Masand's Verdict: Dostana, a barrel of laughs

Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Kirron Kher, Bobby DeolDirection: Tarun MansukhaniUnapologetically irreverent, this week's new Bollywood release Dostana is a barrel of non-stop laughs; a film that pulls out all stops in its shameless attempt to win you over. Set in sunny Miami, Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham play a pair of straight blokes who must pretend to be a gay couple so they're allowed to rent rooms in a swanky condo occupied by single, young chick Priyanka Chopra. The trio strikes up a close friendship and all's going well in their little world until both boys realise they've fallen for her. Wait, what's more, she seems to be falling for her boss; that role played by Bobby Deol. Stripped to its bone, the basic premise of Dostana is your fairly standard triangular romantic-comedy, but it's the manner in which writer-director Tarun Mansukhani gives this ordinary plot a whole new spin by throwing in that 'pretend-gay' angle that turns it into a winning lottery. Laugh-out-loud hilarious, the film's first half comes packed with naughty lines and often risqué humour. That fake flashback which serves as Abhishek's romantic back-story with John, concocted for the benefit of Priyanka and her aunt, is one of the funniest scenes I've seen in months. Prepare to crack up also in that scene in which Kirron Kher playing Abhishek's mum discovers to her horror that her son is gay; and that subsequent scene in which – having finally come to terms with this painful fact – she decides to accept John as her son's chosen partner, and gives him a fitting bahu's welcome. Despite the stereotypical gay characters, it's to the director's credit that the film rarely comes across as mocking or insulting to gay sentiments. Even when reinforcing many gay clichés, Dostana has a naughty innocence to it that is hard to take offence to. In a roundabout manner perhaps, but the film is even progressive when it comes to portraying same-sex relationships, as is evident from the Kirron Kher-character's acceptance of her gay son's relationship, her blessing of this union, and finally her expectation of commitment and fidelity from both boys towards each other. Sure it wouldn't hurt if all gays weren't made to look like flaming queens, and if there was at least one gay character that wasn't a caricature, but in all fairness to expect any more in terms of the portrayal of gay characters is perhaps unfair – after all, Dostana never promises to deliver the sensitivity of Brokeback Mountain. After all the fun-n-games, it's in the film's second half that the energy dips. For one, the tone shifts abruptly from comedy to schmaltzy romance, prompting a string of sappy scenes, including a contrived one each in which Abhishek and John both go to great lengths to woo the girl. There's also sadly no escape from those predictable misunderstandings and manipulations which only slacken the film's pace. Having said that, it's still an immensely entertaining watch with producer Karan Johar's light-and-frothy signature style stamped across every frame. From the eye-watering photography of Miami's fabulous beaches, to the stars' slinky designer costumes; from Vishal-Shekhar's foot-tapping numbers to the carefully picked curvaceous blonde junior artistes in every scene – this is that cool-light-n-easy kind of film that you either have an appetite for, or no interest in. Of the actors, Sushmita Mukherji as Priyanka's aunt and the boys' landlady is deliciously over-the-top and makes her every moment on screen memorable. Boman Irani as Priyanka's gay boss making that Devil Wears Prada-inspired entry, is particularly likeable, especially in that scene in which he mistakes Priyanka's aunt for the maid and declares her a fashion disaster.

'Avakaya Biryani' Review: Film Festival Stuff

 Film: Avakaya BiryaniRating: 2/5Presented By: Sekhar KammulaCast: Kamal Kamaraju, Bindu Madhavi, Rao Ramesh etcChoreography: Prem RakshitLyrics: VanamaliMusic: Manikanth KadriCinematography: ShyamProducers: Sekhar Kammula and Chandrasekhar KammulaDirector: Aneesh KuruvillaReleased On: 14th November 2008 Story:Akbar (Kamal Kamaraju) is an auto driver in a village called Devarakonda and also works as paper boy in the early morning. He is an orphan as lost his father in childhood. He, along with other young uneducated gang lives under the rule of Masterjee (Rao Ramesh), the village head. Babar, a Muslim leader in that place wishes to divert Akbar as religious chauvinist. But Akbar follows 'love all' concept.  A Brahmin family newly comes to that village in exodus from another village and resides in a house. Their plan is to start a hotel business there and also sell avakaya. Lakshmi (Bindu Madhavi), the elder daughter in that family falls in love with Akbar.  How Akbar and Lakshmi unite? How the Hindu-Muslim love is accepted by Lakshmi's father who believes in strict Brahminism? How the hotel business will be started by that family? How Akbar becomes a hero in his village from mere auto driver? All these form the rest of narration.  Performances: Kamal Kamaraju is ok with his physique and bearing but needs to groom in expressions and other histrionics. New girl Bindu Madhavi is ok with the character she played in the film. And she too needs to groom herself to show versatility.  Music by Manikanth is good and cinematography deserves great mention. The songs 'Mamidi kommaku maa chilakammaku', 'Nannu chupe addam..' and 'Govardhanameththaadu gopalude…' have received good applause.  Director would have done batter work on dialogues. The required punches were lacked on a whole leaving audiences without sufficient entertainment.  Analysis:It's a movie that moves in a different but slow pace. Technical brilliance is seen in making with creative cinematography, worth mentioning framing, enticing music and quality RR. The tempo of the movie and also the subject chosen for it recalls the 1990s Delhi Doordarshan TV serials like Govind Nihalani's 'Tamas', 'Malgudi Days' etc. It's a genre of movie that would be liked and disliked in equal form. In other words to say, there would be good number of audiences on both the sides. Director Aneesh tried to balance the equation between his creativity and commercial point. But on a whole at the end, it gives a 'boring feel' for some and a 'good relief' for others.  The film aptly suits to hit the film festivals across the world. It has some message in it. Aneesh would have got better experience with the films those will be played in film festivals. Like Thangar Bachchan's 'Pallikoodam', where the lead role works hard for a social cause and the betterment of a place, here the lead role in 'Avakaya Biryani' also does the same. That may not be taken as the only common point between the two. The way the story is narrated with remote village backdrop, limited set of characters with typical characterizations etc. To sum up, the film has lacked in energy and audiences find it difficult to get connect to it. When story is not running at faster pace that should be filled in by comedy. Or if there is no comedy to show, the story should run. Although Aneesh has comparison with many award winning film makers, he brought some doubts in the heads of some audiences: 

