Bollywood tackles Homosexuality with Dostana

Posted on October 5, 2008
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There was a special treat in store for those who went to see Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008) on the big screen: prior to the film, viewers were given an exclusive sneak preview of the much-awaited film Dostana. Produced under Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions and directed by his long-time assistant and friend Tarun Mansukhani, the film stars the original Dhoom hunk John Abraham, the dashing Abhishek Bachchan and the beautiful Priyanka Chopra. The film takes its name from the Amitabh Bachchan classic Dostana (1980) which it also borrows a similar theme from.

Following the worldwide success of Kal Ho Na Ho and the varied response received from Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Dostana is likely to raise some controversy with its gay centric storyline (John and Abhishek play two straight guys who pretend to be gay in an attempt to dupe Priyanka’s character).

This is not the first time we’ve seen Karan Johar come in contact with the topic though - Kal Ho Na Ho had slight references to gay culture throughout the film with the hilarious “Kantaben” set-ups: these were a coincidental chain of events (between Shah Rukh Khan’s character and Saif Ali Khan’s character) which appeared to look like homosexual acts only to suddenly have the homophobic maid, “Kantaben” coincidently appear and witness it all. The comical undertone of the scenes proved to be a winner with the audience who had the chance to enjoy the same humour all over again at the Filmfare Awards later in the year where the two Khans re-enacted the famous scenes.

The teaser trailer of Dostana only included one line of dialogue. This was said by John with Abhishek standing beside him: “Hum Gay Hain!… Yeh Mera Boyfriend Hai!”. The clip then cut to John and Abhishek dancing to the tango, with a red rose between the Abhishek’s teeth. There were also many clips of the heavenly Miami beaches where the film was shot and a bare-bodied John emerging from the water (which left many of the female audiences gasping for more).

Dostana will give Indian Cinema its first film centred around homosexuality, albeit in a comical manner. It seems to be very fresh and upbeat and is sure to offer the viewers something very different and contemporary. As the director, Tarun comments, “Dostana is about three friends…the trio play pranks and have fun together like all friends do…. Abhishek and John have an amazing chemistry and they come across more as a couple than anybody else”. See Bollywood tackles Homosexuality with Dostana

InsideDesi Magazine