Paying Guest (1957) Online

The inexperienced and bungling advocate, Dev Anand, goes looking out for rented accommodation in the metropolis, but nobody was prepared to entertain a young bachelor. Dev disguises himself as an old bearded man, shoulders drooping with age, and manages to land himself as a paying guest in the apartment of a retired man, who has a young daughter, played by Nutan. And of course, the secret is out before long, and both fall in love. Dev starts working with a very renowned advocate, played by Jagirdar, whom Nutan's friend, played by Shobha Khote, had married as he was immensely wealthy. In no time, she starts feeling lonely as the old man was oblivious of the needs of the young woman. Shobha starts wooing Dev. Yaqub, Nutan's good for nothing and drunkard brother-in-law, starts blackmailing Dev and Shobha, and in the process, Jagirdar is killed. The long drawn out climax in the court room, ends with the culprit being identified, and the lovers united to "live happily ever after".

The more enjoyable moments in the film are when Dev looks for the accommodation, his impersonation as a Muslim old man, and later when he tries to woo Nutan. Their romantic scenes are very infectious. Both Dev and Nutan form a very lovable pair, as was seen whenever they acted together in other films also, like "Manzil", "Baarish" and "Tere Ghar Ke Samne". Both of them gave creditable performances. Yaqub also gave a good account of himself.

S. D. Burman came up with another stunning musical score. Kishore Kumar's "Mana janab ne pukara nahin, ya mera saath bhi gawara nahin" and "Hai hai yeh nigahen, are kar den sharabi jise chahen" are his evergreen numbers. Burman dada's unique style in duet composition is again visible in everlasting songs like "Ho, nigahen mastana, dekh saman hai suhana" and "Chhod do aanchal zamana kya kahega". Lata Mangeshkar was exeedingly good in the sad song "Chand phir nikla, magar tum na aaye". She also had another pleasant number in "Chupke chupke, rukte rukte, maine dekha".

In short, a very enjoyable fair.

Subodh Mukherji's 'Paying Guest' starts off as a romantic comedy then it shifts to drama and finally to a thriller. If the shift was more consistent, 'Paying Guest' would have been a far more entertaining experience. Somewhere in the middle, the film deviates from Ramesh and Shanti by focusing more on Shobha Khote's character and the thriller angle could have been more well built. The courtroom sequence is a major disappointment as the tactics seem both clichéd and unconvincing.

The strength of the film lies in the first hour, the romantic comedy angle of the film. Nutan and Dev Anand form quite the sweet romantic couple. There are both sweet moments and funny moments. This is indeed the best part and perhaps director Mukherji should have stuck to this angle.

While both Dev Anand and Nutan act very well, they are somewhat relegated to the background as the second hour focuses more on Shobha Khote. Khote herself isn't bad and thankfully not loud. Sajjan is also impressive as Ramesh's friend (he's completely different from his 'Kabuliwala' persona).

Another strength is that Burman's score is sweetly melodious with some lovely songs by Lata Mangeshkar and the legendary Kishore Kumar.

'Paying Guest' doesn't entirely stay true to it's title and it could have been a far better film. Being a fan of Nutan and having heard so much about it, I'm disappointed. Yet, it's not entirely bad as it does have its good moments.

This was one of Devanand's super hit films when it was released and so naturally, I had higher expectations from the film. But it does not match up so.

My biggest gripe is with the actor, Devanand himself. Naturally, I like him but in this case, he in inconsistent. This was a time when he was developing his mannerisms which came to define him in his later years. This film neither had the acting prowess of Devanand like in the earlier Baazi or CID nor the style later seen in Tere Ghar Ke Samne and Jewel Thief. He fails to give a mature performance. To his credit, he still was handsome and therefore, not totally unsuited for the role.

As for the actors, Nutan particularly shines. She holds the film together and shares good chemistry with Devanand. The songs are a strong plus point of the film, especially "Maana janab ne pukara nahi".