Dostana is a 2008 romantic comedy Bollywood movie. I’m not sure what prompt me to watch except to watch it except maybe John Abraham.
Genre: Romantic comedy
Length: Really really long… 2 hours 3 minutes, but definitely short for bollywood
Directed by: Tarun Mansurhani
Produced by: Karan Johar and Hiroo Yash Johar
Summary
I think that trailer summed up the story well…Two men want to rent an apartment, but the owner doesn’t want to rent to men. They pretend to be gay, but both end up falling in love with her.
Review
I’ve been in the mood to write about a Bollywood movie and I have been wanting to watch Dostana for a while. This movie is hilarious. It is so fun that you won’t realized the length (unless you have something else to do).
Characters
- Sameer ‘Sam’ Kapoor (Abhishek Bachchan) is a nurse and often gets teased about it. He’s the one that decides that it’d be a good idea to pretend to be gay.
- Kunal Chopra (John Abraham) is a fashion photographer. He is muscular and more masculine than Sameer. Kunal doesn’t exactly like the idea of pretending to be gay, but does it anyway for a place to live.
- Neha Melwani (Priyanka Chopra) owner of the apartment and works at Verve, an actually real lifestyle magazine, where she hopes to get a promotion.
- Abhimanyu ‘Abhi’ Singh (Bobby Deol) starts working at Verve and eventually becomes the love interest of Neha.
Story
While researching about the movie, I discovered that this was the first mainstream Indian movie with a gay element. Even though, it was a comedy, the story did not make fun of gays. I think that the movie was a refreshing and fun. Refreshing because despite being a love triangle the ending was nice. Several times love triangle end in an unsatisfactory manner. It is fun because the comedy style was exactly my style (when the characters get in odd situations and it ends up so silly).
Music
There is no way someone can write about a Bollywood movie without mentioning its music (unless the movie has no music). In fact, watching videos from Bollywood movie is what got me interested in Bollywood in the first place. The first movie I wanted to see was Hum Tum for it’s song Ladki Kyon. Anyways, the songs from this movie are so good. Since songs are an important part of Bollywood movies in order to move the story along, these videos may also be spoilers so watch at your own risk. At the same time, the songs can heavily influence you to want to see it.
This is the intro song in the movie. It’s upbeat and it reminds me of something else, but I can’t quite remember what. If you know, tell me. This song features the actually singer Shelpa Shetty.
This video is shown of them moving in and getting to know each other. For some reason this song has been stuck in my head for quite some time now.
This video is funny. Sameer’s mom discovers that he’s ‘gay’ and this is how she takes it.
This song is where the guys start to like her and she starts to fall for Abhi. He shows appreciation for the work she does at the magazine.
This song shows when they start competing for her. At the end of the song, they realized that she’s not interested in either of them.
This song to me is meh. It doesn’t really stick with me. This is where she finds out the truth and everyone is moving along in life.
Quotes
Sameer’s mom: “You’ve been disobeying me since your dad died.” Sameer: “He died when I was two.”
Sameer’s mom: “Love is blind. It isn’t so blind that it can’t differentiate between a boy and a girl.”
Sameer’s mom (she really has all the best quotes): “Whatever God does it’s for the best.”
Favorite Scenes
There are so many funny scenes and situations in this movie, here are the few that really had me laughing out loud.
The Meeting
This is the first scene in their love story. I find the story hilarious and exaggerated.
Dinner with Friends
They had a wild time at dinner. Neha’s boss and the immigration officer (which both happen to be gay) paid a visit. Kunal is so terrible at pretending to be gay. It’s very tragic to watch.
The Argument
Sameer is mad at Kunal for tricking him, but they can’t exactly tell Neha that. So Sameer makes up a crazy story about why he’s mad at Kunal.
Afterthoughts/Recommedations
While researching this I learned that not only is this the first mainstream Indian film to introduce a gay element, but it is also regarded as one of the most stylish and trendsetting of Indian films. Whoa, right? I’ve watched this several times and never knew that.
As far as recommendations go, I can only recommend what I’ve seen.
- As far as fake gay relationships: I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry
- Other Bollywood Friendships: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (a classic Bollywood film–must see), Kal Ho Na Ho
Connection-to-Life
Sameer and Neha date
Kunal and Neha date
Culture
Desi girl Dance
Ginger tea
Immigration process
Are you interested in watching a Bollywood movie?
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