Yuvatha Review

 Cast: Nikhil, Aksha, Jeeva, Karuna, Sayaji Shinde, Jayaprakash Reddy, Srinivasa Reddy, Ranadhir, Subhash, Narasimha, Pruthvi, and othersMusic: ManisharmaLyrics: Krishna ChaitanyaCinematography: T JaswantEditing: Marthand K VenkateshAdditional screenplay: Chaitanya DantuluriProducers: Hari and Uma PrakashStory, dialogues, screenplay & direction: ParasuramBanner: Worth Watching EntertainmentsDate of Theatrical Release: November 7, 2008 NonstopCinema Rating: 2.75/5A film poet earlier penned a beautiful lyric which goes like… ‘Kontha Kaalam Krindata Brahmadevuni Mungita Rendu Atmalu Korukunnavi O Varam… Dehaalennaina Maa Atma Maatram Okkatiga Cheyyi…’, which really means anyone should their ego when it comes to friendship in this world. A real friend will help us in need, so we too should be ready to do anything for that friend. There are no words to explain what is true friendship and even our experience is very less in this regard. At a time when the value of friendship is dropping due to some people, director Parasuram chose a subject for his film ‘Yuvatha’ to explain its value.Veerababu (Nikhil) is the one who always wants to be happy and keep the flock around him is happy. He quarrels with his uncle in his village and reaches Hyderabad and decides to stay with his friends, Ajay, Subbu and Kiran. Like many bachelors, Babu’s friends too have some small ambitions. Ajay, being a software engineer wants to fly to the US, to catch the hand of his lover Madhavi (Monali Choudary), the house owner’s daughter. Subbu, who was an assistant director in films want to turn a director and direct a film with Pawan Kalyan as hero. Kiran wants to be a big police officer, but settles as a security guard. After reaching Hyderabad Babu gets an acquaintance with a girl called Baby (Aksha) over phone and loses his heart at first sight. On one occasion, Subbu gets injured and the doctors demand Rs 5 lakh for surgery. After all the trails to get money exhausted and with no option in sight, they borrow money from a local don Laddu. As they fail to return the money, Laddu threatens to kill the friends, they plead for two days’ time. With Kiran working in an Agency which fills money in ATMs, he suggests his friends that it would be easy to rob that agency. By the time they start, Kiran convinces them that he could not come along with them as anybody could identify him. So, Babu and Ajay only go to finish the work. By the time, they go to the agency, some others already loot it and Babu and Ajay get fixed in the trap. Who robbed the cash? Who committed the robbery? Whether Ajay and Babu were able to come out of the case or no? How far the love between Babu and Baby, Ajay and Madhav was successful? Whether Subbu was able to achieve his ambition to become a director? When Kiran didn’t’ rob the money why should he disappear? Answers to all these queries have to be seen on the screen.  Nikhil played the role of Rajesh in ‘Happy Days’, an odd boy among the students with a touch of mass element. That character clicked well. He improved his performance capabilities a lot with this film. Though the character appears very intimate to us as a boy next door kind, we could enjoy it. He played the role with a lot of ease on the lines of Raviteja. Right from the word start till the end, he appeared quite energetic. Whatever that had to be mentioned as highlight in ‘Yuvata’ it is Nikhil’s performance alone. He not only improved a lot, but gave the audiences a feel that once again, the Telugu film industry got yet another hero who could perform like Raviteja. Though a debutant, Aksha involved in the character and gave a nice performance. She appeared too cute in sme scenes and in some angles she reminded the audiences of Amisha Patel. Though Monika Choudary had no big character, she is okay in her role. ‘Amritam’ Sivanarayana, Jeeva, Jayaprakash Reddy, Srinivasa Reddy, Narsing Yadav did justice to their respective roles. Sayaji Shinde excelled in the character of Simran’s fan and entertained the audiences well. All those who played friends to Nikhil also gave a good performance.