Dostana

Review By Kamal K

Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) is a Police Office and befriend with Ravi (Shatrughan Sinha) who is a lawyer and employed by Daaga (Prem Chopra) a white collar criminal. On one hand Vijay arrests criminals and Ravi managed to get them Bail. But their professional differences never come in the way of their personal life and their friendship remains profound.

Ravi and Vijay meet Sheetal (Zeenat Aman) at difference places. Both falls in love with Sheetal who reciprocated to the love of Vijay and love of Ravi remained one sided. Soon Vijay comes to know about love interest of Ravi and decides to sacrifice his love for him. But problem ensues when Daaga make a conspiracy and Ravi becomes the biggest enemy of Ravi.

Zeenat Aman was at the peak of her career at that time and she has completed the glamour quota alongwith some good acting too. Pran, Prem Chopra and Helen have also done exceedingly well.

Dostana also features some well-choreographed action sequences by Veeru Devgan.

Laxmikant Pyarelaal have composed good songs for the movie. The lyrics of Anand Bakshi are quite touching. It's a formula-based Bollywood movie with guaranteed entertainment presented by Raj Khosla. If you want wholesome entertainment for more than two and a half hours, please don't miss it.

Dostana review :

Legendary director Raj Khosla's last box office success; Dostana had superstar Amitabh Bachchan and Shotgun (Shatrughan) Sinha vying for love and affection of the gorgeous Zeenat Aman. It was a staple Salim Javed script packed with all the masala ingredients of action, romance, emotions and dialogues. Having said that, I consider this to be one of their underwhelming effort as there were no punchlines or thrills as expected from the star writer-duo. Nevertheless, they got paid more than superstar Bachchan.

Vijay (Amitabh) and Ravi (Shotgun) are childhood buddies who become warring foes over the pretty Sheetal (Zeenat). Vijay is a cop while Ravi is the defence lawyer. Later, Vijay is accused of a murder and Ravi demands a night with Sheetal as his remuneration to bail him out.

Dostana took a good three years to complete mainly due to the untimely demise of its cinematographer Nariman Irani in 1978. Bachchan and Sinha's offscreen rivalry was much talked about in the media and that actually helped the movie to take a fantastic opening at the box office. Amrish Puri played a supporting baddie to the main villain Prem Chopra who is instrumental in creating rift between the two heroes. Pran was reliably effective as the police informer Tony who has his own past to tell...this character bears resemblance to his Michael from Amitabh Bachchan's Majboor (1974) - another Salim Javed script.

Dostana was the first production of Yash Johar who made many memorable films after this like Duniya (1984), Agneepath (1990) and Gumrah (1993) before his son Karan took over the mantle with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)... and made Dharma a top production house of Bollywood. Interestingly, Karan produced another Dostana in 2008 starring Amitabh's son Abhishek and John Abraham. The namesake movie was a gay comedy and had nothing to do with this Raj Khosla original.

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Producer Karan Johar presented a movie (not directed by him) titled as Dostana in 2008 which starred Priyanka Chopra, John Abraham, Bobby Deol and above all, Abhishek Bachchan whom he had earlier directed in Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (2006) alongwith his legendary father - Amitabh Bachchan. This relatively new movie is a comedy and Karan had used this title because of having its copyrights for the past three decades because his father - Yash Johar had made a movie under the same title in 1980. This movie is not a comedy but an action-emotion-packed thriller written by the renowned writer-duo, Salim-Jaaved and directed by the famous film-director, Raj Khosla.

Dostana (friendship) is the story of the friendship of a cop, Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) and a criminal lawyer, Ravi (Shatrughan Sinha). Ravi's father had fostered Vijay just like his son and sponsored his education as well. Now these close friends of childhood are moving ahead in their respective careers without allowing the professional commitments to create any block in their enviable friendship. Ravi's professional services have been hired by a smuggler - Daaga (Prem Chopra) and he gets his men bailed out from the court whenever they are arrested and booked by Vijay. A mysterious person - Tony (Pran) acts as an informer for Vijay. Now comes the twist in the tale.

