Welcome Back Dubai premiere date announced

Shruti Hassan, John Abraham and Paresh Rawal during the shooting of Welcome Back at Sofitel hotel in Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

Welcome Back, the Bollywood blockbuster that shot in Dubai last year, is set for an all star premiere at The Music Room, in the Palm's Zabeel Sarai Hotel, on September 2, ahead of its cinema release two days later.

The movie stars John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar, Paresh Rawal, Shruti Haasan Dimple Kapadia and Naseeruddin Shah and was directed by Anees Bazmee, and all the stars are expected to attend the lavish bash next month.

Welcome Back is the sequel to 2007's smash gangster flick-meets-romcom Welcome, and shot in a host of locations around Dubai and Abu Dhabi, including Emirates Palace and The Palm, last year. Director Bazmee revealed to The National on set last October that he hoped to premiere the film here: "We definitely want to do a big premiere here because the entire film was shot here and we want to see the reaction here," he said. "It's very important to see the reaction because almost all of the movie was shot in Dubai, as was the first one, and it all takes place in Dubai. All the characters live here except the lead, who travels here from India."

The cast also appeared in an exclusive, sold out, panel session to talk about the film at last December’s Dubai International Film Festival where Patekar had the adoring audience in stitches with a seemingly endless stream of Hindi jokes and gags.