Dost

A film about friendship that has romance, drama, songs, and a social message about the poor and rich. It's a solid film with an engaging plot, and intense conflicts. The latter is due to Rehman's immoral businessman character who looks down at poorer people.

Shatrughan Sinha is the scene-stealer, essaying a character that had to move on the edges - from loud overacting to subdued and comical, whereas Dharmendra underplays his role effectively and Hema Malini and Rehman do their jobs very well.

This movie is about an idealistic guy(Dharmendra) and his street smart pickpocket friend(Shatrughan Sinha). Shatru was not a big star at the time and is in a supporting role but he thoroughly chews up and outshines Dharmendra. When I watched the movie, I was completely surprised by Shatru's comic talents. He rocks big-time as the wisecracking immoral thug. Watch out for the scene when Shatru goes to the employment office to seek job (after being coerced by Dharam) and his interaction with the officer there. Alas, his comic talents weren't quite explored by any other director and this guy himself started hamming in the later stages of his career. This is among Shatru's two finest performances('Mere Apne' being the other one). Watch it for Shatru. The movie is a joyride and Shatru makes it work.

Dost (1974) : Brief Review -

Dharmendra as the flagbearer of honesty in a beautiful friendship drama. Dost begins with an evergreen song, "Gaadi Bula Rahi Hai, Seeti Baja Rahi Hai." The next lines are even more beautiful: "Chalna hi zindgai hai." Throughout generations, people have misunderstood this song as a travel/train song. It's a beautiful melody of life, actually. It appears several times in the film, and every single time, it leaves a different impact. In the end, it goes like this: "Yaade meeta Rahi hai, (getting negative with the tragedy of losing a kid), and the next line is, "Yaaden bana raha hai" (making things hopeful again with a new kid joining the family). Once you understand this song fully, you'll have learned yourself a lesson of a lifetime. Please, next time try that. Dost is a beautiful friendship drama that deals with multiple aspects, such as friendship, honesty, poverty, the value of hard work, the power of truth, inequality in society, and last but not least, what's how to live an honest and happy life. The film explores multiple dimensions beautifully and gives very delightful vibes all the time. However, the last quarter gets a little messy with the death, corruption, sacrifice, and all. Maanav's sacrifice of love (for a friend) is different from love triangles and other love stories, and it feels sentimental too. But the moment he returns, it destroys the emotional value of it. The kid's death, corruption, Gopi losing a hand and getting arrested despite being innocent-all of it happens in quick time and in a consecutive manner, which makes things messy. Whatever we saw before the first three quarters was so simple, steady, and joyful. But the last quarter lacks all those things. Dharmendra's honesty, looks, and style statements looked trendsetters, while Shatrughan Sinha's accent won me completely. Hema Malini shines as a beautiful heroine. Guha's film is good, a little more than good, but it had bigger potential that was reduced by the last 40 minutes.

RATING - 6.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.