SRK slams the Slumdog critics

SRK feels there’s no reason for people to become cynical if a film made on Indian uniqueness has made a mark in the world. “It will open doors for people to understand that there is a lot of visual appeal to India. I hear a lot of people saying that India has been shown in bad light in Slumdog Millionaire. But then my logic to everyone is that why is it that somebody comes from outside and makes a film like Gandhi and Slumdog. All we can say about it is that it is showing India in a poor light,” said Khan. Many critics including Amitabh Bachchan had said that that the film’s a hard-hitting but exuberant tale of life in a Mumbai slum and is being lauded because it has a Westerner at the helm. SRK also took the opportunity to slam the self-styled “moral policing” elements who object to Valentine’s Day. “We should see Valentine’s as a day of friendship and love and not as a western culture attack. I would say all youngsters should give roses to all the people they love in a good way,” said Khan.

What’s Riya’s weakness?

Riya Sen is one hell of a beauty. This well endowed actress is having a good time in Bollywood. Like many of us this beauty too has one weakness. It is her weakness to shop till she drops.

Riya just can’t keep away from shopping and her house if full choc o bloc with accessories she has bought last year. So Riya made a New Year resolution that she will not shop even once in 2009.

But what are New Year resolutions if they are not broken? So like all good girls, Riya also broke her New Year resolution. Riya went on a shopping spree and purchased things like there was no tomorrow.

In these times of recession and global meltdown, people like Riya are godsend angels for malls and boutiques.

Aamir praises Shah Rukh

Aamir Khan has confessed that Shah Rukh Khan is a charming guy. He confessed it in a recent interview. Aamir and Shah Rukh Khan have a love-hate relationship.

The two contemporaries who are the biggest stars of the Bollywood have played pranks with each other. They have been at loggerheads with each other to get to the top. While Shah Rukh Khan has been called the King Khan and has grabbed the numero uno spot that he claimed after Amitabh Bachchan allowed him to take his place, Aamir has tried his best to grab the top honours.

Aamir time and again comes up with scintillating performances that gives an indication of big competition for the top spot, but so far Shah Rukh Khan has not been unseated. Shah Rukh pulls out hits from nowhere.

Review : Slumdog millionaire

Cast : Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Irfan Khan, Anil Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla
Kid rating : PG

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE : HOPE IN THE SLUMS

Technorati tag : Review Slumdog Millionaire

I only had the vaguest inkling of the story of “Slumdog millionaire”, having carefully not read any of the reviews. So, when it started out, brutally enough in a police lock-up with the protagonist Jamaal (Patel) being tortured, it seemed to be quite far away from the shiny small-screen glamour of “Kaun banega crorepati”, the game show which supposedly played a major part in the film. However, SM, as I discovered, was woven between the past and the present, taking us through Jamaal’s few hours of television fame, his subsequent police incarceration, and his past life as an orphan in Mumbai.

Jamaal has had the good fortune of being selected as a contestant on “Kaun banega crorepati (India’s version of “Who wants to be a millionaire”). A humble chai-wala, with no formal education, Jamaal still manages to answer all the questions which are thrown at him. When the game breaks for the day, the show’s influential host Prem (Kapoor), unable to believe that Jamaal is not cheating at the game, gets him whisked away by the police. During the police interrogation, we get to know Jamaal’s story, and the fact that Jamaal is on the show to get in touch with his lady-love Latika.

SM is a pretty upbeat film. It starts off amidst wretched poverty, showing very starkly the underbelly of great, shining India. And I, being desi and all, and watching SM in a very mainstream cinema theatre in a very American city, am squirming in my seat, thinking this is another of those films milking poor, exotic India for a shot at the Oscars. Although, really, it’s not.

