Film: Dasvidaniya
Banner: Lemon Tea Productions, One More Thought Entertainment
Producer: Vinay Pathak, Azam Khan
Director: Shashant Shah
Cast: Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Rajat Kapoor, Neha Dhupia, Saurabh Shukla, Gaurav Gera, Suchitra Pillai, Sarita Joshi, Suresh Menon, Purbi Joshi, Joy Fernandes, Sachin Khurana
Rating: 2.5/5
A middle class man finds out that he doesn’t have too many days to live. He’s visibly upset and shocked and rightly so. Dasvidaniya, which is directed by debutante Shashant Shah, touches upon this theme and showcases the plight of the man and his "things to do" list before he breathes his last. This theme has also been explored in Hollywood in movies like The Bucket List starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman and also Last Holiday starring Queen Latifa.
The protagonist in Dasvidaniya is our average Joe – Amar Kaul (Vinay Pathak), who is stuck in his mundane life and even more mundane job with a bossy boss! Meticulous that he is, he maintains a things to do list everyday and dutifully ticks off the ones that are achieved.
On a visit to the doc for a stomach ailment, Amar finds out that he has stomach cancer and that too in its advanced stage. Somewhat angry at life since he has no vices like smoking, drinking, womanising etc, he goes to a bar to have his first drink! There he bumps into Jagtap (Ranvir Shorey), who makes him realise that the kind of life he’s been living, he should already consider himself dead long ago.
Therein begins an introspection, which makes Amar pen down his final "Things To Do Before I Die." The movie is about some corrections that one needs to make in life. It also emphasizes a lot on relationships, love and friendship. While at some points the movie does tend to drag and the pace slackens, it is the performance of the cast that keeps you glued to the screen.
Amar’s final ‘To Do’ list is interesting and at the same time basic. There are no over the top wishes but ones that are close to the heart, important and some that touch upon tying loose ends. The humour is good and some scenes like Amar’s sweet revenge on his boss, Amar’s alter ego and the Dumb Charades with childhood sweetheart Neha (Neha Dhupia) are memorable.
Vinay Pathak as Amar Kaul takes his act forward from Bheja Fry and comes across as sincere and superbly portrays a commoner’s woes. His expressions, body language and emoting is brilliant and you ‘feel’ every emotion that he goes through.
An able supporting cast comprising Shorey, Rajat Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Gaurav Gera and Sarita Joshi add wonderfully to this film. These are all great performers and only help in enhancing the movie.
The script, if tightened, would have worked wonders for this film. The movie’s major drawback is that it’s very slow. But let that not deter you from watching adept actors performing in this bitter-sweet tale.
