Click to play videoCast: Imaad Shah, Shreyas Talpade, Smriti Mishra
Direction: Manish Tiwary
This week’s other new release “Dil Dosti Etc” is exactly the kind of film that could have been so much more, but alas, it isn’t.
Inspired by the slacker films of Richard Linklater, “Dil Dosti Etc” is a character-driven drama set in a Delhi campus, and focuses primarily on two students – the poor-little-rich boy with existential dilemmas played by Imaad Shah, and the middle-class, firmly-rooted campus favourite played by Shreyas Talpade.
The film’s got very little in terms of story, but that’s not really a problem here, because it’s clearly not a plot-driven picture. Borrowing its spirit and its mood from Slacker, Suburbia and Dazed and Confused, some of Linklater’s most popular films which are prototypes for movies of this genre, Dil Dosti Etc is about young people and the direction they’re heading in.
The problem with the film however, is the amateurish direction by debutant Manish Tiwary who has an interesting idea, undeniably, but not the skills to execute it efficiently.
One can relate to Imaad’s wandering, questioning frame-of-mind, even his tendency to indulge in meaningless sexual relations while on a search to understand what love is. But how I wish the director would spare us Imaad’s pretentious voice-overs, struggling to figure out life, asking all those existential questions.
Much of my problem with Dil Dosti Etc lies in its sloppy writing. Most characters come off looking one-dimensional and half-baked because they haven’t been fleshed out well enough.
The film’s dialogue, sounding clunkier than King Kong climbing stairs, alternates conveniently between Hindi and English, but for no good reason. As if that wasn’t bad enough already, you also have put up with all that terrible acting.
Imaad Shah, carrying pretty much the entire responsibility of the film on his shoulders, appears far too raw to tackle a part that’s so layered. He approaches his scenes with such a casual air that you’re convinced his heart wasn’t in it. Isshita Sharma playing Imaad’s girlfriend, clearly hasn’t taken a single acting lesson, she’s like one of those music-video models all dolled up and pretty, but as expressionless as a wooden plank.
Smriti Mishra, meanwhile, playing the prostitute who catches Imaad’s fancy, sinks her teeth into that role and delivers a credible performance.
The film’s saving grace, however, is Shreyas Talpade who understands his character intricately, prepares for it physically, and plays it instinctively – he is the only actor who holds this film from coming apart at the seams.
Some excellent intentions may have gone into this film, but they’re a long way from being realized. At the end, it’s an amateurish effort that only few rustle up the patience for.
Nevertheless I’m going with two out of five for director Manish Tiwary’s Dil Dosti Etc, it’s not what you’d call a typical campus film, and it’s far from perfect, but give it a chance, you just might surprise yourself.
Rating: 2 / 5 (Average)
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