“Roti banao, chai banao, stereotypes ki chutney banao” – if Guest Iin London was director Ashwni Dhir’s attempt at making an unintelligent potboiler, he’s done a fabulous job. The film has managed to set a new benchmark in cinematic crassness.
Tell me, which other movie has a fart ghazal as a plot highlight? Good luck trying to not roll your eyes at Paresh Rawal’s referring to Left-Liberals as those that are supposedly “farting on the country”.
There’s also dollops of Pakistan-bashing and ghee-loads of casual sexist stereotypes.
The plot of Guest Iin London (the double I not is NOT a typo) is pretty much the same as its predecessor, Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge? Aryan (Kartik Aaryan) and his Vanya (Kirti Kharbanda) are forced to host chachaji (Paresh Rawal) and his wife, Guddi chachi ( Tanvi Azmi), unexpected guests from Punjab. Aside from bombing their privacy, Paresh also drops fart bombs by the minute.
Sanjay Mishra plays a Pakistani immigrant who wears a skull cap, has a henna-dyed beard, and for some reason wears a green kurta and jacket. Because Pakistani.
Through the first half of the movie, you see the annoying-atithi-in-chief Paresh Rawal sanskaar-policing Kriti Kharbanda and relegating his onscreen wife, Tanvi Azmi, to the kitchen, while also Pak-bashing Sanjay Mishra, who shudders at the mention of the word ‘surgical’. Yes, jingoism has entered our gharelu filmy plots too.
There’s a highly predictable scene where sanskaari Aryan defends uncouth chachaji at a party – a desi sanskaar home run.
The second-half is like the Brexit result – totally unpredictable. There’s a sudden pivot to terrorism as a sub-plot. There’s a backstory involving 9/11, a dead son, and a desire to perform namaaz at Ground Zero.
After perpetuating casual Islamophobia, the movie moves to Paresh Rawal lecturing us about how love must triumph over religion. The sanskaari Paresh later gets woke, and encourages wifey to wear sneakers and a dress.
Can you forgive the film for calling a child kaala (dark)? It gets worse. Can you forgive Tanvi Azmi for telling the child her desi nuskha will brighten his skin? Can you forgive Paresh Rawal for being a sexist jerk?
Although to be fair, the movie is not all horrible. Chachaji (Paresh Rawal) does teach a chauvinist boss about consent, but not without managing to add some offensiveness to the dialogue with a racist slur.
An emotional high point is Kartik Aryan’s monologue about the selfishness of youth. He ends it with an appeal to be more compassionate to our elders.
Kirti Kharbanda thinks screaming is acting. Kartik Aryan thinks being a Pyaar ka Punchnama-esque puppy will work for him here too. Tanvi Azmi struggles with that Punjabi accent. Paresh Rawal is crassness personified.
Safe to say, with its sloppy treatment of an otherwise decent idea, Guest Iin London has managed to murder its predecessor, Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge? The movie is a buffet of bad jokes and unintelligent, juvenile humor.
I give it 2/5.
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