Even if they’re not, it was pretty gay.

Netflix has been suggesting that I watch Dostana for little while now. It looked to me like a Bollywood movie and I generally tend to avoid movies in other languages as I feel like I end up reading the subtitles rather than enjoying the film. The closest thing to an Indian film that I’ve watched is Bend it Like Beckam (which has become one of my favorite movies, period). Feeling in the mood for something different, I gave Dostana a shot and I am so glad that I did.

Two straight men attempt to go after an apartment but the girl that they would be living with has a protective aunt that will not allow men to live with her so they decide to pose as a gay couple. I know what you’re thinking, and that plot device was what kept me from watching it earlier. I mean, haven’t we’ve seen something like that before? So as you probably guess, both the straight guys fall in love with her and hilarity ensues, right?

The dance sequences are one of the elements that I surprisingly liked. I believed that these kinds of things did not belong in movies unless there was a reason to. While they mess with your head—now is this really happening—they do fit it rather well and I found myself wanting to dance a bit myself.

h/t to PremGatha for the vid post.

Now before you go ahead and check it out yourself, know that it is a fairly long movie. I’m not shitting you—it actually has an intermission. Some plot lines come up and get resolved within the entire movie. For example, one of the men comes out or rather is found out by his mother and goes all the way through to her final acceptance. But this is also where my biggest problem with the movie comes in. The movie is pretty much perfect in the first half but the mood changes quite a bit in the second when the two guys start their plots into winning over the girl.

As for the gay angle, I found it interesting to get a glimpse into Indian views on homosexuality. I won’t pretend to know that I have a good idea as I am not at all familiar with their culture but based on what I saw, it seems that they are still pretty homophobic. The movie could not even present an actual kiss between two guys. One of the more interesting lines of dialogue was when one guy told his soon-to-be-wife that he would never kiss another man, not even for her. Seriously?!

I would recommend this movie. It’s available to stream on Netflix.