Product description Original Madhu DVD Review Director Shashant Shah s movie Dasvidaniya is a slow but heart-wrenching tale of a 37-year-old man who has few months left to live and sets out to live it to the fullest before he says his final goodbye. The movie, though not based on a novel premise, works because of actor Vinay Pathak s emphatic performance as a dying man with an ironic name Amar, and because of the finely etched-out characters in the story. It also works because the protagonist Amar Kaul is a simple, submissive man who learns to live fully only when death stares at him in face. It s a character that you empathize and sympathize with. It s a character you laugh and weep with. That precisely is what keeps you hooked to the screen even when the movie hits a few bumps and begins to drag in the second half. --apunkachoice.com
M**B
Triumphant at the End
This is cinema superior to anything you imagine Bollywood to be. in fact it is not Bollywood. It is Indian filmmaking on a par with Deepa Mehta's work. Most of all keep your eyes open for Vinay Pathak. You are going to hear a lot more about him. He is an Indian actor who could easily work in the USA. Indeed, he belongs to the generation that will globalize cinema. Enormously talented and skilled as a performer, Pathak is responsible for producing this picture and he performs the leading role of a poor shmuck who gets a diagnosis of imminent death. The way it works out in the rest of the movie is superior to "Bucket List" which was really a buddy flic with big stars. This is a real and universal human story. The character Pathak plays is the life of a simple man bewildered man on his last journey. It is a story everyone can relate to. It is sad and wistful and ends happily and triumphantly even in death. And that is why it is a good tale for everyone. If you are looking for a good human story without exploding gasoline and violence, watch Dasvidanya (farewell). And you'll love the supporting cast especially Rajat Kapoor.
R**Y
Fabulous
5 star film for sure. Great story, well told, great direction and acting. Rollercoaster of emotions from tears to laughter, and very very touching. I'm so glad I bought it, and will watch it many more times in my future.
L**N
An exploration of exploring a life unlived (Not a regular Bollywood)
This is more along the lines of a play rather than the usual Bollywood musicals. The hero does sing one number but completely within context. He never dances. There is a soundtrack but I can't recall anything particular.Even the choices are different. The hero isn't handsome or cute. In fact he is uglied up and made to look very ordinary and somewhat socially awkward.He is the guy who is very avoidant of change, risk, fun and exploration. A stereotyped accounts guy, he is either ignored or mildly bullied by the few people in his life. He has never married and lives a life of compromise tending his difficult mother. His life is so limited and compromised that it is almost a living death for him..Then he finds he has incurable cancer and only a short time to live. At that point he decides to methodically do the things he wanted to do, but didn't. He also reviews his past and sets off to reconnect, and bring things to completion, with old forgotten friends and family.In this part of his life he learns to start living and to find a love for life he hadn't experienced before.The movie avoids fairytale endings and the plot doesn't have him completely change his character. He just expands his options and opens to more change. So it is more real than the usual Bollywoods.The lead actor Vinay Pathak is very good. He also plays a double of himself: a sort of more lively alter ego that gentle prods him to let loose a bit. He is so different as the 2 characters that you can see his talent as an actor. Support actors are also solid.Why a title that is Russian for 'goodbye'? Without giving the plot away - a Russian girl he meets along the way is the reason.The arthouse lovers should like this one. It is also seen as quietly inspirational by some others as it can prompt thought about what each viewer may be choosing as a life- and what is missing that they too might want to do before they check out. 'Bittersweet' is a common description.It isn't a depressing movie (unless it seems too close to the bone and you see yourself in the character's stuckness!) Although about a man dying, it is really more about how to live. It is heartfelt without being particularly sentimental. Nor is it melodramatic.Although it isn't the sort of movie that won great box office success (as it is more of the quiet achiever category), it was well regarded by critics and generally rates reasonably highly across viewers -though not the much younger ones so much.
J**R
Three Stars
OK
H**G
Mildly humorous and at times melancholic
Mildly humorous and at times melancholic, I found Dasvidaniya quite entertaining; but looking back I have to say that main actor Vinay Pathak perhaps played to one-sidedly earnest and dull, just to portrait an earnest and dull person - overacting by underacting in this case. Movie mother Sarita Joshi is the opposite: extremely lively, alternately smiling and frowning and often dominating her 37 years old film son, she lights up the screen with her unconventional springiness.There are many more films with deathbound main figures in Bollywood and in the west. Other Bollywood movies with this theme include Kal Ho Naa Ho and Anand. Dasvidaniya differs from those not only because it seems to be a low budget production; the movie also spares us any embarrassing agony, scenes of pain, suffering and dieing. Actually the main figure doesn't seem to suffer any serious pain throughout the movie and is seen only once taking any medicine. The love story towards the end isn't very likely either.A few supporting actors act painfully unsympathetic, among them Saurabh Shukhla as the ever-munching cynical boss.
