Director: Tarun Manshukhani
Starring: Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Priyanka Chopra
Information: Contains mild language
Running time: 142 mins
BBFC cert: PG
Release date: 14 November 2008 by Yash Raj Film
Rating: 4/5
Miami-based bachelors, Sam (Abhishek) and Kunal (John) keep bumping into each other by coincidence whilst looking for a place to rent. They soon come across a high-rise apartment with two spare rooms to let.
But the only setback comes from Neha, the landlady鈥檚 beautiful niece already living there. She is not keen on two strapping young men corrupting her young sexy niece.
So these desperate lads pretend to be gay to secure the apartment anyway and the trio becomes best friends. All is well until they meet Neha鈥檚 gay boss (Boman) and Sam鈥檚 old fashioned Punjabi mum (Kiron) leading to some hilarious confrontations.
But it鈥檚 only when Sam and Kunal fall in love with Neha that trouble ensues in paradise as she treats their affections as a mere gesture of friendship.听
When Neha tries to find love in her new boss, Abhimanyu (Bobby), this leads to one-upmanship with a shocking and surprising climax!
Debut director Tarun Manshukhani deserves praise for handling a sensitive subject in a comical, non-offensive way which is a first for Bollywood.
With a well researched screenplay full of laughable one-liners, a fully glossed-up听 Dostana excels on the technical front with stylish, well-dressed characters providing a feast for your eyes.
From bikini-clad Shilpa Shetty鈥檚 dance sequence in the opening credits till the shocking and surprising climax, there is never a dull moment always keeping you in splits.
Memorable scenes including Abhishek鈥檚 Venice love angle with John; Boman- Abhishek friendship and Kirron Kher鈥檚 spectacular entry onto the scene will bring the house down!
Abhishek gives his career鈥檚 best award winning performance making us realise what a professional and versatile actor he is, with proper guidance from the director.
His brilliant comic timing makes Dostana work all the way whilst his sidekick, John Abraham acts as able support making us laugh in scenes where he is trying to act gay.
Priyanka Chopra looks a million dollars whilst a suave, sophisticated Bobby Deol gives a retrain performance.
On the whole, Dostana is a winner all the way. It is already the third biggest box office earner of 2008 taking an amazing 拢341,931 during it's opening weekend and entering the UK film charts at number 6. A definite must-see!
Reviewed by Manish Gajjar
大象传媒 Bollywood Correspondent
