Not always a title will blend in everything to a discussion/monologue. The title above may not be suitable to other viewers. But I think Dil Dost Etc does have a social message which is targeted on an individual basis. This film portrays college days of Apurv (Imaan Shah) and Sanjay (Shreyas Talpade). Sanjay is a student from a middle class family in Bihar who is trying to run election and also win it by all the means he can. Apurv is his fellow mate who is born with a silver spoon. These two students have a totally different background but currently they face almost same situations in the college and they have almost opposite perspective on moral/ethics background. These two students bet to each other and that initiates a series of events which connect them together in the end.I must say that this film is a great blend of psychology and philosophy of college students who are religious towards timely pop culture and matured audience who perhaps are competitive enough to exercise any and every means towards their goal. Debutant Manish Tiwary has written a clever script that from the first minute ("River of White Water") till the end of the film initiates and propagates various thought processes and live it open to individual comprehension. With humor as a positive ingredient his protagonists speak a language which is definitely thought for. The educational institute seems to be a perfect place to place two characters with different backgrounds and mentality. Though I have seen Sanjay at other occasions but Apurv shocks me. Not only his philosophies and self-ethics bother me but when he talks he seem to have understood a much about his surroundings. He does not apologise for a failed kissing attempt to a school girl (Ishita Sharma) and he survives a great deal of endeavor in the end. "A glimpse of the goal clears away some paths" as he utters this line I wondered where is this movie going to end. Manish Tiwary has ended this film with a social message which has to be self realised and self applied.Imaan and Shreyas both have acted well. Shreyas as usual is very natural. It was good to see him in a matured serious role. I have never seen Imaan before but I wonder about his courage. Whether I should appreciate his ability to focus on the goal or the goal itself is a mystery. Smriti Mishra as the prostitute is also a great portrayal. The direction and screenplay are running at the same pace. For a debut this is a remarkable film. This is perhaps the best college flick since Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander (1992) though I doubt I would watch it as many times as I watched Sanjaylal Sharma and the cycle race.My rating: 8/10.

Dil Dosti Etc was picked up by my two sons who were very enthusiastic about the film on seeing it. There was a guilt pleasure they took and I though this is a private joke between them. However, I decided to watch the film and see what my sons are up to… the only thing I had heard when the film got released was that it had Nasiruddin Shah's son and made by Prakash Jha with a new director.I was greatly surprised to see the faces of my favorite Shreyas Talpade a small time actor who has got the talent and the incredibly talented Smriti Mishra who has apparently returned to the screen after eons. The greatest feat is the casting and the credit goes to the producer and director for doing so. It is a novel story about young people in modern India. The story is around a challenge of a boy being challenged by his friend to have sex with three women in a day… it is difficult to pin point how but this challenge is able to put across the loss of direction the young people face today. It is one of the subtlest film I have seen on ambitions of youth, of cultural diversity we live, and the anxiety these young kids have away from their parental quarters.Nasiruddin Shah's son Imaad Shah gives a very understate performance against more vocal character portrayed by Sheyas Talpade. A great delight is to see Smriti Mishra as the colourful prostitute in red light area of Delhi. Other characters have done a great job too – I'll always remember the schoolgirl, her lover, the loud school teacher and the setting of this film. This must have been a film on small budget and one looks forward what the film makers give us next.

