May 06, 2009 11:02 AM
3958 Views
(Updated May 06, 2009 11:03 AM)
We all plan a lot in life. We all have our own set of desires and decide that we’ll fulfill our wishes in future for sure. What’s the hurry-after all, zindagi kahaan bhaag jaane waali hai! But what if one day you realize that you life is gonna end sooner than you thought? Dasvidaniya tells a story of such a person whose end is near and has to decide how he will spend the last few days of his life.
The story of the movie: 37 year old Amar Kaul(Vinay Pathak) works in a pharmaceutical company. He is unmarried and lives with his mother (Sarita Joshi). He is shy and lives an uninteresting life. The constant pain in his stomach takes him to a doctor (Ikhlaq Khan) who gives him a shocking news-he has stomach cancer and that he is not going to live for more than 3 months. Amar feels devastated. He doesn’t understand what to do next. He had two other options-first, to spend the three months cringing and thinking that he lived a worthless life. And second, to fulfill all his wishes and desires, which include buying a new car, foreign trip, teaching a lesson to his stupid boss (Saurabh Shukla), learning guitar under Savio Sir (Joy Fernandes), confessing his love to Neha (Neha Dhupia) etc. Amar thankfully chooses the second option and sets on a journey of ‘things to do before death’. By fulfilling his each desire, Amar feels more satisfied, more content and happier too. In short, the news of death taught him to live!
Dasvidaniya comprises of 4 S-simple, sweet, soulful and sincere. The movie doesn’t get emotional or melodramatic even at a single point and paces ahead wonderfully. The day to day life of Amar Kaul engrosses you from the beginning itself. The first turning point of the film-Amar diagnosed with cancer shakes you and the director has wonderfully captured this moment. The second turning point-Amar preparing a list of ‘things to do before death’ is truly exciting and the background score at this point adds to the effect. His interaction with Savio, Neha, his boss, Jagtap (Ranvir Shorey), Svitlana Manoylo (Tatanya), Rajiv (Rajat Kapoor), Garima (Purbi Joshi) and Vivek (Gaurav Gera) was fabulous and well executed. Full marks here to the director and screenwriter. One of the best scenes of the film undoubtedly was the way he gives a befitting reply to his insane boss-it was one of the funniest scenes of 2008! And not to forget, Amar confessing to Neha-most touching scene of the film! Brilliant!
The film ends in a very sweet manner, without getting overboard. As for the flaws, there is not any significant one. What didn’t work is the way the mother’s trauma was shown-maybe they could have done a better job at this part. But this is a very tiny flaw and the long list of plus points cover it up. And finally, watching Dasvidaniya has lots of advantages. To begin with, you won’t regret spending two hours on this film. Secondly, it comes like a wake-up call and teaches some valuable lessons, which we unfortunately don’t remember in our fast-paced lifestyle. And thirdly and most important, it removes the fear of death from us, although temporarily!
A film produced by a person like Vinay Pathak is bound to have excellent performances! Vinay gives an outstanding performance-in fact, one of the best of his career, after Bheja Fry and Manorama Six Feet Under. How he didn’t secure a nomination for Best Actor is shocking. The actor has tremendous potential and it’s really great to see that he’s well-utilizing it. And now with Dasvidaniya, he has turned producer too! Let’s hope his production company (Lemon Tea Productions) churns out such nice meaningful films in future too!
Neha Dhupia creates a great impact, even though she was there only in one scene. Rajat Kapoor as usual rocks- One of the best actors that we have today. Sarita Joshi was very impressive. So was her daughter Purbi Joshi. Joy Fernandes (‘Jamunda’ of Jajantaram Mamantaram) was too sweet! Saurabh Shukla brings the house down. Gaurav Gera was amazing. He deserves to be seen more in films. Watch out for the scene where he breaks down in front of Vinay Pathak. Svitlana Manoylo was great as the hooker. Ranvir Shorey and Suchitra Pillai were great in their miniscule roles. Others were good.
Kailash, Naresh and Paresh composed the music and background score which was excellent. Background score added to the impact in some major scenes. All the three songs-‘Alvida’, ‘Mumma’ and ‘Muskura’ were fantastic. Special mention should be made of the lyrics of Alvida penned by Kailash Kher. The simple and sweet lyrics instantly touch you.
Arun Verma’s cinematography was normal. The font used for the title was too good and unique!
Arshad Ali Syed is one of the big winners! He penned the story, screenplay and dialogues. Although the story isn’t original (inspired from Kal Ho Naa Ho, Anand and The Bucket List), it impresses because of its sweetness and simplicity. Screenplay was marvelous and Arshad really did a great job by not turning the film an emotional saga. However, as mentioned earlier, some scenes could have been scripted better. And lastly, his dialogues were applaudable! One of my fav dialogue from the film-“Isse pehle ki life aapko khaa jaaye, tum zindagi ko pi jao!”
Shashant Shah, the director, definitely deserves brownie points for handling such a script with utmost care and delivering a fabulous product. Thank you for giving us such a sweet film!
Some of the best scenes in the film:
Amar informed that he has cancer
Amar’s conversation with Jagtap
All scenes of Amar with his boss (amazing!)
Amar at Neha’s house
All scenes of Amar and Savio
Amar with Garima in his car
Amar with Rajiv
Amar meeting Vivek after years
The song ‘Alvida’ and ‘Mumma’
The final 10 minutes
On the whole, Dasvidaniya is sweet, simple and funny film that will surely bring a smile on your face, even though it deals with death. The film was unfortunately missed in theatres by many (including me!) since it was released with a biggie, Dostana. But now the VCDs/DVDs are out. Get your copy and I guarantee that there will not be a single person who won’t like this film!
(PLZZ RATE MY REVIEW AND ADD A COMMENT)
