Dostana Response: Funny but a Little Too Much

Dostana is a ridiculously hilarious and well-made movie. The jokes are well executed, the acting is surprisingly good (even for Abhishek Bachchan) and the movie didn’t seem to make any horrible inappropriate jokes about gay people. It is very understandable why this movie went on to become a cultural phenomenon and one of the best movies of the decade; having Priyanka Chopra and John Abraham as eye candy doesn’t hurt either. My big concern with this film, however, is how it took comedy to extremely sexual and completely unnecessary levels. If this film were rated in the United States it would be nearing “R” levels. This movie had scenes that would be considered gross and total adult only even for the United States.

One of these scenes is during the song Jaane Kyun. The three friends are walking on the street and Kunal’s shirt reads, “Use a Condom.” This shirt is completely unnecessary. It doesn’t add anything to the song or the liveliness of the tone. It gives off the wrong character impression of Kunal considering he is portrayed as a muscular sweetheart in the movie. This shirt makes him seem like he has a flawed sense of humor and no regard for society. This addition to the movie feels to be the view Indian directors (and audiences) have on American society. I personally have experienced this view by many Indians in America and abroad. The view that America is not as intelligent and we do very inappropriate and “liberal” things. The movie could have easily not used this shirt, and any type of tank top would have been even better.

Another scene is when Kunal and Sam are mad at each other and Neha is trying to help them sort everything out (at the auction). Sam starts to make up the idea that Kunal is sleeping with other men, and Kunal retaliates by saying that Sam is incompetent in bed. This joke, although slightly funny, is quite vulgar for Indian audiences. Kunal could have responded with any other made up story that would have gotten the point across, but instead talked about incompetency. Sexual references are usually ignored all together in Indian movies, but this dialogue takes things way too far when it specifically focuses on the male genitalia. Tying into that part of the male body, during the song Jaane Kyun, Neha is in a bathing suit and is showing off her body. When she goes to lay down next to Kunal and Sam they both place their magazines on their crotch. The scene implies that her beauty and body excited the two and physical changes happened. This part of the film is really just excessive. The same feeling could have been portrayed by both guys swallowing deeply or biting on their lip, not by covering their privates.

The final few scenes that take this movie a little too far is the opening scene when the audience is introduced to Kunal and Sam. Both wake up after having one night stands with women, and Kunal is barely dressed. John Abraham shows off a little butt and his complete upper body. I understand the eye candy, but the first talk the two have involves the discussion about the noises that were made in bed the night before. The movie could have just introduced their names by saying hi and hello, but again it had to go the extra mile and make the movie a little more obscene.

Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed Dostana. The movie was hilarious and had great dynamic, especially with the romance. Dostana encompasses all the things I love about Bollywood movies, but it could have gone without the excessive innuendo and explicative scenes.