12 Comments
User's avatar
Ruhi's avatar

I loved this article and thank you for writing this line “But in DCH there is no higher external purpose in the film regarding the friendship, only a desire to waste time together, which is an important hallmark of any friendship, and to overcome loneliness together. “ my friendship during college years was all about wasting time together , guilt free - it was also when this movie released. Was such a perfect match.

Dev S's avatar

Great article! Also, the accompanying podcast is amazing! Believe it or not I had a similar PT teacher who after this movie declared “follow a person who is actually successful (Aamir Khan) and keep your hair short”. There is a scene in DCH in which Aamir Khan throws away a tennis racquet in anger. As a kid, that showed me a lot of privilege right there. Tennis was an aspirational sport, and it still is to some extent and in a typical home the racquet would be a prized possession.

Anwesha Bhagat's avatar

Loved the part that specified "women friendship"

Paper Plane Journal's avatar

I really enjoyed reading this article and I enjoyed the concept of escaping loneliness with friends. Especially guilt free which is in contrast with women.

Girish's avatar

There are a lot of nice insights in your piece, but the one below is what stayed with me. Not only for what it's saying overtly but what it also seems to be saying covertly about the times we live in.

"This is a particularly important reminder in our times, when cinema increasingly plays to the lowest common denominator of its audience, lowering its morality to match the existing morality of society so that people can feel reassured by the normalisation of their own worst instincts."

Shoaib Akhtar's avatar

When I watched it for the first time, I was blown away by its visual storytelling. The way the cinematographer captures the inner states of the characters through visuals and music is absolutely par excellence. The film centres around the idea of “bonds” and how time affects them, as well as the conflict between what you want to do and what you feel you should do.

It has a good mix of Bollywood melodrama and a mature understanding of how its characters are shaped. It is more like a character study for me than just a story about three friends navigating with their struggles. it shows how Akash evolves over time, and how he eventually believed in love and human bonds. he is shows kinda selfish at first then as he matures through conflicts he becomes more and more humble.

Working Title's avatar

One can almost say that DCH is a loserism propaganda film... (I forgot I'm not on Dhurandhar subreddit)

Mishranthropy's avatar

Do you not receive 6-digit OTPs?

Atmik Pandey's avatar

I think some beats of DCH are still relevant. The seriousness and a confused state of mind of Saif's character. The carefree mindset of Akshay's character, yet knowing that their friendship will scramble some day, and finally, the Amir Khan's character who is also carefree but is kind of moody, yet callous in terms of his friendship with other two initially.

These types of personalities will always be there, when it comes to friendship. Irrespective of time. These type of people will exist time immemorial.

Aditya Shardul's avatar

The movie was directed by Farhan Akhter, produced by Zoya Akhter, they showed their worldview in the movie while neglecting contemparary mood of Indian Cinema at that time. That's brave and honest filmmaking.

Anuvrat Bhansali's avatar

I never understood why I didn't have friends like that - only later I came to the realisation that I was brought up to think that wasting time was a sin - and if I did, I'll be left behind.

Shreyas S's avatar

was watching Shekhar Gupta on the print India yt which he had written on dil chahta hain on INDIAN EXPRESS ,similar thoughts