Film Review: Dost

AFTER A gap S. A. Chandrasekar is back with his pet peeve, legal loopholes, as the theme. Surprisingly, he has not swung into action with son Vijay in tow this time, but with the promising master of action Sarath Kumar.

Ironically ``Dost'' warns you that a treacherous `friend' could pull you down the drain. The film has flashes of intelligence, splashes of humour, spurts of sentiment and mounds of melodrama. Yet the cocktail does not offer complete satiety. One reason could be the pace, affected as it is by inevitable appendages.

Vishwa (Sarat Kumar) and Raghu (Raghuvaran) are the closest of friends. Of course, the former is true while the latter is merely mercenary. Nothing matters to Raghu except money. He uses his rich friend as a ruse to rise in status. Devoted to his selfish friend, Vishwa is too naive to know that Raghu is a scheming archetypal villain who could ruin him for money. And when he does realise the truth it is too late - he is already a wreck, estranged from his child and lover and behind bars. Now it is time for revenge.

The film poses the open-minded question, whether a person convicted for a crime he does not commit, can be punished yet again when he actually commits the crime at a later stage. Thankfully the film ends on a positive note.

This is Abhirami's third film, and as the dancer Anamika, she has very little to do except look attractive. She isn't even around when the major events take place. All the same, as a glamour puss she fills the bill.

At home in the stunt sequences, Sarath Kumar makes an impression in the emotional scenes too. The rhetoric in the climax, when Vishwa assaults the villain in the hall where a judges' conference is taking place, is very lengthy and is steeped in melodrama.

Raghuvaran's characteristic eccentricities, dialogue delivery and body language are predictable all right, but they are enjoyable too. And no one could know it better than the actor himself. So here is Raghuvaran once again at his typical best. Prakash Raj is ``Dost'''s tough guy and his portrayal is also appreciable. Shades of villainy, heroism and quirkiness evoke laughter, though his exaggerated reactions irk.

Inserting song and dance at the wrong situations - the Kasturi- Ramji number for example - hampers the tempo.

When children act affected and unnatural it only irritates the audience. The younger child in ``Dost'' does. But later the slightly grown up daughter, whose eyes constantly express fear and anguish, is effective.

The film is an obvious take-off on the Hollywood flick ``Double Jeopardy''.

If Vadivelu evokes a guffaw or two just in the one scene he is seen, so does `Crazy' Mohan in the appearance he makes.

The dialogue - light, sentimental or hardhitting, as the scene warrants - is a saleable feature of `Dost'. The credit for this goes to R. Swaminathan.

MALATHI RANGARAJAN

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