Film

Dostana

Name: Dostana
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance
Released: 2008
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Kirron Kher, Boman Irani

Other titles called Dostana: the 1980 film.

Comedy
Light-hearted

A Bollywood comedy about two straight men who pose as a gay couple to rent an apartment in Miami, then scramble when they both fall for their new roommate. It's fizzy, energetic, and genuinely funny—less interested in satirizing queerness than in exploiting the chaos of a shared lie. Built for audiences who love romantic confusion and don't mind broad comedy.

TMDb rating

3.1

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy big, bright Bollywood farce where a flimsy scheme snowballs into escalating set-pieces and sparring chemistry between three leads, and you don't mind a glossy romp.

Skip it if you find the central gag of pretending to be a couple wears thin over two-plus hours, or the broad jokes about gay men feel dated and easy.

What it asks of you: It runs just over two hours and twenty minutes, with a loud, quick tempo and constant mugging, so it wants your full attention rather than background noise.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Hitch2005

Will Smith as a dating coach who breaks his own rules when he falls hard. The same energy as Dostana—smart banter, glossy romance, watching someone's perfect plan collapse into genuine feeling.

But It's a studio rom-com from 2005, which means it's occasionally cheesy and the plot beats are exactly where you'd expect them.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge1995

The gold standard Bollywood romance about two people pretending to be someone they're not. Gorgeous, earnest, genuinely moving beneath the spectacle—the template that Dostana plays with.

But At nearly three hours, it moves slowly by modern standards, and some plot points require patience with '90s logic.

Pyaar Ke Side Effects2006

Rahul Khanna and Mallika Sherawat in a clever rom-com about a relationship and its complications. Sharp dialogue, real chemistry, and the same Mumbai-meets-modern-world sensibility as Dostana.

But It's a smaller film that flew under most people's radar, and the third act sags a little.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Dostana

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

C.R.A.Z.Y.2005

Both pivot on characters performing an identity for their family, but Dostana treats it as a romp while C.R.A.Z.Y. shows what that performance actually costs. Seeing the two films together rewires how you understand each one.

A French-Canadian coming-of-age film about a young man grappling with his sexuality in a conservative family. It takes the premise of hidden identity—the core of Dostana—and excavates real pain and love from it. Gorgeous, moving, structurally brilliant.

But It's a serious, intimate family drama in French. If you're looking for Dostana's lightness, this goes in the opposite direction entirely.

Cocktail2012

Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone in a stylish romance about two people living a lie. Slick production, international settings, emotional stakes beneath the glamour—the DNA you're already enjoying.

But It's trying very hard to be cosmopolitan, which sometimes reads as hollow, and the gender politics are rough.

De De Pyaar De2019

Ajay Devgn and Rakul Preet Singh in a modern rom-com about pretense and real feelings. Lighter and sharper than Dostana, but the same pleasure in watching people's plans crumble.

But It's determinedly mainstream and plays things very safe—nothing surprising, but nothing embarrassing either.

Happy-Go-Lucky2008

An underrated Bollywood romance with chemistry to burn and real wit. The kind of film that feels effortless—exactly what a good rom-com should be.

But It's obscure for good reason; it doesn't do anything revolutionary and doesn't need to, but that can feel slight.

Chungking Express1994

Both films compress strangers into tight spaces and mine romance from proximity and misunderstanding, but one is a Bollywood comedy and one is an art film. Same furniture, completely different rooms.

Wong Kar-wai's dreamy Hong Kong romance about two strangers in the same apartment building, each nursing a heartbreak. Visually intoxicating, melancholic, full of longing. The opposite of Dostana's energy but the same shape—people in close quarters discovering each other.

But It's slow, oblique, sometimes frustratingly vague. The '90s Hong Kong indie aesthetic is gorgeous but might read as precious.

I Want You1998

Where Dostana treats deception as a comedic game with rules, I Want You asks what happens when someone truly can't tell who another person is. Same setup; apocalyptic stakes instead of romantic ones.

A low-budget British indie thriller about obsession and mistaken identity. It has Dostana's playfulness with appearance and deception, but twists it into something genuinely unsettling. Daniel Craig before stardom, magnetic and dangerous. Utterly gripping.

But It's dark and paranoid in ways that will completely blind-side you if you expect another rom-com. The tone is icily English and deeply weird.