There are some films which need stars and some films which need actors. Mostly the films that need stars are needless to say money spinners. They work on economics, they work on return on investments, they work on statistics, marketing. Their success depend on marketing, on bombarding about the films in every nook and corner of the city, every 10 second break, they release 1000 prints at one go and book all the shows in a multiplex, leaving no choice but to watch the film. By the time the word goes out that the film is trash, the producers make their money. The no-good stars (actors if you want to call them that) hike up their prices and the producer clamor their doorstep for dates and more useless projects. Phew! What a fake world we live in! We get trash for the money we earn the hard way and fill the pockets of trash creators and they make more trash for us!
Then comes along a small budget film with a lot of heart, with a wonderful storyline, honest actors, beautiful performances and you feel good. You want more of such films and that is what I felt after seeing Dasvidaniya.
Dasvidaniya makes you feel special, because he is one of us. He does not live in a palace or come back home in a chopper. He lives in a one bedroom hall apartment. He doesn’t have a lofty name like Rahul Oberoi or Raj Singhania, but an earthy name like Amar Kaul. He is not a nurse who can afford a 2000$ rent in Miami, but works in a normal pharmaceutical company. And he has the same problems that we all have. All but a little more. He will die in the next two months. A man who is lost in the world of survival, and has never enjoyed life even a little bit, an introvert that he is, he has always locked it in the confines of his heart. And knowing that he is about to die, he lists down things he wants to do before he dies, and then gets about achieving it. It’s a story of a simple mans simple dreams, nothing lofty, nothing out of the ordinary, where everything is simple and achievable. It tells you that behind every ordinary man is an extraordinary man waiting to unravel itself. It tells you, don’t wait for your doctor to give you an expiry date. Start living today, now. There is a similarity in the message if you look at The Bucket List, but the difference is there was a millionaire to help Morgan Freeman to achieve what he wants to do, but here it is Amar himself who does it on his own, despite his challenges.
There are many brilliant scenes in the film. The scene where Amar Kauls mother, Mumma is jubiliant over Amar buying a car is brilliant. The emotions that come out from a mother who has lived her life trying to make ends meet makes you smile from your heart. Goki aka Vivek, breaking down at the news of his brothers terminal disease is another touching moment, but the moment that was best captured on film was the scene where Amar confesses his love to his childhood sweetheart. That was a masterstroke.
There are some portions in the films where the pace goes down a bit giving you a feeling that the screenplay or the editing could have tightened a bit. At some places the dialogues are so good but the punch lacks its desired effect and goes unnoticed.
There is great attention to detail too. Watch out for the T-shirt Amar wears when he is strumming the guitar and singing for his Mumma and you will know what I am saying. The lyrics by Kailash Kher is simple and beautiful. In the days where a song has a million instruments playing at the same time with synthesized sounds, the songs in this film are simple, melodious with little instruments and stand different from the current pack.
Vinay as Amar Kaul is so believable and Sarita Joshi as Mumma is first rate. Watch out for her underlying pain when she walks out of the lift as she is going to meet a Baba. Gaurav Gera is first rate and so are Rajat Kapoor, Suchitra Pillai, Saurabh Shukla, Ranvir Sheorey and Purbi Joshi. Neha Dhupia is a great surprise. I wonder why no director has exploited as well as the director of the film Shashant has. Shashant needs a special mention for capturing such a simple story in a simple way that touches your heart.
I hope this film catches up with the audiences. It is a difficult task to do that, with Dostana blocking most of the shows in multiplexes all over the city. But a good film and word of mouth publicity is worth the crores other films spend in their marketing budgets!