Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge? Movie Reviews

ATITHI TUM KAB JAOGE? mirrors a reality, but the story has scope for not just humour and emotions, the staple diet of most Hindi movies, but there's a generous dose of devotional quotient that is well integrated in the storyline. Do you miss movies of yore, helmed by masters like Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee? ATITHI TUM KAB JAOGE? may not be a CHUPKE CHUPKE, GOLMAAL, CHITCHOR or KHATTA MEETHA, but it has a certain old-world charm that one misses in cinema of today. Final word? Bring this atithi home!

Amidst unsolicited slapsticks and undesirable farcical films, it’s heartening to welcome a simple, situational, clean and credible comedy. Here is a guest who gets on the nerves of his hosts while amusing the audiences through his wacky ways. ‘Atithi’ like these are most welcome! Aap inhe dekhne theatre kab jaoge?

Neat. Subtle. And softly funny. Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge is quite unlike the hysterical laugh acts that have been trying terribly hard to make you laugh in recent Bollywood. More of a chuckle-and-a-smirk drama, this one doesn't even try to convince you that life is all ha-ha-he-he. Instead, it creates situations and characters that fill you with warmth and make you smile with the familiar quirkiness of recognisable situations.

Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge? starring Paresh Rawal as a houseguest who overstays his welcome, makes for a terrific premise for a television sitcom, but doesn't lend itself comfortably to a feature-length film. Directed by Ashwani Dhir, the movie stars Ajay Devgan and Konkona Sen Sharma as a married couple who must contend with an annoying uncle who lands up unannounced one day, and shows no signs of leaving even two months later.

Do you think houseguests may be a hindrance to your private space? Well, Ajay Devgn and Konkona Sen Sharma's characters in Athiti Tum Kab Jaoge certainly think so, when their structured lives are rudely altered by a houseguest who refuses to leave. Directed by Ashwini Dheer, Atithi tells a simple and unconventional story, and sees great performances from the lead cast, which includes Paresh Rawal.

In an era of the so-called 'multiplex cinema' and movies catering to niche audiences, we've all but forgotten the quintessential 'family film' that dominated the '70s and '80s. Ashwni Dhir reinvents the genre with Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge? and brings back memories of the Basu Chatterji and Hrishikesh Mukherjee school of filmmaking. Based on a short story by Sharad Joshi, the film explores a quandary we've all experienced at some point or the other

On day one of Chachaji’s (Paresh Rawal) stay at his nephew Puneet’s (Ajay Devgn) plush Goregaon flat, the elderly man puts his legs up on the sofa and farts loudly, much to the horror of everyone present. On day two, he lets out another stinker at the dining table. On day three, the vayupravah (yes, that’s what Chachaji calls it) is let loose in the living room. On day 10, it’s in the kitchen. On day 22, while watching TV. On day 30, just about everywhere

Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge? is a comedy specially tailored for the average Indian family. Thus, everything about the film is average. Inspired by a Sharad Joshi article, the film is about an unexpected guest, who refuses to go away; always an interesting premise for chaos. Unfortunately, this premise never really gets its full play in Atithi… as the screenplay remains tepid and the jokes tedious. Ajay Devgan plays a struggling film writer, while Konkona plays

We’ve all suffered guests who outstay their welcome. But when Ashwani Dhir tries to make a two-hour comedy out of a one-line situation, he runs into a problem that a three- member family has no answers to : there are not enough characters to spread the laughs over, not even when the aforementioned `atithi’ is the redoubtable Paresh Rawal.

Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge, based on a short story by the noted satirist Sharad Joshi, is exactly that: a short story stretched into a movie. This tale of the house guest from hell might have worked well as an episode of Doordarshan's Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi or even All India Radio's Hawa Mahal. But as a two-hour movie, it's overtly stretched and mostly mediocre. Only Ajay Devgn gets to chew the scenery with a nicely done climactic speech about the relationship between children and parents. Aththi Tum Kab Jaoge attempts to impart valuable lessons but the comic sugar-coating just doesn't crackle enough.

Everybody over-does it. Among gags after gags, one or two mildly work. But it’s the cast that had initially inspired confidence. Devgn’s last comedy, All The Best, was in parts a riot. Sen Sharma’s last, Wake Up Sid, was a wonderfully affectionate rom-com. And as anyone will tell you, not just a wealthy Gujarati trader in Jersey, Paresh Rawal is Paresh Rawal. None of them (bumbling together in a room) even vaguely add up. The producer thanks the cast and crew, at the beginning of the film, for wrapping up the entire movie in four months flat. The shoddiness, or commercial desperation, shows.

  Star cast: Ajay Devgan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Paresh Rawal. Plot: Paresh Rawal comes visiting Ajay and Konkon...