Last week, after Manish Acharya with Loins of Punjab Presents and Navdeep Singh with Manorama – Six Feet Under another debutant director enters tinsel town and comes up with a unique story. Director Manish Tiwary decides to tread on a path which few have tried before. But can a first timer pull it off?Coming from Prakash Jha’s production house and judging by the promos one would think that this film would have his stamp on it. But unlike his earlier films like Gangaajal or Apaharan , this one is not as hard-hitting though some section of the crowd might be in for some shock value. Clearly the director has put in his own vision but not without traces of the producer’s inputs.
Sanjay Mishra (Shreyas Talpade) and Apurv (Imaad Shah) are college students who also happen to reside in the same hostel. Sanjay hails from a middle class background and campaigns for the student elections. He comes across another collegian Prerna (Nikita Anand) who aspires to be a model. Apurv comes from an affluent family but somewhere he finds excitement in discovering things which cannot be seen in everyday life. He visits a prostitute Vaishali (Smriti Mishra) and at the same time tries to woo a school-girl Kintu (Ishita Sharma). Sanjay cannot understand how Apurv can lend his heart to two women at the same time and the latter reacts by saying that ‘love’ is only a four letter word. So Sanjay challenges Apurv to make three women fall in love with him before his election results are declared. Sounds stupid? You decide...
The director should have paid more attention to the script. The core theme of the bet between Sanjay and Apurv is not put in the forefront (and neither is it reinforced) and you begin wondering why Apurv behaves the way he does. Another sore point is Shreyas Talpade’s character. At one point he seems to be the morally correct student who stands up for what he believes in and at another he contradicts his own beliefs which he enforced on others.
However, at certain points college students will be able to relate to Imaad’s character. It is chalked out really well.
Dil Dosti Etc . fails in the script department and treatment. The idea was good but somewhere the emphasis could not be brought out in the screenplay. The dialogues are weak. The film and especially Imaad’s character should have had stronger lines but he is relegated to finding out the atomic number of sodium.
After Anant Mahadevan’s Aggar , Shreyas Talpade takes a complete about turn as the middle-class student with political interests. His mannerisms do full justice of a Bihari youth but somewhere his character is not properly sketched out. Imaad Shah was last seen in a minor role in his father’s Yun Hota To Kya Hota but this time it’s a much more meatier role. The guy gets to smooth four women in the film and that might have been motivation enough to come up with a fine performance. However, his dialogue delivery needs some work. Smriti Mishra does a neat job and Ishita Sharma follows up her fine performance in Loins of Punjab Presents once again in this one. Nikita Anand looks the part completely and does well for herself even though she doesn’t have much of a role. Sanjay’s limp friend is terrific as well.
There is sex and violence but not in ample doses. The emotional segment balances it out. The film could have faltered completely but fortunately it doesn’t. Dil Dosti Etc. is a decent watch but just like Prakash Jha’s earlier films, it has its own audience.
Source
