an altogether different genre been attempted and hence its success becomes all the more important.

"Bollywood hasn't really seen an event spinoff film like this," a veteran filmmaker comments, "You can well imagine that after Jumma Chumma In London, there has been no such affair. Still, despite the challenges involved, the makers have taken a step ahead and dared to put together something as drastically experimental as this."

One of the major challenges involved was to let the audiences clearly understand what the film is actually all about.

"There was a quite some effort put into making the promo right," a technical crew member adds, "Jokes, humor, reality, fiction, songs, entertainment quotient - all of this had to be well integrated in those two and a half minutes so that audiences get a clear messaging around what Welcome To New York is all about. Thankfully, they seem to have caught on well to the point. It is time now for them to appreciate what the film has to offer as a whole."

We would know as the film releases all over today.