A young college fresher, Apu – bored with his life in college in Delhi – takes on his best friend's challenge - can he have sex with 3 women in a day? The women that Apu finds himself attracted to range from a prostitute, to a virgin, to a rich model. As our protagonist searches for women he can love, what is explored are the very nature of friendship, male bonding, voyeurism, sexual perversion and love.The film is set around students in Delhi University. Through two university hostelers, Apurv, a rich cosmopolitan guy and, Sanjay, an old-fashioned Bihari guy, the film juxtaposes the 'new' and the 'old' in Indian society. Sanjay represents the romantic and the idealist who has steadfastly pursued goals using conservative means. On the other hand, Apurv's life is directionless. He is a modern day skeptic who between the two ways to know love – emotional and carnal - chooses the latter. The three female leads, that of a prostitute, a school girl and a rich model are intricately used not only as love interests of our heroes but also to have the viewers chart a range of emotions. This film uses a rich ensemble of characters, stories and themes to aptly reflect the mood of urban India.Apurv has just started his college life in Delhi. To avoid the harsh hostel ragging, he spends a few nights in the city's red-light area. Here, he is introduced to Vaisali, an attractive but sharp-tongued prostitute. Apurv joins the hostel residents in a grand yet eerie celebration of the final day of ragging. He is introduced to the hostel's band-of-boys: Sanjay, a popular presidential candidate in the upcoming college elections, Sonu, an energetic loafer and a Sanjay loyalist, Deepak a visually-impaired hosteler with homosexual leanings, and Mark, an indophile American.Apurv, more relaxed now, begins to discover life in the hostel, college and neighbourhood. However, lectures in the college have little exciting to offer. He remains bored and pensive, and looks for a challenge that could make his life more exciting and meaningful. In the neighbourhood Apurv meets a school-going girl, Kintu whom he wants to befriend while she coquettishly remains noncommittal. He also continues his visits to Vaisali at the kotha. Apurv's major preoccupation is trying to find women he can love.In the background, rages the politics of college election complete with student gang wars and Sanjay's maneuvers for the presidential slot. Here enters Prerna Heerjawahar: a hot and rich girl with beauty crown aspirations. Sanjay's charismatic performance in a loud street fight ensures Prerna's fascination for Sanjay. Soon the ambitious duo becomes the odd pair on the campus.Meanwhile, Apurv has made a limited headway with Kintu – she will allow him to come along for a movie, share a cigarette and an odd kiss. Kintu's ex-boyfriend, Rajesh finds this unpalatable and beats Apurv up. Sanjay's gang avenges this. The same evening, Rajesh is dragged out of his house and brutally pulverized. Apurv can now deal with the 16-year old Kintu at peace. However, Kintu's mother with middle-class values intact ensures that the progress remains slow. Apurv's other interest, Vaisali has proved to be more than a handful. She remains brazen and offensive. Apurv decides to try seducing her into submission – taking it as a sign for a prostitute falling in love.At a party (-turned-orgy) at Prerna's farmhouse, Apurv hits it off with a new girl. The smooth seduction makes Sanjay admire the easy charm Apurv has with girls. The next day, sitting in an old monument, Sanjay challenges him, if he can have sex with 2 women on a single day. The quiet of the place and his own confidence prompts Apurv to say, "Yes, I can". Sanjay throws another bait, "Can you do 3 women in a day?" Apurv answers in negative, but now he has finally got a challenge he wants to live up to. The task carries both a visceral and a symbolic meaning for him. Apurv spends the rest of the film pursuing this goal. For Sanjay, the race for the college elections too has heated up. He is the top seeded candidate but has got two popular and powerful rivals to beat. The film now moves towards a volatile climax. For all the indulgence and decadence that Apurv thinks he can afford, someone now needs to pay a price.Love Story explores the very nature of friendship, male bonding, voyeurism, sexual perversion and love. This original screenplay full with realism and black humour shows the coming of age of not only a young man but also the social codes & mores of Delhi.

Simply a great film seen on Indian Screen. Thoroughly enjoyed the film even if it needs the patience to see what the story teller is trying to show case… he very deftly builds up several characters who go to university in delhi… they come from different background and want different things in life. The two hero are from two mentalities one is small towner and wants to be a politician in college other is this characters who rummages through life and just wants to fulfill one basic need – sex! A great creation of environment, and subtle drama… that is so missing on Indian cinema. what is amazing about your film is that many many things you don't see if you don't bother things behind actors & lines said by people - . what I love and thank you is you don't have to give a message there is a distinct feeling when movie ends that you want to go back and see it again. We discussed why did sanjay die, and would happened if sanjay had actually lived? Highly recommended guys! (and girls! – you will see girls here who are making their own minds on romance, sex and career….) - Abhinav Sekawariv