Having adapted his own successful play by the same name, debutant director Paritossh Painter visits the concept of poeple living as paying guests in a metropolitan city, through his debut movie Paying Guests. The film promises to be yet another fun filler produced by Subash Ghai’s Mukta Arts. The movie revolves around the lives of four guys played by Sreyas Talpade, Ashish Choudary, Jaaved Jeffery, and Vatsal Sheth, who begin a house hunt journey that takes them through series of comical hurdles to find that one roof that can tolerat e and shelter their combined problems.
In the search for a new accomodation, the four friends come across a crazier landlord, who has on condition-he would allow only couples as paying guests and not bachelors. The story then takes on an interesting turn, when two of the bachelors pretend to be the wives of the other two. This new drama triggers a new series of confusions that builds into the rich complexities of mistaken identity and a climax of comic wizardries. Neha Dupia, Celina Jaitley and Riya Sen, add the glamour quotient to the film, while Johnny Lever plays a pivotal role.
Paritossh reveals how the film happened. ” When I first met Subash Ghai to narrate teh story of Paying Guests, I was a complete new comer, in the sense that it was my maiden narrative as a script writer. Subashji loved the concept, and he asked me to add more characters and eventually we settled for four boys and four girls, and that’s where the Paying Guests started from. Paritossh takes a realistic stance when he admits that the concpet may not be new but th edifference lies in the treatment.
Shreyas and Jaaved paly Karishma and Kareena respectively in the film. ” I play Karishma,” laughs Shreyas,” In fact, I tell people that I am paired opposite Ashish Chowdhary ad Celina.” he believes that the real life Kapoor sisters won’t be upset with th e usage of their names in the movie. These are just two names which people are familiar with, and has no personal connection to anyone as such. Paritossh reveals that Shreyas was a little apprehensive about doing the film initially since he was required to dress as a woman for a significant part of the movie.
During the making of the film, the gags weren’t limited only to the camera. Post her last comic act in the super hit Singh Is Kinng, Neha Dupia is ready for her rollicking ride in Paying Guests. She clearly admits thta the women in the movie have got very little scope and it is the guys who take the film foward. As for Vatsal Sheth, PG is his second attempt at comedy after doing a bit if it in his last film Heroes, which didn’t do well at the box office. The film is also very special to Vatsal because it fulfilled his dream of wiorking with Johhny Lever.