It's an Indian saying that there are three main reasons for dispute (between males) - 1. Jar (wealth), 2. Joroo (woman), 3. Zameen (land). And true to this saying, the very strong friendship of Vijay and Ravi suffers a jolt on account of a girl whom both these bachelors fall for. This girl is Sheetal (Zeenat Aman) who comes into contact of both Ravi and Vijay and things move in such a way that Ravi falls in love with Sheetal without knowing her feelings for him. On the other hand, Sheetal and Vijay get smitten by each other and love blossoms between them like anything. When Daaga comes to know of this fact, he utilizes it to distance Ravi from Vijay. The friends remain no more friends when Ravi gets to know of the relationship of Sheetal and Vijay. However when a man of Daaga's gang (Sajjan) dies in the police custody and Vijay is charged for his murder, Sheetal has to approach Ravi to save him. What happens thereafter takes the story to its desired finale.

The courtroom scenes involving Shatrughan Sinha (playing the role of a criminal lawyer) are quite impressive and the seasoned script-writers who are the dialog-writers as well have shown their class once again. Despite being too simplistic, the court-room scenes are just too good and must have been able to generate claps in the theatres when this movie was released. And keeping the angry young man image of the larger than life hero - Amitabh Bachchan, scenes have been written specially for him. The scene in which Amitabh slaps Prem Chopra's man (Amrish Puri) in his presence is highly effective and quite in line with the towering personality of the legendary hero of the Indian cinema.

Romance between Amitabh and Zeenat has been exasperated quite well. Their romantic interactions alongwith the song Teri Meri Dosti Pyar Mein Badal Gayi are heart-winners. There is a good balance between romance and comedy on one hand and action and thrill on the other in the script. The friendship of the heroes and its breakage proves to be the icing on the cake.

Dostana is one of the few movies done by Amitabh Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha together and both of them have done superbly. Alongwith the seasoned writers, the seasoned director (Raj Khosla) has also left no stone unturned in utilizing the talent and the popularity of the twosome to the optimum. Zeenat Aman was at the peak of her career at that time and she has completed the glamour quota alongwith some good acting too. Pran, Prem Chopra and Helen have also done exceedingly well. The character of Helen is such in the script that it takes you aback as the story heads towards its ending scene. All others are also perfectly in place.

Technically and production value wise, the movie is up to the mark. Editing is sharp. The fight and chase sequences have been executed very well. The narrator has not allowed the momentum of the movie to slacken at any place. The pre-climax scene involving Zeenat Aman and Shatrughan Sinha reminds me of the climax of a classic movie - Aarti (1962) involving Meena Kumari and Ashok Kumar.

Laxmikant Pyarelaal have composed good songs for the movie. The music may not be great but it's quite pleasant for sure. The lyrics of Anand Bakshi are quite touching for the songs - Bane Chaahe Dushman Zamaana Hamaara (the title track), Mere Dost Kissa Ye Kya Ho Gaya and Kitna Aasaan Hai Kehna Bhool Jaao. Dillagi Ne Di Hawa (Teri Meri Dosti Pyar Mein Badal Gayi) and Bahut Khoobsurat Jawaan Ek Ladki are full of romance and frolic. The latter one is Kishore Kumar's solo whereas the former one is a duet of Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle.

I love watching Dostana again and again because it has a great repeat value. Whether or not you are a fan of Amitabh Bachchan or Shatrughan Sinha (or both), you will love them in the movie. It's a formula-based Bollywood movie with guaranteed entertainment presented by Yash Johar, the father of Karan Johar. If you want wholesome entertainment for more than two and a half hours, please don't miss it.

This movie is a classic entertainer , with great star cast ... good music ... great direction..and great performances by all the cast . It is one of the best movies of Amitabh Bachan who is well supported by the other cast... Shatrughan Sinha and Zeenat Aman were superb and brilliant. An all time great Entertainer .

Friends turning foe for a girl and a cop chasing a smuggler form the plot of this 80s blockbuster, which was the only hit from Yash Johar till "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai." "Dostana" churns the same formulas from the hits from Amitabh, Salim-Javed, and Prakash Mehra camp Like "Zanjeer," "Deewar," and "Sholay." The stars and characters carry the same jadedness. The plot, situations, and villains are obvious and implausible. Still the film works for its crisp editing and technicalities including the fine camera work, music, and action.

Rating: 1 star out of 4.