Dil Dosti Etc Movie Reviews

"He is one Di#$head..."
"Fu#$ you..."
"Wo Uski Nahi Teri Le Raha Tha..."
"I will take care of you on bed and make you a whore..."

When you hear dialogues like these, you know for sure two things.

a) That you have entered into the youth zone. A zone where statements like these are common and mouthed not just by guys but also hip-n-happening urban girls.
b) That the Censors have become much liberal. No more annoying beeps here since profanities are let go as long as they are in the realms of a film and are justified.

Well, this indeed is justified as DIL DOSTI ETC. could well be the middle-class Delhi setting for an up market DIL CHAHTA HAI setting in Mumbai/Sydney. Here too the film is about contrasting characters who bring with them different perspectives and thoughts.

So what does film maker Manish Tiwary do different here? Rather than showing them as predictable cardboard characters because of their background, he projects them as more humane and the kind who could take a different direction depending more on the circumstances rather than the way they have been brought into their youth.

This is why the character of Imaad Shah, inspite of a richie-rich background, chooses to stay in a run down Delhi University hostel room. And no, it is (thankfully) not because of he didn't get 'baap ka pyaar aur maa ka dulaar'. It's just because of a choice he wishes to make.

On the other hand Shreyas Talpade, a guy from Bihar who wants to make a difference in the world of politics, learns a technique very early in his young career - hit strong and hit first to be a winner. One would expect the roughness in his acts to touch upon his personality too but that€™s not the case as he believes that love is for the keeps and not a stray one night stand or the kind which allows his woman to walk a ramp in a two piece bikini.

Each of the three women has a lot to contribute to the lives of Imaad and Shreyas. Nikita Anand, who gets a good role to sink her teeth in, is confidence personified and is a contradiction when one looks at stereotype up market characterization of most Bollywood heroines. Even with the support of a wealthy father who motivates her to deliver best by being in shape and exude confidence for walking a ramp, she makes the first move towards a rough Shreyas.

Young Isshita Sharrma looks every bit a school girl who certainly puts a price over her virginity, knows well about the birds and bees, lets herself go off only for the guy whom she feels is right (though only for the moment) and doesn't regret a bit when things don't really work out in entirety.

And no, she is not a hottie waiting to be taken. She is just one of those coy, little girls you come across in your vicinity, pass them off as being too difficult to be pleased, only to be surprised to find them different from how they look and act. Hence a dialogue in the narrative of the film too - 'Never judge a book by it's cover'!

The third key female protagonist is a down-market prostitute [Smrita Mishra] who certainly understands that a relationship with a €˜cusshtomer€™ (as she says) doesn't stay beyond a bed. She does have her weak moments though as she goes on a stroll with her regular [Imaad] in Connaught Place and later longs for him when he takes out his mo-bike through narrow lanes of GB Road, never to come back again.

The man who can't be missed out in this two hour leisurely tale of love, sex and the choices one makes in life is that of Dinesh Kumar. An average looker who could be lost in the crowd of hundreds in a campus, Dinesh shoscases the kind of talent that made Deepak Dobriyal a known face in OMKARA.

As Shreyas' friend Dinesh plays is a small town guy with a rough lingo, doesn't know how to speak good English, walks with a limp, is a big mouth and loves to be a voyeur, he is unpredictable, unconventional and definitely uncouth. Good characterization here.

Dialogues from the film are straight out of North Indian colleges. You may have heard a particular kind of lingo in films like BANDIT QUEEN, SATYA, APAHARAN, MASTI and KYA KOOL HAI HUM. Now listen to what's there in the offering with DIL DOSTI ETC. and it would be hard not to identify with the proceedings in a college campus and the characters there. Music by Siddharth-Suhas and Agnee goes well with the narrative.

The film maintains a steady pace throughout with no major ups and lows till the very end. There is no definite start or end to a story here. It is basically a series of incidents woven together to shows the occurring in the lives of the protagonists. Don't expect one scene to really connect with the one that follows.

Editing is a bit jarring though while bordering at abrupt at places. You are watching a scene and a character may just be about to open his/her mouth when the scene shifts. Also, at places, a frame appears and just when you think that a scene is about to begin, it turns out to be a solitary 5 seconds shot and the viewer is taken elsewhere.

What really works in the film's favor is an element of humor which doesn't fail to amuse an audience for most part of the narrative. No, it is not the 'fall of your chair' humor a la David Dhawan or Priyadarshan. It is subtle, mainly due to witty dialogues that border at being risqué, rather than belonging to banana peel variety.

Shreyas continues to be confident and adds one more praiseworthy act to his name after IQBAL, DOR and AGGAR. He doesn't let his role as a Bihari college student to seem like a seems caricature and gets various shades to it. The guy who impresses immensely is Imaad Shah who looks every bit like a first year college student. His entire dialogue delivery and body language is low key and 'dheela-dheela' which goes with his character who doesn't really know what to win or loose.

Yes, he sleeps around with girls and women of every shape and size without being required to be a Casanova. He doesn't flaunt money, doesn€™t have any style to boast, rides a worn out bike, doesn't boast of a body which would make girls go weak in their knees and overall doesn't try hard at all. Still, yes still, he gets most of them on his side. One lucky guy - I have actually seen boys like him!

The film doesn't quite have a storyline. And that itself is the film's story. A story about people who are trying to find something in their lives, not really knowing what they want, why they want it and how to go about getting it. It's a constant journey of youngsters who keep exploring ways to live life and fill it up with elements which they possibly would have wanted.