Dostana is the new film from producer Karan Johar's.... and it puts friendship in a whole new bracket - something of a first for mainstream Indian cinema. Dostana literally means friendship, and the film celebrates friendship, period. But.... yes, there is a big 'but' that separates it from the yarns on celluloid that we are so used to, and even indifferent to. This time, the story takes a whole new dimension as the two leading lads pose as gay lovers, to be able to share a swanky apartment in Miami. Hey, the film's basic premise suggests that director Tarun Mansukhani does not intend to break new grounds as there isn't a serious take on homosexuality. On the contrary, it's a madcap comedy perpetuating the silly same-sex stereotypes that has been the staple fare in Hollywood B-grade ventures for a really long time. The promos of Dostana did prepare one for a no-brainer laughathon, however, on seeing the movie today at a packed house morning screening, I have had to do a rethink. I must say that the zany romantic comedy does dare to push the envelope in its own way. It brings homosexuality out of the closet, gives it respect and dignity and doesn't treat gays as 'abnormal'. Well, maybe not in gigantic scoops and servings, but in a small-dollops kind of way.
Love triangle in Hindi movies often centre around two guys falling in love with the same girl, or two girls choosing to love the same guy. But Dostana is a first! It's the first Hindi film that, at the core, is a rectangle (three men loving the same woman), but two of them pretending to be a couple. The so-called shock-value associated with the screenplay is diffused thanks to a stellar cast that seems to understand the director's brief perfectly.
Besides John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan who are the talking point, as the mock-gay couple, Priyanka Chopra looks stunning (she has never looked better) and delivers a first-rate performance. Bobby Deol lends apt support as her boss, who is later besotted with her. On the whole, Dostana with its new-age friendship funds is a winner all the way, helping one chillax in these depressing times.
6 comments:
Friendship is such a special bond between two or more people, sticking together in times of success and adversity that it has been the subject of many a film and story since times immemorial.
Great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget and that is the moot point in all tales of friendship, real or otherwise. In the present context, as is reflected in films like 'Dostana', friendship, especially of the same-sex variety, is a mutual, give & take relationship that is flexible - the people and circumstances may change, but the bond and interaction stay strong. It is the reflection of our times that the sexual innuendos and flippant overtures punctuate such a bond.
In the film 'Dostana', there happens to be a morbid confusion leading to a convolution of the friendship angle. The gags are nothing but an extension of an earlier comical interlude (now known widely as the Kaantaben episode) that was made famous by Karan Johar's 'Kal Ho Na Ho'. A hit formula is perpetually recycled in Bollywood, and hence the adapting of the same formula to invite plentiful chuckles from an otherwise homophobic majority. Karan Johar has himself admitted that if the Kaantaben episode was just a trailer, this is the whole movie that came off it! The film thus fails to serve the equal rights issue of the sexual minority, it barely gives a lip-service to the just cause; the lip-lock between the strapping dudes is just an excuse to let the audience greet the escapade with jeers and the hoots.
hi buddy!!!
right said, it's a chillaxing movie at the depressing times.:) so many things have been said earlier before so i'd like to tell about some techno-polish points of the movie. absolutely flawless cinematography was a visual treat for all, besides Abhishek & John's costumes(by Aki Narula) sets the movie properly in the sunny beach of Miami. & Priyanka, Gosh... she looked ravishing..... and the credit goes this time more than Manish Malhotra to Mickey Contractor(for MAC)... Shilpa's much talked item number was completely waste & more than that "Maa da Ladla- mummy mix" at the end credits was perfect dessart after the delicious dinner oops, movie. :)
hi...
in today's depressing times so many thing is poppong up gradually, now it's time for homosexuality.... may be after fifty year it'll be something else.... but what will remain constant is Friendship & loving Friends....
Everyone should have
a friend like you
You are so much fun to be with
And you are such a good person
You crack me up with laughter
And touch my heart with your kindness
You have a wonderful ability
To know when to offer advice
And when to sit in quiet support
Time after time
You've come to my rescue
And brightend so many
Of my routine days
And time after time
I've realized how fortunate
I am that my life includes you
I really do believe that
Everybody should have a friend like you
But so far it looks like
You are one of a kind!!!
Dostana for all.....
Cheers~ :)
um..well i just saw the movie today...and to be very honest i found the movie very silly and stupid..but its a ttal timepass movie to enjoy with frenz...yeah i agree piggy chops have neva looked bettah..loved the clothes man..john may b a hunk but he CANT act...abhishek has a btter comic timing...sushmita mukherji n boman irani are hilariuos..but bollywood is yet to take homosexuality as a serious subject..may be its too bold for them...for the masses its just something to mock and laugh at basically..like in the scene where abhishek narrates his love story to priyanka why does he have to act effeminate????i have serious objection with this thing...why are gays potrayed as effeminates..just because sime goddamn desginers are effeminate n gay dsnt really mean dat all gays are effeminate...dunno if bollwywood wil coem up with a brokeback mountain ever!!!but wil teher be any takers for such movie???
rawnie:)
I found the so called twisted friendship a sham!
It is like putting the formulaic conventions in a new, glossy wrapper...... only difference in treatment being that the gay banter does not make even the average plain joe/jane cringe in one's seat..... but why would one? It is nothing but the been-there-done-that territory of Bollywood masala moviedom. The other day I overheard a young girl giggling to another, referring to two boyfriend of theirs, saying "I hope they're not having a Dostana....!" A new lingo, waah! At least it is better than the use of cuss-words like faggot or queer.
From producing 'Dostana' to directing 'Bombay Talkies' (the very first segment of the anthology of shorts), Karan Johar has come a long way, and so has Indian cinema (the mainstream or the middle-of-the-road) even in these few years. Cheers to that!
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