It does make me uncomfortable, watching poor, naked children wallowing in filth, begging at the cross-roads, playing next to large garbage dumps, in one of the largest slums of a bustling, rich, cosmopolitan city in the country of my birth (Ah, where are those dreams of being the next Shanghai ? Maybe an adequate sewage system first ?). It is one thing to travel back to India and feel desperate poverty all around you; it’s everywhere. But is quite another, to see it splashed across a wide-screen, in urban America, surrounded by relatively wealthy Americans, for whom definitions of poverty are quite different than those encountered in the Third World. It makes me uncomfortable, because it’s my dirty laundry hung out to dry, for the world to see, celebrate and toast as cinematic greatness at the Golden Globes, at the Sundance festival, at the Oscars. But it is what it is, I tell myself. They show it because it does exist. You encounter many such poor Jamaals on Indian streets.

The film now, it travels question by question. In flashback mode, it takes us through Jamaal’s interrogation at the Mumbai police station, and reveals his life story, bit by bit, as Jamaal tells the inspector (Irfan Khan) how he knows the answer to each question asked on the show. Dev Patel as Jamaal, is quite effective, except for the American accent he sports – it’s not really, really obvious, but you can tell. Freida Pinto, as fellow-orphan Latika, is much more believable, and so is the actor who plays Jamaal’s brother. Anil Kapoor comes across as a sneering TV show host, being ever so subtly snide about Jamaal’s poverty-stricken roots. Having watched Bacchan and SRK being extremely polite and amiable hosts, in the actual TV show “Kaun banega crorepati”, I’m a little surprised that Anil Kapoor’s character has such obvious class hang-ups.

As I said, the film starts with a cold, hard look at poverty, and the life of the poor; Jamaal and Salim are poor orphans of a Muslim slum. They are smart, and “jugadu” as street-kids are and their young life is strewn with escapes; escaping from the police, escaping from the beggar mafia, escaping from the railway ticket collector. As they work their way up with age and time, they separate. And getting onto “Who wants to be a millionaire” is Jamaal’s attempt at finding his loved ones again.

So, yes, SM starts off depressingly, but soon develops into a wistful love story. It’s very hopeful, what with the ascent of a slum boy to the millionaire’s chair. And it’s not that Jamaal is “made” smart by the script; he is a smart kid. An intelligent, smart kid born indigent. And he hopes, and he dreams of meeting Latika again, against all odds.

And, yes, the script and direction is strong, the story is interesting and well-told, and the actors deserve applause. The film takes you through many emotions, but above all, and what drew me in, is that this is a simple film. It’s basic, no additional flounces or frippery (except that Bollywood style closing) and it appears to be passionate. Made from the heart.

Review : Jodhaa Akbar

Director : Ashutosh Gowariker
Cast : Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Sonu Singh, Poonam Sinha, Ila Arun, Suhasini Mulay
Jodha Akbar made history of sorts, here in my city, in the US, by being the first ever Hindi film to be screened in a mainstream American theatre. Generally Hindi movies are shown in “desi” theatres, which are dollar theatres pretty much, with run-down sound systems. I guess the economics of desi cinema makes it unprofitable to be shown in mainstream theatres, but blockbusters like this one could now be setting a precedent. The morning show I went to wasn’t exactly a full house, but people packed more than half the seats by the intermission (which came 2 hours later).

Gowariker is known for his epic films, generally long-lengthed and sprawling (Swades , Lagaan), and this one is no different. “Jodhaa Akbar” comes in at under 4 hours, which is an awfully long time, even if beautifully picturised. At first glance, this can seem an overwhelming subject, but it is developed as a love-story, so Gowariker picks and chooses his scenes to fortify that aspect of the story. Essentially then, this film is a romance, with nods to historical perspective, and political climate.

Rajput princess Jodhaa, the daughter of Raja Bharmal, is married off to Mughal Emperor Akbar in a political alliance. A devout Hindu, Jodhaa, negotiates with Akbar to keep her religion and her beliefs, in her new Islamic home, but cannot be anything but aghast and outraged, at becoming the wife of the enemy (so to speak). Thus, she apprises her new husband of her state of mind, and he in turn refuses to consummate the marriage until he has won her heart.

Besides focusing on the romance, the film also develops Akbar’s character and details his formative years, from his tutelage under Bairam Khan to his coming of age, as a just and kind king. Make no mistake, this film is an epic. Its grandeur and scale make it a movie to be seen on the big screen.

