Strictly for men -- Paying Guests

JUST FOR GAGS : Paying Guests.

Genre: Comedy

Director: Paritosh Painter

Cast: Javed Jaffrey, Shreyas Talpade, Aashish Chaudhary, Vatsal Seth, Celina Jaitley, Riya Sen, Sayali Bhagat, Neha Dhupia, Asrani, Johnny Lever

Storyline: Out-of-work buddies pretend to be married couples for a roof over their heads

Bottomline: Front bencher’s delight.

If you’re a girl, you will sound like a bird by the end of the film, going “cheap,” “cheap,” “cheap” every few moments. The film’s so “cheap” that most boys wouldn’t find a better bargain in the movie halls this season.

Right from the posters (Javed Jaffrey is seen pinching bottoms), you know what to expect. It’s unabashedly male in its approach, and thoroughly sexist. .

By no means can ‘Paying Guests’ be called good cinema. But, it’s great entertainment, a gloriously cheap celebration of political incorrectness. Paritosh Painter adapts his play to the big screen with all the clichés you can find in silly Bollywood comedies over the decades — out-of-work guys who can’t pay rent, men in drag equipped with tennis balls, speaking Hindi with a Tamil accent, walking-into-a-pole humour and caught-without-pants gags… Also, everyone speaks as if Hindi is the new national language of Thailand. .

However stale the jokes are, they work, and only because of the fantastic actors that Shreyas Talpade, Javed Jaffrey and Aashish Chaudhary are. Their timing is impeccable — whether it is physical comedy, bad puns or casual quips, and the gang makes these series of gags you’ve seen before immensely watchable. Liked ‘Apna Sapna Money Money’ ? This one unfolds like a fanboy tribute to that film as Javed Jaffrey’s ringtone goes ‘Dekha Jo Tujhe Yaar Dil Main Baji Guitar’, and later, Riteish Deshmukh in drag on TV gives one of them the brainwave — to make their friends dress in drag since the landlord would rent out portions only to married couples.

Soon, Shreyas and Javed become Karisma and Kareena. The guys are a blast and the girls have nothing else to do apart from prancing around wearing the shortest clothes ever made, and going over the top. Come on, when you know a film that casts both Riya Sen and Celina Jaitley… and Neha Dhupia for a bonus, you ought to know what’s in store. Miss Sayali Bhagat, please don’t ever try to act. You’re scaring the kids away. When Riya Sen sporting the skimpiest top she can find, sobs and asks for a hanky, you wonder if she’s asking for a change of clothes!

The climax itself is a decent reprisal of Kundan Shah’s ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron,’ and as corny and cheesy as it gets, you will find it impossible not to grin.

The film’s peppered with comic talents — Paintal, Johnny Lever, Chunky Pandey, Delnaaz Paul — and the volume of laughs makes up for the quality. So, it’s easier to simply surrender to this madness and have a good time with the boys.

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