Paying Guests is a 2009 Hindi comedy drama film starring Ashish Chaudhary, Shreyas Talpade, Javed Jaffrey, Vatsal Seth, Celina Jaitly, Neha Dhupia, Riya Sen, Sayali Bhagat and Johnny Lever. It is directed by Paritosh Painter under Subhash Ghai's Mukta Arts banner. It is a comedy film revolving around four close friends who reside together in Pattaya. The film is a Hindi adaptation of Sailesh Dey's Bengali play Joymakali Boarding.
The plot of the film follows the four friends - Bhavesh (Shreyas Talpade), Parag (Javed Jaffrey), Parikshit (Ashish Chaudhary) and Jayesh (Vatsal Seth) - who lose their jobs and are evicted from their rented house by their landlord Kiska Miglani (Asrani). They find a new place to stay with Ballu Singh (Johnny Lever) and his wife Sweety (Delnaaz Paul), who only accept married couples as tenants. To fool them, the friends disguise themselves as two pairs of women - Bhavesh as Karishma, Parag as Kareena, Parikshit as Pari and Jayesh as Jayesh. Their troubles increase when they get involved with gangsters, love interests and family drama.
The film is a typical Bollywood masala entertainer with slapstick humor, cross-dressing gags, songs and dances. The film received mixed reviews from critics and audiences. Some praised the performances of the actors, especially Johnny Lever and Javed Jaffrey, while others criticized the script, direction and editing. The film was a moderate success at the box office, earning about Rs. 15 crores.
If you are looking for a light-hearted comedy film with some hilarious moments and a star-studded cast, you can watch Paying Guests on Amazon Prime Video. However, if you are expecting a smart and original story with witty dialogues and realistic characters, you might be disappointed by this film.
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