If you loved Athithi Tum Kab Jaoge, you better skip this one, for this is nothing but a poor, low-quality reboot of the 2010 movie.
The makers of Guest iin London have kept on saying that the movie is not a sequel to 2010 movie, Athithi Tum Kab Jaoge?. In one sense they are right, the movie is not a continuation of the Ajay Devgn and Konkona Sen Sharma-starrer, instead it involves a whole new adventure. But it borrows Paresh Rawal’s meddlesome guest from the original movie, as well as the director and the thread. Guest iin London is directed by Ashwni Dhir, and also stars Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Kharbanda and Tanvi Azmi. Here’s our review…
What’s it about
Aryan (Kartik Aaryan) is looking to get permanent citizenship in the UK and plans to fake-marry his girlfriend Anaya (Kriti Kharbanda) to get this done. At the same time, Chacha (Paresh Rawal) and Chachi (Tanvi Azmi) arrive in London to visit their faraway relative, which happens to be the hapless Aryan. Like Athithi Tum Kab Jaoge, the guests irritate the hosts with their super-intrusive ways. However, Aryan needs them to validate his fake marriage, so has to bear with them. But how much patience can someone have before they reach their tipping point? That’s the question Aryan, or for the matter, the audience has to ask themselves.
What’s hot
The actors do their best to lift this mediocre liftoff of the 2010 movie and make things engaging. Paresh Rawal is as always wonderful, while Tanvi Azmi is sweet. Kartik Aaryan is asked to repeat his harangued act from Pyar Ka Punchnama movies, which he is quite a pro at, while Kriti is decent, though her constant shrieking gets a tad bit annoying. The best bits involve Sanjay Mishra, who plays Aryan’s Pakistani neighbour, bu that isn’t saying much.
What’s not
Guest Iin London may not be a sequel to the Ajay Devgn-starrer, but it actually rehashes everything we liked about the first movie. Only in this case, the rehashing turns out to be a slipshod job. None of the jokes makes you go LOL, and the gags get stretched for no rhyme or reason. And don’t get me started on those innumerable fart gags, a big drawback lifted from the first movie. The makers felt that passing gas really makes people laugh, so they even went on to have a ghazal about farts. I am not joking! If the comedy is bad, the sudden change of tone to super-seriousness and then back to comedy only worsen things for us. There are racist jokes too, that won’t go down well with many of the viewers. There is also a subplot involving a lecherous boss (Naveen Kaushik) whose penchant for self-made acronyms will grate your nerves. This subplot has nothing to do with the movie and yet wastes enough time and tests our patience.
There is a twist in the movie that alludes to a real-life tragedy that happened 16 years ago. It is not wrong to refer to a tragedy to take your plot ahead, but in the case of guest iin london, the makers have used it as a cheap strategy to invoke viewers’ sympathies. But the idea falls flat thanks to some poor writing. It also negates some of the behaviour of two protagonists, who never betray the fact that there is a huge tragedy in their lives.
Even the track involving Aryan and Sanaya doesn’t make sense. If they are in love, why the fuss over a fake marriage? The visa issues are never even touched upon later. If they were really not in love and only fell for each other later, then the building of their relationship is screwed in the favour of more farting. Ajay Devgn’s Not So Secret Cameo is a total bust; he is completely miscast in that role, and he looks very disinterested in whatever little he has to do. The songs are mediocre and they just add to the boredom. The dialogues are weakly written, and a couple of them create unintentional humour. Like that scene where Aryan compares guests to dogs in a very serious scene. The cinematography is alright, but in some scenes, we sense the green screen being used.
What to do
Bollywood has a serious dearth of good comedies, and unfortunately, Guest Iin London does little to help the cause. If you loved Athithi Tum Kab Jaoge, you better skip this one, for this is nothing but a poor, low-quality reboot of the 2010 movie. Watch it at your own risk.
Rating:1.5 out of 5
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