Starring: Vinay Pathak, Neha Dhupia, Rajat Kapoor, Ranvir Shorey, Purbi Joshi and Sarita Joshi; Director: Shashant Shah; Rating: 3 out of 5*; Dasvidaniya: A bitter sweet experience

Dasvidanya tells the the story of simpleton, Amar Kaul (Vinay Pathak) who works as an accounts manager in a pharmaceuticals company. Amar’s only excitement in life is making a to-do list every morning and then ticking off everything that he accomplishes at the end of the day. But unfortunately, destiny has some other plans stored for him. He comes to know through his doctor that he is suffering from stomach cancer and now only has just three months left to live.

This news makes Amar wake up to the reality that how till now he has wasted his life. Never mustered the courage to express his love, never brought a car or never ever traveled abroad, Amar has so many unfulfilled dreams left! He then sets about making a new to do list of 10 things. His last list of all the things he has to do before he dies. From making a foreign trip to telling his childhood love about his affections for her to meeting his school best friend with whom he has lost contact. The film then follows Amar’s journey towards fulfilling his wishes which also take him nearer to his death.

Completely, character driven, the charm of the film lies in its simplicity of its theme and its wonderfully etched characters. The screenplay is well woven with some moments that carry the power to remain etched in your memory even long after the film is over. The only spoke in the wheel is the Russian girl’s track as it slows down the pace of the film. There are moments however that instantly bring tears to your eyes such as a few scenes between Vinay and his mom played by stage veteran Sarita Joshi and Vinay finally expressing his love on a rainy night to Neha Dhupia. First timer Shashant Shah has handled the subject with a rare maturity.

The film is a must see for Vinay Pathak’s absolutely brilliant performance. One can easily rate it above his Bheja Fry act. Rajat Kapoor is good and so is Sarita Joshi. Neha Dhupia shows remarkable improvement as an actress while Ranvir Shorey appears completely disinterested. Saurabh Shukla is good as Vinay’s boss and Gaurav Gera as his brother.

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Staggering is the first word that comes to mind while describing Dostana. Karan Johar’s latest venture, directed by debutant, Tarun Mansukhani, is a trend setter in Bollywood. It breaks all the rules that our industry follows and gives you a fully blown entertainer. Dostana is also special because it shows that a film doesn’t have to be brainless in order to become funny.

Jokes are hilarious, coupled with witty one liners, like “Mujhe mila only shuk but no f*ck”.

Add to that superb performances by everyone in the film. Dostana is meant for our Youngistan and by the response from the crowd, they loved it.

It’s very hard to find film like Dostana these days. It is easily one of the best films to come out this year. Dostana scores in every department, be it the cinematography, direction, music or the performances, it has everything.

One more refreshing change is that Dostana treats guys like sex objects instead of girls. Body of John Abraham is fully exploited and I’m pretty sure girls loved it after listening to the claps and whistles during the movie.

Now, let’s come to the subject of the movie, which is very unusual for Bollywood and that is “Love between two guys”, or do we call them gays? Dostana treats the subject very lightly and doesn’t offer any moral values in the movie and that’s a pretty impressive move by the director. Moreover, it doesn’t offend gays and is not like those movies in which gays are portrayed as a disease to our society.

When it comes to performances, Abhishek Bachchan steals the whole show. After a disappointing Drona, Abhi is back on track and that too with a bang. It’s one of his best performances of his career, only after Guru and moreover, it can be a turning point in his career. His comic timing is perfect and it rubbishes the arguments in which people say that he has only one expression on his face.

John Abraham, who came after a year, is fabulous, too. This role clearly shows how good an actor he is. Add to that his marvelous physique which any boy will crave for, Dostana is big hit for John.

His chemistry with Abhishek was superb and that was really crucial because they were the protagonists of the film and with the gay angle, chemistry was the main thing.

Priyanka Chopra looks mind-blowing in the movie. If you thought Fashion was her best thing, think again! Priyanka takes it to whole next level both with her looks and performance. And how can we forget the scene in which she wears Golden swimsuit? I mean, you’ve to see the reaction of boys. Even girls were whistling and that’s the magic of Priyanka.

Kirron Kher, who plays the mom of Abhishek, is too good. Even with her short role, she makes an impact on you. Too bad her role is very small. And how can we forget Boman Irani? His role as a gay chief editor of a magazine is well written. Do watch out for the scene in which Kirron Kher catches his son, Abhishek, dancing with Boman Irani. A pure LOL.

And the last man, Bobby Deol, is surprisingly in good form. I heard many reviewers saying that he has a guest role which I don’t agree with. He plays an important role in the development of the story and has a big role.

Music of the film is top class. Maa Da Laadla is the best song in the movie. One better thing about the movie is that most of the songs are used as background scores just like in Hollywood movies and thus, they don’t seem to be forced. Locations are superb (seriously, I’m running out of adjectives).

Director of the movie, Tarun Mansukhani, has a lot of potential and the one to watch out for after Neeraj Pandey, who directed “A Wednesday.”

One thing which doesn’t work for the movie is the inconsistency of the pace of the movie, particularly involving the love angles of John, Priyanka, and Abhishek. I think editor should be blamed for this, because 15 minutes from the film could have been easily cut out.

Verdict – Dostana is an entertainer which you can’t afford to miss. It’s a must watch for everyone, especially for the teenagers. If you’re fed-up of brainless comedies then this movie is a treat for you. These 2 hours and 15 minutes are the ones which you’ll cherish even after weeks watching the film. As we say in our Bollywood style, “Dostana is a Full Paisa Vasool film.” Highly recommended!

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The film narrates the tale of Chandni (Eesha) who belongs to a middle-class family, living in one of the tiny by lanes of old Bhopal. Chandni lives with her father and younger siblings - Anuj & Sandhya. Chandni, who is deeply attached to her school going brother and sister, is trained in classical and folk music. During a stage performance she falls in love with Prem (Sonu) who hails from a rich business family. He is an unconventional ghazal singer and is full of mischief and pranks. Everything is going smoothly and picture perfect until, on the day of their engagement Chandni’s father passes away. Suddenly she is saddled with the responsibility of being the eldest in the family. On one hand, her ‘mehendi’ adorned hands are beckoning her to the dream home for her fiance and the other hands are her siblings, whom she cannot take along with her to her in laws house. She then takes the painful decision of not going ahead with her marriage with Prem so that she can bring up her little brother and sister with self-respect. Prem understands her and stands by her through thick and thin as she goes through her struggle. He unconditionally waits for Chandni for 12 long years until she fulfills all her responsibilities as an elder sister.

Blatantly lifted from its very own 1973 film, Tapasya, this Rajshri film doesn’t offer anything new. In fact the packaging, the music and even the technique of EVAB also belongs to that era. Rajshris seems to be one production house which refuses to come out the mould of its old success formula of their hero named Prem, poor heroine, three marriages, one engagement, many rituals, one death and a happy ending! Clearly aiming this film for the interiors, the makers have smartly avoided releasing this dated film in the multiplexes. The music by Ravindra Jain appears more boring as in the first half one slow tuned song comes in quick succession of the other.

The acting however is decent. Sonu Sood pitches in a good act and so does Eesha Koppikar. Not once does she remind you in this film that she once the Khallas babe. Alok Nath is good form after a long time. Amrita Prakash is sweet. Vishal Malhotra as Eesha’s brother is also good.

Kaushik Ghatak in his directorial debut doesn’t impress much. His narrative technique is completely sleep inducing. One hopes the Rajshri’s settle for a more contemporary fare next time around.

Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi (2008)

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