MOVIE REVIEW:DOSTANA

DOST "DOST" NA RAHA

Tis truly the season to be gay.
And what a well timed release between Diwali and Christmas -where one is at a risk of having an overdose of good behaviour.
So has Karan chosen to "sway " out of the Gay closet?Only time can tell.
Given his love for triangles (Kuch Kuch hota hai,Kal Ho na Ho) ,his love for Mata Pita (Kabhi Khushi kabhi Gham), for Public Message-ur spouse might be having an affair(Kabhi Alvida na Kehna), for Friends turning lovers (All of them),karru is back with the mother of all shockers for the Indian Public.
Dostana which has all the themes that he himself has done to death but a twist with the protagonists pretending to be homosexual is what makes the film a must watch at the theatres.
Definitely inspired from a hollywood movie (won't name it and spoil the fun) this flick promises bellyful of laughs every few minutes.
2 guys and a gal (John A Abhishek B and Priyanka C) sharing an apartment and their lives.For survival A and B need to live in the hot city of Miami as gays. C who works for fashion mag Verve (yeah yeah, the connection with Rachel Greene in Ralph Lauren is instant) is blissfully unaware throughout the movie that A and B are anything but gay inspite of all the leching that the 2 indulge in.
The transition from roommates to best friends is managed in the short span of a song because you see there is lot more happening in the later reels and why waste time on evolving relationships, we know how its done thanks to your previous flicks karrru !
So when mummyji (Kiron Kher) gets the news that her son B is gay, catches the next flight in a couple of mins to Miami to break down the door.
Of course pretences have to be kept because of which mummyji's BP soars every now and then, though between fainting fits she does her usual emotional bit of being the mother which C never had! Maybe the editor fell asleep and cut out a whole chunk because after a blink we discover that mummyji and C are best friends (well since the threat of being "in-law" has been removed it's definitely probable and possible;)
C convinces mummyji to accept the fact that her son loves a man.
What follows is maybe an example of what will happen if gay marriages are allowed in India with the traditional festivities thrown in..IMAGINE!
This settled, the so called gays now have to deal with the fact that they are in love with the gal. Could life be more miserable? Well it certainely is for the viewerThis is one portion of the film that could not have been handled worse. What follows is a sequence of events to woo C over in what can only be described as childish.JOhar could have definitely written these scenes better...And viewers start to yawn and not just coz it's a late night show...but hey, we are here for the gags, right!
Whether johar was at a loss as to who would get the girl or whether he wanted to stick to the tried and tested formula of neither or maybe he was hoping that given time his characters would really turn gay?
Whatever but in the 2nd half we suddenly have a 4th angle in the form of new boss to C (Bobby D). He is oh so smitten by C. And though he looks more gay than the 2 protagonists put together..what with his finely tweezed eyebrows, dandy Armani suits (which he probably preserved as a souvenir from his one and only hit Humraaz) and his evident enjoyment at having his chest waxed. But he is as straight as they come.which means A and B need to form a team to kick D out of the competition.The film gets even shabbier at this point on with even more immature pranksBut then if you want to truly enjoy this movie, you gotta leave your commonsense at home (Leave your spouse behind as well, there is enough eye candy in the movie in the form of Priyanka and John as per respective preferences)
The saving grace is definitely the jokes that make u absolutely ROLL ON THE FLOOR.Who gets the girl, is not what you want to watch this film for.John and Priyanka look MIND BLOWING, never mind their acting. Abhbishek has tried his hand at mock homosexuality and wonder of wonders..he seems to have taken to it like a fish to water.
The scene where he is shown wooing John and the dance sequence with Boman will make you explode laughing.While these scenes have nothing really original about them, it;s purely an effort on Abhi's part and he deserves due credit for it.He might not have the best wardrobe in the movie (not too much choice in pink shirts for men, is there?) but he has the best scenes and the best lines. And he does a great job!
John goes through the film with a quizzical look on his face as though he is inwardly struggling with the question"To be or not to be -Gay". But it doesn't really matter since the director merely asks him to remove his shirt in every scene which he obediently does..and the rest as they say is no mystery..Boman as Priyanka's ex boss is wasted in this movie. Given his ability to "sink into the character" he would have been one gay...oops i mean one guy to watch out for. sadly his role is limited to air kissing and pouting with a couple of lines thrown in.Sushmita Mukherjee as the Sindhi aunt is in a predictable role but then she is still the "Kitty" from Karamchand for most of us and being a born comic does more than justice to her sterotyped role.Bobby could have been replaced by someone more hunky and looks like a pansy in a field of sunflowers.
Those of us who are fans of the sitcom Friends might get a "deja vu" and it's a teeny weeny bit obvious that JOhar has drawn inspiration from 2 of the worlds most loved "best friends" Chandler and Joey.
Generously peppered with double meaning dialogues and spiced with double meaning scenes and gestures, the film is guaranteed to make you laugh inspite of yourself.And well..for those of you who don't care for gags, there's always John and Priyanka which is more than paisa wasool in itself!!!
-Manorama Ukidve