The lead pair are not the most accomplished actors, but it is to a great extent because of them, that the film is what it is. In real life he could probably bore you senseless, but in JA, Hrithik is regal and aristocratic as Akbar, and handles intense and light-hearted scenes equally well. Aishwarya can only be described as luminous in this film. Swathed in yards of material and decorative jewelry by the ton, she uses her eyes to great effect. She doesn’t have many dialogues in the film, but manages to convey her feelings quite well. And is it just me, or did her face seem rounder (and fuller) in this film ?

This film could very well have been a boring historical, documentar-ish in style, had the director not chosen his scenes and imbued them with anecdotal references. Take for example the scene where Jodha’s mother mischievously informs her new son-in-law that he must find his wife among the many veiled women in the room – then only does he have conjugal rights ! We are also privy to household tensions within the Emperor’s harem and while these add interest and develop Akbar’s character, the director maintains a fine balance in not overdoing this, and turning it into a saas-bahu drama.

Gowariker is also fully aware of the striking couple the lead pair make – he virile and handsome and she, a glittering, delicate beauty ! He uses this to his advantage in certain scenes portraying Akbar’s valor, and his rippling muscles as Hrithik does a bare-chested sword routine (with the camera lovingly lingering on his muscular torso), while Aishwarya (and I) watch mesmerized. When I, fresh from the trauma of “Dhoom 2”, first heard of the film’s cast, I’d been pretty skeptical of Hrithik and Aishwarya as Akbar and Jodhaa respectively. However, the grace with which both of the actors have portrayed their characters, have dispelled any doubts on this.

JA also features a decent cast. Sonu Singh appeared impressive as Sujamal, and Kulbhushan Kharbanda quite dignified and ponderous as Raja Bharmal. Ila Arun portrayed the scheming Maham Anga effectively, while Poonam Sinha as Akbar’s mother appeared a little stilted. Jodhaa’s mother’s role is well done by accomplished actress Suhasini Mulay. Bairam Khan’s character was a parody (a penchant for lopping of heads), all popping eyes and bulging veins – and the only one that I felt was jarringly bad (where thou, O understated killer ?).

This film is further strengthened by Rahman’s music, the finest example of which is the qawwali based “Khwaja, mere khwaja”. Although all the songs are appropriate, melodious and beautifully picturised, I especially liked “In lamhon ke daaman mein” , a romantic number which seemed a fitting ode to sublime love.

Like most filmmakers it appears that Gowariker too is in love with his footage. Luckily for us, the footage is engrossing, for the most part. Still, it must be said that there is flab, and JA could have been edited to shorten the length by atleast half an hour. Another flaw in this film, and in many Hindi films, is that it fails to rouse passion in the fight/war scenes. Why must armies facing each other appear obligatory ? Why must hand-to-hand combats appear to be re-incarnations of the average dhishum-dhishum of yester-year ? Technology has advanced and it wouldn’t hurt to have a cutting-edge fight scene in a 40-crore epic (a la “Crouching Tiger”).

The subject of this film is a large and exhaustive one. However Gowariker keeps the film focused and stops it from meandering. Amitabh Bachhan’s voice provides intermittent narration, but the film is mostly held together by an adept screenplay and deft direction. Most of the dialogues are “simple” Urdu and Hindi, and are apt, although I did wince a couple of times at Jodhaa’s “Shahenshah-ji”.

Review : Jaane tu ya jaane na

Cast : Imran Khan, Genelia D’Souza, Ratna PAthak Shah, Nirav Mehta, Naseeruddin Shah, Jayant Kripalani, Anuradha Patel, Karan Makhija, Alishka Varde, Manjari Phadnis, Prateik Babbar, Sugandha Garg, Ayaz Khan Kid rating : PGThis one I’ll always remember. My first desi film seen in one go – you heard that right, no interval, no break, no nothing – it went on and on. To it’s credit though, at no point did I actually feel the need for one. Walking in for the late night show at the local AMC, we thought we’d have our pick of seats. We were mistaken though; the theatre was almost full, and had we come even a few minutes later, we would have been forced to take seats in the first three rows. Do remember that sitting in rows 1-3, forces one to swivel one’s neck from side to side in an attempt to follow characters across the screen, and results, more often that not, in a crick in the neck that won’t go away. I, of course speak from experience.

