DIL DOSTI ETC.

Presented by: Adlabs

Produced by: Prakash Jha Productions

Directed by: Manish Tiwary

Year of Release: 2007

Star Cast: Shreyas Talpade, Ishitta Sharma, Imaad Shah, Nikita Anand, Smriti Mishra

Dil Dosti Etc is a bold look at how young men of today think and choose to live their lives. The film is set around students in Delhi University. Through two college hostellers, Apurv (Imaad Shah), a rich, cosmopolitan guy and, Sanjay (Shreyas Talpade), an old-fashioned Bihari guy, the film juxtaposes the ‘new/ liberal’ and the ‘old/ conservative’ in our society. Sanjay Mishra is an ambitious and focused student-politician in Delhi. He represents the romantic and the idealist who steadfastly pursues his political goals. On the other hand, Apurv’s life is directionless. With the abundance of time and money in hand, he searches for meaning in life through amorous escapades with various girls.

The three female leads, that of a prostitute, a school girl and a rich model, provide a myriad of social and emotional backdrops to the film. Vaishali (Smriti Mishra) plays an attractive but sharp-tongued prostitute in the infamous red-light district of Delhi. She claims never to get emotionally attached to her customers. Then there is the precocious school girl Kintu (Ishitta Sharrma), who coquettishly remains noncommittal to Apurv’s flirtations and plays hard to get. Prerna (Nikita Anand) is the rich South Delhi babe who aspires to become an international model, and yet finds herself attracted to the earthy and charismatic student-politician, Sanjay.

Filmed extensively in Delhi at more than 25 locations, Dil Dosti Etc uses a rich ensemble of characters, stories and themes to explore the very nature of friendship, male bonding, voyeurism, sexual perversion, love and betrayal. It delves into the lives of a seemingly dysfunctional generation indulging in pleasure seeking whose joie de vivre is often construed to be aimless. This original screenplay full with realism and black humour shows the coming of age of not only a young man but explores the ambiguities and pre-occupations of an entire generation.

As the film moves towards a volatile climax, you get to test the film’s premise – When You are Young, You Believe the Possibilities are Endless!