Better not to welcome this ‘
FILM: Guest iin London
CAST: Karthik Aaryan, Paresh Rawal, Tanvi Azmi, Ajay Devgn, Kriti Kharbanda, Sanjay Mishra, Shafaq Naaz
DIRECTOR: Ashwini Dhir
This sequel to Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge? had to navigate a tough challenge from original rights holder Warner Bros before it could be allowed to see the light of the silver screen. A name change did the trick. Unfortunately, the ‘finished’ experience plays out just as illogical and iffy as the prequel.
Aryan(Karthik) a software professional working in London who is on the verge of entering into a fake marriage with an orphan, British-Indian taxi driver, Anaya (Kriti Kharbanda), in order to gain citizenship, gets constrained into hosting a distant relative, the Gandotra’s (Paresh and Tanvi) from Bhatinda.
The alien couple play interference, get the younger ones to conform and teach them family connectedness in the process. But that’s not the problem here. The issue here is about tasteless fart-inducing writing, potty jokes, a ghazal entirely themed on flatulence and contrived procrastination which allows the elderly couple to stay on even when they are not even a blood relative or a known friend.
So, what’s the connection? you may well ask. A last minute twist has the younger couple flying all the way of New York, USA to find the elderly twosome who are seen paying their respects to their dear departed son (Ajay Devgn) lost in the 9/11 tragedy, at the ground zero memorial.
I just can’t believe that the clueless scriptwriters would not only make desultory and unpalatable jokes on our neighbours (Pakistan and China) but also shoot off into left field for that unheralded twist in order to attach some sentimental value to this needless and distasteful exercise in filmmaking.
And having Paresh Rawal a vociferous supporter of the BJP squirming while mouthing conciliatory dialogues that sometimes go against his ideology takes the cake, obviously. Tanvi, Paresh, Karthik Aaryan and Sanjay Mishra are solid but the writing is so lame you want to berate them for just allowing themselves to be used in such a desultory and repugnant way. This is certainly not a welcome guest at the theatres this week.