As excited as I am over Hindi films being screened at regular mainstream theatres with state-of-the-art sound systems, instead of the older dollar-theatre style, run-down theatres, I still had a hard time finding listings for this film over the phone. The recorded message had the announcer getting in a tizzy over the desi name, pronouncing it with a Spanish twist. Thus the “Jaane tu ya jaane na” actually became “Yaan tu na janna”, with such little resemblance to the original, that it was a while and several listens later that we actually figured that the announcer was actually referring to this film.

Anyway, back to regular programming a.k.a. the review. This film is not unalike any other desi romantic flick that you may have seen, i.e.; girl meets boy , or as in this case has known him for very long. They are in love, apparently, but just don’t know it. Same old, same old , yeah ? So, whither the difference, eh ? you ask. In the treatment, folks, it’s all in the treatment. JTYJN is a film that’ll have you humming under bright blue skies, sliding down stair-rail banisters, and feeding the squirrels in the park, knowing in your heart of hearts that all is well, love is in the air, and there really don’t exist any villains which can threaten this utopia.

Or something like that.

Jai Singh Rathore (Imran Khan) is the only child of single parent and activist Savitri Rathore (Ratna Pathak Shah). Genelia is spoilt little rich girl Aditi Mahant. She is also a very good friend of Jai’s. When post-college marriage is suggested, both spurn the thought as ridiculous and instead decide to find each other the perfect soul-mate. Do they succeed ?

This film is very young at heart – it stars young, college-age actors, and the action revolves around them. While Aditi and Jai go by the nick-names ‘Meow’ and ‘Rats’ respectively, their friends are ‘Jiggy’, ‘Bombs’ and ‘Rotlu’. Casting is effective since everyone plays their role to the hilt, and we don’t have aged actors playing college-going kids.

Imran who looks quite a bit like Jugal Hansraj does well in his debut doing the soft, vulnerable thing quite well, although he may not be suited for anything but the “cholcolate” hero roles. Genelia is a younger, and more cosmo version of Sonali Kulkarni, and is good too, although may need to tone down the wide-eyed, super-innocent look a bit; no one believes that all the time. Also a special mention goes out to Prateik Babbar who plays Aditi’s awkward, aloof brother, Amit, to great effect. The sister-brother spats are a treat to watch !

This is love story folks, so I’m not holding my breath in anticipation while watching the film; the end is foretold. However, this is a fun, fluffy film, and the director does manage to add in little quirky, interesting bits like Jai’s dead father (Naseeruddin Shah), resplendent in his Thakur-ian dress, speaking through his portrait. There also the mad-cap, long-lost Rathore-ian cousins who come to Jai’s aid in the nick of time, and the fulfillment of the becoming-a-man prophecy.

This film is good entertainer with a healthy mix of the believable and the flighty. It’s also clean, and fairly palatable for kids. Add to that a large helping of romance, some good music (“Kabhi kabhi Aditi”, “Pappu can’t dance”), and you have the perfect Friday night flick. Thus the prescription : Ingest whole and savor !

Review : Superstar

am not a fan of Kunal Khemu because I totally hated his first film “Kalyug” and thought the second “Traffic Signal” not worth much. However cast as the protagonist in “SuperStar” Khemu finally delivers. It’s not that I blame him for his previous disasters (he was a pretty decent actor even then), but there was something about his earlier ventures which just didn’t click. Happily for us, this one does.

