Paying Guests

Paying Guests directed by Paritosh Painter is a comedy that's based on a premise so weak, you'll just about muster up a few chuckles; don't expect this film to make you laugh.Javed Jaffrey, Shreyas Talpade and Ashish Chaudhary play three Indian friends in Pattaya who lose their jobs at the same time and soon after find themselves kicked out of the apartment they share, by their cranky landlord played by Asrani. Now they have no roof over their heads, no money for rent, and to add to it, a fourth friend (played by Vatsal Sheth) has landed up to bunk with them. Obviously our heroes never consider selling off their trendy clothes and fancy watches and using that money for rent - no, if they did that, this stupid film would end right there.What happens instead - rather conveniently - is that they come across an Indian couple - played by Johnny Lever and Delnaz Paul - who are happy to rent out a room against zero deposit, but only to married couples. Borrowing the oldest trick in the Bollywood Book of Clichés, Shreyas Talpade and Javed Jaffrey go drag and pretend to be the wives of the other two. The landlords are fooled and the room is obtained. But the hiccups start when their girlfriends begin to show up one by one.Everything about this film feels recycled - the juvenile plot, the tired jokes, even the performances by the leads. You've seen this kind of film many times before and there's virtually nothing novel being offered here. Writer-director Paritosh Painter resorts to every overused gag to draw the laughs - Gujarati characters mispronouncing words, your staple gay jokes, double-meaning dialogue, slapstick set-ups, and the standard trick involving tennis balls-for-breasts. None of it is very funny. The girls in the film - Celina Jaitley, Neha Dhupia, Riya Sen and Sayali Bhagat - not exactly Bollywood's answer to the Streeps and Sarandons, have precious little to do but flaunt their curves. Of the men, it's only Shreyas Talpade who shows any spark for comic timing; and Johnny Lever can always be counted on to deliver a few genuinely funny moments.That aside, Paying Guests is a rather painful picture that completely fails to even engage you. You couldn't care less what happens to the characters in the end. Sadly, they all go home smiling. You wish you could too.This film is strictly for those who enjoy inflicting pain on themselves.

A great Directorial Debut for Paritosh. After Dhamaal (which was again an amazing film), Paritosh couldn't have delivered better. I think a better cast could have helped the movie to get more eye balls. Shreyas, Javed, Johnny Lever, Chunkey have delivered good performances. Ashish, Vatsal could have been avoided. The humor is good. Specially the scene when Neha comes home to meet Ashish is hilarious. Even the pregnancy scene is damn good. The climax was not a novelty (Something similar to Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron) but still works for me. Over all a entertaining film. You will have fun. Don't think too much, Its a comedy not a thought provoking film.

Movie lovers all over the world are desperate to see a good entertaining movie after the long non-happening break in Hindi Cinema. And even a marginally good movie could possibly become a profit earner for its producers at this particular point of time. But "Paying Guest" doesn't even score the minimum points to qualify at that level. It is a completely out of tune project with an all predictable storyline and repetitive gags.

The plot can be easily guessed from its title and on air promos, which revolves around men posing like girls to get a shelter as Paying Guests. We have already witnessed the same narrative in many movies in the past and the only thing which could have saved the movie was its treatment and performances. Sadly, the movie doesn't have anything to hold your interest in those departments too. From the start itself, you already know what is going to happen next and you simply give up all your hopes of watching a quality comedy from there on. All the four key characters lose their jobs, have no place to live and then find a home where only married couples are allowed as Paying Guests. It all sounds like a book already read till the last page. So there is no surprise element as far as the story is concerned.

In the performance department, though we have a talented ensemble of actors known for their comic timings, still no one in particular is as impressive as their earlier movies. Out of all only, Shreyas Talpade and Johny Lever (as the Sikh Landlord) manage to provide a few moments to enjoy for the viewers. Javed Jaffery looks like holding back intentionally, with Ashish Chowdhary & Vatsal Seth just playing their parts as assigned. Chunky Pandey and Inder Kumar are simply wasted in their non sensible roles. In the female lead, only Delnaz is able to give a good performance as Johny Lever's wife trying to speak English words in her own style. Rest all including Neha Dhupia, Celina Jaitley, Riya Sen and Sayali Bhagat are only there to add more glamour on the screen. In fact, Sheryas & Javed in their woman avatars are more entertaining than all the other girls put together. But even their worth praising acts go un-noticed since there is nothing new in their under-written routine like sequences and all heard before, one liner jokes. Well known veteran comedy actors like Asrani, Paintel and Viju Khote are also there to give a real comedy feel to the movie.

Sajid Wajid's music once again fails to deliver anything exceptional after their last week project, with only one song "Jack & Jill", sounding good to the ears. Location wise, the movie has a novelty in store, exploring Bangkok and Pattaya with a fresh perspective. But without any real entertainment happening on the screen, you are just not interested in seeing only the good visuals.

It looks like the director, Paritosh Painter, only had an idea of men posing as women in mind for his movie. And then he got a whole script written around this plot and just started the shoot. He seems to be highly inspired from Ritesh Deshmukh's widely appreciated lady act in "Apna Sapna Money Money". A scene from this movie can also be spotted running on a TV in the background, when the boys come to Johny Lever's house for the first time. Paritosh also tries to create the same magic of "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron" towards the climax where all the characters jump into an ongoing stage show, in different getups, speaking their own dialogues. But here also the magic of the original remains untouched.

Summing up, "Paying Guest" is like a badly cooked and completely tasteless dish served to the hungry movie lovers at a time when they seriously need a good one.

The movie is full of SICK Jokes. Not worth watching in theater. Shreyas & Javed are the best amongst the lot along with Johny Lever and Delnaz. Rest of the cast is wasted. Amongst songs: the only good one is: Jack and Jill. End of the movie is straight lift from Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro.

I think Mukta Arts is not capable handling Comedy Movies. Cinematography is strictly OK. The locales of Bangkok and Pattaya are shot well. Story line is weak in parts and fails to lift the story in first 30 minutes. The Whistling Woods Institute should actually look out for good writers and directors. Its a high time for the Mukta Arts to come out with the good quality cinema.

Not knowing what this was about, I must say it was a pleasant surprise as it wasn't really advertised at all and especially on TV channels. Three men loose their jobs but when a fourth joins them, they are thrown out of their rented accommodation as well and over night have to find a place to stay. And they do but there is surprise in for one of the man as well as certain conditions..

Starring Shreyas Talpade, Celina Jaitley, Javed Jaffrey, Neha Dhupia, Johnny Lever, Asrani, Chunky Pandey, Paintal, Sayali Bhagat, Riya Sen, Delnaaz Paul and Ashish Choudhary. This is directed by Pantosh Painter and Subash Ghai.

Good acting by all the cast and this can be seen very clearly on the screen and its also nice to see Johnny Lever back after a long time. Shreyas Talpade, from the beginning, along with Javed Jaffrey, Ashish Choudhary and Johnny Lever, goes full steam ahead in this comedy genre movie and there are scenes with him and Johnny Lever, that has one in stitches of laughter. This is very well supported by Javed Jaffrey and Ashish Choudhary and would say that all the cast have an equal role in this movie.

There are moments that have echoes of "Dostana" but this is different and is a change from the other movies this year. It is one of the better ones to watch and have a good laugh and enjoy.

A Good comedy and worth watching.