Paying Guests Movie Reviews

Paritosh Painter makes a commendable transition from stage to screen, both as director and in translating his play to a different medium. You can see how Paying Guests would make for a riotous theatrical piece. When four homeless and unemployed young men decide to pose as two married couples in order to land PG accommodation, you know you are in for some slapstick situations.

Never judge a book by its cover. But we do! We tend to get carried away by eye-catching promos that a film-maker unleashes prior to a film's release. We act in haste, rush to a nearby cineplex and soon realise that the best parts were actually highlighted in the promos itself. That's exactly what you feel when you watch PAYING GUESTS, helmed by first-timer Paritosh Painter.

Friday after Friday you hope and pray that the producers and the plexes strike a deal and we get to watch Bollywood movies on the big screen. Fifteen minutes into Paying Guests, you hope and pray that the producers and the plexes deal another strike and you are spared this concentration camp. It’s understandable that a production house like Yash Raj Films references its own blockbusters

Bollywood going corporate should have spelt better for the film industry. At least, now there will be some quality control amongst films that are produced by respectable banners, one had thought. Ironically, the brand equity of big film producing companies always takes a nose dive when films like Tashan, Kal Kisne Dekha and now Paying Guests hits the screen.

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