Kunal Mehra (Khemu) is your average struggling actor, finding for now, only 3 second snatches of screen-time, lost amid other extras. His Dad (Sharat Saxena) wants him to get a “regular” job, egged on by the next-door nosy neighbor (Anjan Srivastav). Supported by his mom (Reema Lagoo) and friends, Kunal struggles on. It looks like his persistence has paid off, when one fine day his photograph makes the headlines in every newspaper, and he is touted as the next young superstar, to star in an upcoming film by producer Saxena. However Kunal doesn’t remember getting the photo taken, and has never met the producer!

The truth about the look-alike in the newspapers brings with it disappointment for Kunal, his dream of making it big in Bollywood smashed to smithereens. However fate has other plans . . .

This is a double-role plot (”Mithya” had one too), but isn’t formulaic. What adds to the film are it’s genuinely comic moments – the film pokes fun at Bollywoodian clichés, like the time Kunal’s character refers to his doppelganger as not a “Kumbh-ke-mele” types (for the uninitiated, the 80’s films often had identical twins separated in the Kumbh mela). It’s a breezy watch and it flows. Rohit Jugraj, who’s past projects include ”James”, manages to tell the story with minimum fuss. The film is well directed and nicely paced. The characters are developed believably, except for the half-baked angle of the investigating journalist (Karachiwala). Yes, there are some logical loopholes, if you want to be really nit-picky, but the film is such a pleasant watch, that really, it doesn’t matter.

Khemu must essay two different characters – one strong and determined and struggling, and the other cocky, brash and arrogant. He does well on both, and even manages to squeeze in a little vulnerability in the characters, earning him extra brownie points. He shows a vast improvement from “Traffic Signal”, and exudes a new confidence and bonhomie in this film. Tulip Joshi as love interest Mausam does nicely, although she has fattened up since “Mere yaar ki shaadi”. And Aushima Sawhney as the hard-edged film actress suits her role. Darshan Jariwalla as crafty film producer Saxena is good too. Lagoo and Saxena as the parents manage some of the more poignant scenes in the film really, really well – had me tearing up !

This film has excellent music. From the catchy “Mann tu talbat” to the beautiful “Aankhon se khwab rooth kar” to the funky “Don’t I love or do I love you ?” they all just add to the film.

This is one of the better films, considering that it has no “big” star. And if you all want is an engrossing drama with some innovation and a “hatke” story, this is it.

Bollywood Movie Dev D – Reviews

Cast:Abhay Deol, Kalki Koechlin, Mahi Gill, Dibyendu Bhattacharya
Assistant Director:Vasan Bala, Anand Vijayraj Singh Tomar
Cinematographer:Rajeev Ravi
Story Writer:Vikramaditya Motwane, Anurag Kashyap
Producer:Ronnie Screwvala
Banner:UTV SPOT BOY
Music Director:Amit Trivedi
Playback Singer:Aditi Sharma, Amit Trivedi, Shilpa Rao, Shruti Pathak, Labh Janjua Lyricist:Mani , Amitabh Bhattacharya
Director:Anurag Kashyap
Toast to this new age Dev. D , folks! For it makes the pitiable protagonist of Sarat Chandra’s ‘Devdas’ somewhat likeable. It never ceases to amaze me that Devdas has caught the fancy of so many filmmakers. A loser in love who drinks himself to destruction hardly makes an appealing figure to me. What rather evokes interest is this drunkard’s journey through the two women in his life – Paro and Chandramukhi.

who makes the ultimate compromise and, so to speak, “moves on with life”, is the image of a woman resigned to her fate. Chandramukhi, the courtesan who keeps pain hidden beneath her smiles, is the image of a woman who loves her man but won’t tie him down. It’s not incidental that this platonic quality is to be found in a character that’s intrinsically sensual. In these intriguing personas does the appeal of Sarat Chandra’s story truly lies, and not in its dumped, drunken and drugged Devdas.

