Review: ‘Paying Guests’ is not worth a single dekko

Spicezee Bureau

People who thought comedy was an easy business are highly mistaken, for it isn’t wee bit easy and director Paritosh Painter is one of those who think that a mediocre film, with a sloppy star cast, can still do wonders at the Indian BO. Well, wake up you guys, it ain’t going to work anymore, for the Indian audience has woken up from the dreaded dull masala pot-boiler nightmare that they were being fed upon forcefully till now. ‘Paying Guests’ begins on a bad note and gets worse with every moment. Shreyas Talpade, Javed Jaffrey and Ashish Choudhary are three best friends staying together as paying guests in Kiska Miglani’s (Asrani) house in Bangkok. But when Ashish’s cousin Vatsal Seth arrives from India to stay with them, they end up messing up things one drunken night and are kicked off by Kiska. Now, the jobless and homeless foursome desperately tries to hunt for an accommodation suiting their budget. Four of them get a house owned by Talpade’s ex-employer Ballu (Johnny Lever and his wife played by Delnaaz Paul) but with a condition that they should be married. So Ashish and Vatsal end up turning Shreyas and Javed into their respective wives (how innovative na?). Ballu is forever troubled by his younger brother Rocky (Chunky Pandey) who wants to get their father’s hotel in his name. What confusion it all leads to when the four leading ladies – Neha Dhupia, Celina Jaitly, Riya Sen and Sayali Bhagat get involved in some way or the other forms in the rest of the film. First things first, the film might be Painter’s (known for his theatrical works) silver screen debut but that doesn’t make it a tolerable thing. Now, all you are doing is waiting for the movie to get over (that is if you are going to sit till the entire duration)! Sadly, ‘Paying Guests’ has a dampener for a plot and an even shoddy cast, I mean who on earth would want to see so many flop actors together? ‘Paying Guests’ is not worth wasting your money. Better stay at home for another weekend! Rating: One.