Paying Guest

Hindi film industry has always been a formula industry . If one simple idea works they start churning out similar 100 more concepts until it becomes rotten enough for a new formula to be invented . It was evident from the era of Angry young man Mr Bhachan where his screen image was utilized by number of filmmakers to the hilt . such precedence was also observed when Hum Aapke Hai kaun was declared a hit . The formula was such a hit that more & more replicas were created , some even gave rise to generation changing directors like the elusive Aditya Chopra & the magnanimous Karan Johar .But these are famous examples of Hindi cinema’s masala culture .
Of late a new kind of shortcut formula has emerged .These is how it goes2,3or sometimes 4 good for nothing guys getting stuck in an unusual circumstances which gets the writer an opportunity to bring gag after gag . There are also unnecessary boring subplots because the main plot cannot make 2 & a half hour movie ( read Golmaal , Dhamaal , Hera Pheri , No Entry) So, we have the actors doing just about anything to make the audience laugh to compenstate for the lack of screenplay & ideas . There is also a touch of glamour thrown to make way for song in the shape of heroines many of whom are struggling in the acting department . Then there is the baap of the formula where in the climax you have all the actors coming together making a circus for an over the top end where you are supposed to fall off laughing (a la Priyadarshan school). Now all these movies mentioned in the bracket are the superb interpretations of the formula – cult classic . there are many who have got it terribly wrong (n Dhol , Apna Sapna Money Money) . 

Paying Guests falls in the latter category a one line interesting theme is made into a screenplay as a comedy but fails to evoke any laughter & whatever is there has already been shown in the promos . It is supposedly taken from a play , but it hardly looks like one as it seems somebody has tampered with it to make it feel like an old 8o’s trash masala comedy . So you have the Sindhi , Bengali & Punjabis that we used to see in the 80s making appearance in this one with the same hamming it up kind of a language . Songs are thrown in for non reason as dream sequences , the old hindi movie treatment .The jaane Bhi Do Yaaron kind of a climax fails to evoke any laughter but feels like a children Drama Skit that is going on . What doesn’t help are the actors Javed Jaffery is his usual ham king hamming it up like anything , Ashish & Vatsal are support performers , the glamour quotient is quite bad – Riya Sen ( go to acting school ) , Neha Dhupia ( stick to Mithyas , you are a better actor than this ) , Celina & the other actress are poor . Paintal & Chunkyhams it up & would give tough competition to Javed Jaffery .The only saving grace is the honest Talpade (but he is getting repetitive) & Jhonny Lever as well as the sparkling Delnaaz .
This is yet another dud from Subhash Ghai who has lost all glory with only Iqbal as a shining light in his production house . For a man who was one of the better formula filmmakers his bank account seems to have expired since the old formula had become extinct from cinema , yet he still is dreaming in 80’s era instead of looking ahead . Soi many of his contemporaries have done that Yashraj is producing Chak DE , Kabul Express , Raj Santoshi is going for differebt ideas & creating super movies like Khakhee . Its time Mr ghai wakes up & smells the coffee as he has himself directed & produced one bad commercial potboiler to another . Wake up Sir .
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