But in ‘Dev D’, Anurag Kashyap gives Devdas a new spin. The director improvises upon Sarat Chandra’s work by not just giving the story a modern setting but also by taking liberties – adding his own interpretations or perspective in the edgeways, plucking out real scandals from newspaper headlines and planting them seamlessly into the plot and, above all, choosing an optimistic ending. For, at the end of the bottle, there ought to be hope and not death. The strength of ‘Dev D’ lies in Kashyap’s telling. He doesn’t sweep the sexual attraction between Dev and Paro under the carpet. So here we have Paro ( Mahi Gill ) clicking her own topless picture and mailing it to Dev ( Abhay Deol ) who, right after seeing it, overcomes his indecision of returning back from London to Punjab to his childhood crush. In ‘Dev D’,

it’s the egos of Dev and Paro, and not solely the misunderstanding between the two, that spell doom for their love. And better fleshed out than Paro’s is Chanda’s character ( Kalki Koechlin ). A school girl who becomes an embarrassment for her parents after an MMS sex scandal, she takes to the life of a prostitute who eventually falls in love with a man drowning his pain in Vodka. From the mustard fields of Punjab to dingy rooms of Pahar Ganj unravels the story of the self-destructive hero who re-discovers love after hitting the rock bottom of his life. Kashyap deserves a toast for brewing an old wine masterfully in new bottle. But what ‘Dev D’ lacks is emotional appeal. It is too much of head and too little of heart. Save for a touching moment when Chanda asks Dev if he still loves Paro, there’s hardly anything that tugs at your heart. And that’s the most notable shortcoming of ‘Dev D’. It tells an emotional story intellectually.

Performances in the film are top notch. Abhay Deol is turning out to be quite a revelation. He hardly hams or overacts. Nor is he as muted and underplayed as he otherwise is. His is a balanced performance. Mahi Gill has the intoxicating eyes that can make a guy kick the bottle. On top of it, she acts wonderfully. Kalki does impressively fine for a newcomer. With its crispy, witty and straight-out-of-life dialogues, ‘Dev D’ gives a new hue and tone to ‘Devdas’. And the dozen or more songs that play out in the background during the course of the film give ‘Dev D’ the feel of a musical. The cinematography is mind boggling at times. The music is catchy. Alas, if only the film worked on your heart as much as it does on your head. But then, it’s far from being the emotional atyachar that No Smoking was. Rating: ****

Hello – Movie Review

Cast: Arbaaz Khan, Isha Koppikar, Sharat Saxena, Gul Panag, Suresh Menon,Dilip Tahil, Sharman Joshi, Amrita Arora, Salman Khan, Sohail Khan, Katrina Kaif
One Night @ Call Centre by Chetan Bhagat is an interesting read with every character well defined by the author. It begins with the author meeting a co-passenger in his train compartment, builds up with the six main characters in the call centre and dwells well on Bakshi, the man in charge of Connexions, the Call Centre the six are working in. It then moves on to the all-important call from God and His conversation with them especially regarding Bakshi, which makes them sit up and take notice and turn things around in their favour.

It’s extremely difficult for someone who has read a book and then to see a movie made on it to relate to it. Every time, as a viewer, you will be trying to picture in your mind’s eye what you interpreted of the novel. In that respect, it’s not always going to be ‘up there’. However, where justice can be made, it has to. Like for instance, the character of Bakshi is half baked. This when you have a tight script in your hand is not acceptable. I mean, when you read the novel you want to wring Bakshi’s neck with your bare hands. That’s the same feeling that goes through Shyam and Vroom’s mind in the book. But Bakshi’s shortcoming, coupled with his ‘diplomatic’ bullying tactics, especially towards Shyam, who is never able to say no, is missing. The whole concept of showing Shyam as a ’soft man’ never able to stand up to his bad boss is lost.

Also, the way they are all placed at the Call Centre with their desks is debatable. And there are many instances when the scene just takes off. Like when Radhika says she misses her husband, Vroom dials her husband’s mobile number. Wherein, in the book, it’s brilliantly built up where Vroom asks Radhika if she wants to play “Radio Jockey”. In the book, Vroom explains what he means: “I call Anuj and pretend I am calling from a radio show. Then I tell him he has won a prize, a large bouquet of roses and a box of Swiss chocolates that he can send to anyone he loves, anywhere in India, with a loving message. So then, we all get to hear what romantic lines he says to you.” A chance of a good scene is washed out here. As a reader, you are kicked in the gut when Anuj says he wants to send the flowers to his girlfriend Payal!

