Guest iin London review: A light-hearted comedy with a terribly convenient conclusion

Movie: Guest iin London

Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Paresh Rawal, Tanvi Azmi, Kriti Kharbanda

Director: Ashwini Dhir

Producer/Distributor: Panorama Studios/ Viacom 18 Motion Pictures

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

The plot of Guest Iin London follows the same format as that of its predecessor, Atithi Tum Kab Jaaoge? , which was the story of a couple, who are busy dealing with their own issues, suddenly end up housing an unwanted guest (in this case, there are two of them) and the rest of story is that of how the couple is attempting to get rid of the guests, who have clearly overstayed their welcome. The film, as the title suggests, is based in London.

The second film, however, is indeed quite delightful with the lead pair Kartik Aaryan (Pyaar Ka Punchnama series) and Kriti Kharbanda (a prominent star down south who is also known for the Raaz Reboot series) taking the centre stage as the harrowed couple who have their own cynical reasons to stay under one roof. One of them wants to settle down in London and the other has hopes to attain what is the character’s idea of a good life. In order to fulfill their individual aspirations, they fake a marriage in which exchange of money is involved. Enter the guests who have come all the way from Punjab (Paresh Rawal and Tanvi Azmi), who are in some very weird way turn out to be Kartik’s relative. Their entry was somewhat predictable but deeply enjoyable, and we are not at all complaining about how they have built the relationship between Karthik and Paresh/Tanvi Ji.

What was also interesting is that through the main characters, the writer has managed to artfully touch upon topics like humanity, equality, the importance of traditions in the Indian culture along with corporate sexual harassment, while at the same time has managed to take some SERIOUS jabs at topics like the India-Pakistan relationship, the political scenarios through a bunch (in fact, a LOT) of racist jokes and songs based on farting (That was some Shoojit Sircar happening right there). The comic timings and the manner in which everyone stays true to the character is something we have NO complaints about.

Although the behavior of the couple is quite predictable for anyone who has seen the previous film, they are quite enjoyable too. The major portion of the film bears an uncanny resemblance to the Ajay Devgn-Konkona Sensharma starrer 2010 film, so we’d rather not dwell in that. But, within this predictable (and sometimes delightfully unpredictable) storyline, the director has managed to infuse a very interesting angle. Upon certain discoveries, the Kartik and Kriti begin to question the true identity of their overstayed guests.

The last 25% of the film, where the director attempts to make sense of everything, is where it takes a SERIOUS nose dive. Although as we are moving towards the conclusion in an emotional tone, it is VERY HARD to overlook the lack of logic. Had the makers infused some common sense in this part of the story, the film would have belonged to a different league altogether. It seems like the directors were relying on the emotional tone to take our minds off the lazy writing. It didn’t work at all for us.

All in all, the movie entertains you all the way, as the uninvited guests stay as lovable as the previous film and the contemporary flavour that everyone on the screen brings to the story makes it a delightful experience, except that one last part, which makes us wish that they re-release the film with a completely different conclusion.