|  Vinay Pathak's maiden production Dasvidaniya, directed by Shahshant Shah, is a moving, at times elevating, tale of an ordinary man who lives an extraordinary life in a span of a couple of months. Dasvidaniya or goodbye, as they say in Russian, may not be a very original story, but it is quintessentially everyman's story. We all live our lives, tied to our routines i.e. job, family; responsibilities etc, and loose the ability to actually live our lives fully, with joy. Of course, the joy is bittersweet in nature, as at one end of its landscape lies the sorrow of parting and saying a final goodbye to our loved ones. It is this bittersweet slice of life that Vinay and Shashant capture and bring alive in their film. Dasvidaniya talks of life and living.
Dasvidaniya is the story of Amar Kaul (Vinay Pathak), who discovers one day, out of the blue, that he is suffering from stomach cancer and has just a couple of months to live. Already a very timid man by nature; his has been an anonymous existence for the world; Amar finds it difficult to share his sorrow with anyone. He has a deaf mother (Sarita Joshi), who is 24x7 enraptured by the idiot box, and a brother, who is now estranged. Back at work, his tyrannical boss (Saurabh Shukla) bullies him. He ends up sharing his sorrow with a total stranger (Ranvir Shorey), in a bar, as he takes his first drink. He realizes then that he has actually never done anything in his life. He may have been existing but was never alive. When he is at his lowest, he gets an idea of making the most of his remaining life. The accountant in him comes to the fore and he makes a 'to do list'. The first thing on his wishlist is a new car. The next is to find his old flame Neha (Neha Dhupia); then to learn to play the guitar, go abroad, to reconnect with his old friend (Rajat Kapoor), to find love, to handle his boss, take care of his mother and reconcile with his brother. And Amar ends up doing all those things. He meets and makes many new friends, reconnects with old ones, finds love and gets his brother back, before he bids a final goodbye.
Amar's wishlist is the stuff of what all ordinary dreams are made of a car, love, family and friends. But it is in these ordinary things and his quest for them, that the ordinary Amar Kaul becomes quite extraordinary. There is almost a Chekovian touch to the whole story. He has his moments of self pity and even tries to commit suicide.
The film is suffused with little touches which bring out the sensibilities of a generation which grew up in the Seventies. The bits about Amar and his friend having a Mithun Chakraborty fan club in school, where they would address each other as Gun master G9 and G10, at once takes one back to the days of Suraksha, when there was a sudden Mithun craze all over the country. These little touches add to the texture of the film. There are even touches of Raj Kapoor's famous tramp as well in the manner in which Amar's character is played out.
The star of the film is most definitely the screenplay and Vinay Pathak. He builds the character of Amar, taking into account every detail, beginning with his voice modulation, his expressions, his clothes and his body language. Vinay lives the character out fully and gives the everyman trapped under all our skins a free rein for a few hours. There are no great mountains that Amar climbs, or discoveries that he makes, no heroic deeds he performs, and yet he comes out as a true hero. Full credit to the actor for a masterly performance. Of course, there is an underlying sense of irony and humor which runs through the movie, along with pathos, but they only go on to add to the film's flavor.
Vinay is well supported by the rest of the cast, which is literally a 'who's who' of what are known as 'character' actors in Bollywood, beginning with Rajat Kapoor, Sarita Joshi, Gaurav Gera, Ranvir Shorey, Saurabh Shukla, Suresh Menon and Suchitra Pillai. All the actors do a terrific job with their characters. The task is made easy by the fact that their roles have been very well etched by the writers. The dialogues are very down to earth and have a humorous touch to them. There is something about the film, which makes it very close to one's heart.
The film's music has been composed by Kailash Kher, Paresh and Naresh. Kailash's heartrending vocals are like manna to the ears. His 'Momma' is quite a gem. It has even been picturised extremely well in the movie. It does not need to be compared to Shankar Mahadevan's song on the mother in Taaren Zameen Par. Both have a different kind of appeal and are great in their own right. Shashant Shah makes a tight, engrossing film, one which is bound to touch one's heart with its myriad little moments. It may be a little too maudlin in certain places, but if one can overlook that, what one gets in Dasvidaniya is a lot of hope, some inspiration and a few laughs. A great recipe for a good film!
|
