A Sweet & Emotional Film With Weak Storytelling

RATING – ⭐ ⭐ ✨ 2.5/5*

Dil Dosti Aur Dogs Review Movie Review:

When you see (or have seen) Charlie Chaplin’s cult classic A Dog’s Life (1918) and Stevenson’s timeless Old Yeller (1957), you know there is nothing in this world that can ever match these two movies when it comes to films based on dogs and pets. Today’s movie buffs have 777 Charlie to finish a whole box of tissues, but for me, A Dog’s Life, Old Yeller and Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (2009) have done that long ago. It isn’t that the films made after these three are bad, but it’s about the impact of being first and time-bound relevance. Viral Shah blends multiple formulas to craft a contemporary story centered on dogs and their significance in human lives with Dil Dosti Aur Dogs. Although the film has some sweet moments that you will cherish and emotional scenes that leave you in tears, it suffers from weak storytelling and an outdated vision.

Dil Dosti Aur Dogs story:

The film narrates the stories of several characters, each with a pet dog in their lives, to explore how human character and relationships can change with the arrival or departure of these animals. A couple experiencing a tough phase in their marriage adopts a female dog. They have struggled to conceive in the past, but this dog gets pregnant and brings them “that” happiness. A hotel manager insults a dog, leading to his drowning, and then he tries to rectify his wrongdoing by being nice to the same pet. Meanwhile, he falls in love with the owner of an adoption house. There is a little girl, acting above her age and somewhat odd, who has lost her dog and is searching for him. She struggles with her stepfather, but this search operation helps them come closer. There is also a dog smuggling racket in the mix. Lastly, we have a drunken old lady trying to overcome her traumatic past, who takes in a stray dog that transforms her life completely. Her newfound happiness is shattered by the realization that her dog has grown old and won’t be with her forever. All these characters are set against the backdrop of Goa, where they often cross paths, creating an interwoven narrative filled with love, friendship, and dogs.

Dil Dosti Aur Dogs Movie Review:

The film will undoubtedly leave you sobbing at least four to five times, and you will want to like it. However, some childish scenes and an immature vision of storytelling may make you wish to hate it at times. I caught myself thinking, “Why on earth was that scene necessary?” I must have said it around ten times. Remove those ten scenes, and Dil Dosti Aur Dogs would appear so much better and more beautiful. Why create a cinematic drawback for every scene? Why is there an action scene in the climax? Why must small things be exaggerated? Why is love portrayed as so complicated, and if you choose to do so, then avoid making it dramatic and refrain from peddling those preachy reconciliations and realizations that have become stale over the decades? The film is so absurd at times that I couldn’t resist the urge to fast forward and skip parts of the show.

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Dil Dosti Aur Dogs Cast:

Thanks to the poor arrangement of the screener, with the watermark “preview content” appearing large and bold in the middle of the screen, I couldn’t see half the faces and their expressions. Now, I have to review the performances, guys. Frankly, I can’t, because half the time I couldn’t see their faces, expressions, and lip syncing. Yet, I’ll try. Neena Gupta’s character was dumb, but she, as an actress, wasn’t. Sharad Kelkar appeared sidelined at the beginning but soon grasped the character. Tridha Choudhury looks cute, and that silly baby-boo romance with Ehan Bhatt will be loved by young audiences. Tinnu Anand hasn’t had enough screen time; Kunaal Roy Kapur, Masumeh Makhija was okay, and the real-life couple, Keerti Kelkar and her husband, along with the little one, shared good chemistry. The best performers in the film are the dogs because they aren’t acting. They are just being natural, which is really adorable.

Dil Dosti Aur Dogs has dil (heart) in the right place, a sufficient amount of dosti (friendship), and plenty of dogs, but it lacks cinematic intelligence. The technical aspects are on the lower side, with cinematography and editing being slightly better. The music is situational and doesn’t work very well. Viral Shah’s film has heart and soul but lacks a healthy body. Dil Dosti Aur Dogs is still very much watchable for those sweet moments you can cherish, but it isn’t intellectual or philosophical enough, as it should have been. The previously mentioned films will teach you a lot about life and a dog’s honesty; however, this film fails to make a solid point because it focuses on too many things at once. In that chaos, the high potential is lost, and so is the film. Nonetheless, there are a few moments that you simply can’t miss.