Dostana

Rating : 7/10
Running Time : 145 Minutes
Release Date : 14th Nov 2008
Director & Writer : Tarun Mansukhani; Music : Vishal-Shekhar
Starring : Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, John Abraham, Sushmita Mukherjee, Boman Irani, Bobby Deol, Kirron Kher

When you’re laughing so hard (and I mean really hard) in the first hour or so, half of it is due to some brilliant ones (like Abhishek’s response when Kunal (John Abraham) asks him how he knew his name) and the other half is as you watch the movie take you further in the realm of gay and straight sexual jokes than you ever thought it possible in mainstream Bollywood. And you laugh so hard that you’re willing to forgive the predictability of the plot, the slight overacting, the clichéd ‘gay’ mannerisms shown and the slightly stretched ending.


The story is simple – two straight men (John and Abhishek) have to pretend to be gay to get an apartment on rent in Miami. They share the flat with the landlady’s niece, Priyanka, and the rest of the movie deals with how their relationship with her develops. The story is kept briskly moving in terms of the different sub plots and cameos, such as the delightfully over the top Sushmita Mukherjee as the landlady, the whole thing about Priyanka’s work life and Kirron Kher playing an exaggerated Punjabi mom once again (isn’t she bored of playing this role ? She does it well but isn't she too talented to be stuck playing the same role…?).


The people who really make the movie come alive are Abhishek and Priyanka. Abhishek is at his expressive best, and even though his gay mannerisms are a bit too obvious, you forgive him as he brings a certain energy and vibrance to his role. He has now put together an impressive array of roles in his CV – from Yuva to Sarkar to Dus / Dhoom and now this. Priyanka, trust me on this one, has never looked hotter. I could probably write a page just on her, with maybe a paragraph just on her opening shot where the camera begins with a close-up of her lips and then lovingly caresses other body parts, totally inappropriately for a movie releasing on Children’s Day. The amazing thing is, on a recent flight I was watching parts of Drona, and you almost can't believe it’s the same pair in that film and this – what a change a good director and well-written roles make….

John alternates between his lost-puppy and his naughty-hunk look, seems content to play second fiddle to the smaller B. Boman Irani is a bit too la-di-dah in his gay avatar, I don’t really know if he and the Javier immigration guy were necessary at all. Sushmita provides one of the abiding memories of the film with her Marilyn Monroe photoshoot, and Bobby is a bit too straight (pun intended), too flat and a bit too love-sick in an otherwise mad movie.

The songs are brilliant – really get you going, feet tapping, heart racing and I’m sure I will hear nothing else on the radio stations / discotheques for the next month. The jokes, though, are what really set the movie apart. Such as when Abhishek is asked by this American guy what made him become a nurse or the whole theory about Gabbar being gay or the ‘aur bum ki baat ?’ Freudian slip or even the performance of ‘beedi jalaye le’. There are plenty of moments which stand out for their sheer humour – and its of a slightly more elevated level vs say a Golmaal Returns – not necessarily slapstick.

The best moments are when the three of them are together, especially in the first half, when they’re upto some madcap caper or another. The pace does drop a bit in the second half but at the end of the day, it’s a gay film which makes you feel precisely that – very very gay…though of course in another sense…