Also, there could have been some more fire in the lovemaking scene between Priyanka and Shyam. It comes off rather tame. The passion is missing. Then there is this scene when their car is hanging precariously on rods at a construction site and the call from God comes. There is this whole conversation that dwells on Bakshi, which explains their actions when they come back. But not in the movie. A viewer who has not read the book will wonder why they are getting even with Bakshi. Finally, there is this trick in MS Word with which they spread panic among the Americans to increase their call volumes. They tell the Americans that there is a virus in the computer and they need to spread the word around and keep calling at the Call Centre. According to Vroom (in the book) all you have to do is open a word file and type =rand (200,99) and press enter. As soon as that is done, you have hundred pages of text, which reads like this… The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog…

Director Atul Agnihotri has taken a few cinematic liberties, which is acceptable, but overall he falls short of rekindling the same sort of emotion that one goes through while reading the book.

To come back to the story, it’s about one night in a Call Centre and what happens to the six friends who work there. There’s Shyam (Sharman Joshi), Priyanka (Gul Panag), Vroom (Sohail Khan), Esha (Isha Koppikar), Radhika (Amrita Arora) and Milatary Uncle (Sharat Saxena). Then there’s the big bad boss Bakshi (Dalip Tahil).
There’s also Salman Khan to whom the story is being told to by Katrina Kaif.

All six actors do justice to their characters but it is only Gul who actually speaks in an Americanised accent that a Call Centre employee is supposed to speak in.

Katrina Kaif looks tired, sleepy and bored. Salman in the first part looks every bit the rock star he is portrayed.

I would say a decent attempt but could have been better considering the director had at his disposal a very good story and the services of the author himself.

Dostana

Cinematographer:Ayananka Bose
Story Writer:Tarun Mansukhani
Costume Designer:Aki Narula, Manish Malhotra
Sound Designer:Baylon Fonseca
Director:Tarun Mansukhani
Producer:Karan Johar, Yash Johar
Production Designer:Amrita Singh Nakai
Banner:Dharma Productions
Music Director:Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani
Playback Singer:Shankar Mahadevan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shaan , Vishal Dadlani, Shreya Ghosal, Amanat Ali
Lyricist:Anvita Dutt Guptan, Kumaar , Vishal Dadlani

Dharma Productions latest offering ‘Dostana’ has a cocktail of Friendship, Fun, Frolic and that thing called Love… but with a slight twist – there is a small case of pretending to be Gays!!
Directed by debutant Tarun Mansukhani , who has been an assistant to Karan Johar for years, ‘Dostana’ is a romcom set in Miami. It stars Abhishek Bachchan , John Abraham , Priyanka Chopra in lead roles and Bobby Deol (in a very special role).

Synopsis
It’s all happening in the Beach Party Capitol of the world…Miami. When Sameer (Abhishek Bachchan) and Kunal (John Abraham) are turned down for an apartment because the landlady doesn’t want two strapping young men to corrupt her young sexy niece Neha (Priyanka Chopra) they go to plan ‘G’ – they pretend to be ‘Gay’ to secure the apartment. All is well till they meet the sexy siren Neha and thus begins a journey of fun frolic and a test of friendship like never before. When Neha’s boss Abhimanyu (Bobby Deol) enters the fray as the third contender for her affections, it gets even hotter under everyone’s vests and bikinis and the boys get down and dirty in sunny Miami.

‘Dostana’ also features Shilpa Shetty in a guest appearance for an item song where she is seen jiving along with Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham on the Miami Beach. The movie has music by Vishal-Shekhar and lyrics by Anvita Dutt Guptan, Vishal Dadlani and Kumaar. The costumes for John and Abhishek are done by Aki Narula , while Manish Malhotra has done costumes for Priyanka Chopra. A youth-oriented film, ‘Dostana’ is scheduled to hit the screens worldwide on 14th November.