One last thing before I go

Dasvidaniya
Cast: Vinay Pathak, Sarita Joshi, Gaurav Gera
Director: Shashant Shah
Rating: **

About 10 minutes into Dasvidaniya we learn that Amar Kaul (Vinay Pathak), a 37-year-old unmarried accounts manager who loves making to-do lists and still lives with mother, is dying.

It’s really not long enough for the audience to feel great sympathy for the character, but in the ensuing arduous minutes to come, we journey with Amar as he adds and scratches off items from his ‘things to do before I die’ list. The list includes a trip abroad, reconciling with an estranged brother (Gaurav Gera) and learning to play the guitar.

With elements borrowed from the Morgan Freeman- Jack Nicholson-starrer, The Bucket List, Dasvidaniya is about Amar’s last hurrah.

It is offers the message of living life to the fullest and fulfilling your dreams through a series of vignettes as Amar goes down the page, checking off his wish list. However, while some of the segments have emotional moments (like the dumb charades scenes in the rain with Neha Dhupia or the bond between brothers and mother), others do not hit the high notes leaving you unmoved and untouched.

Be certain that this is not Vinay Pathak reprising his role in Bheja Fry or even the Great Indian Comedy Show (though you would be forgiven for thinking so, since all the actors from the show do make an appearance).

But it is a full-blown showcase for him as he occupies nearly every frame of the film, barring the last one minute. But this is one of the flaws in Arshad Syed’s story and screenplay — the absence of a second voice or presence, even a narrator, is sorely missed. Pathak’s act varies from benign to pleasant.

Director, Shashant Shah, is ably supported by commendable camerawork, production design and art direction, and by a supporting cast that infuses life into otherwise static proceedings. Neha Dhupia adds spark as Amar’s childhood friend, and Gaurav Gera makes a late entry, but leaves a lasting impression as Amar’s younger brother, Vivek. But what was Ranvir Shorey up to in that hideous wig?

The film is letdown by a listless screenplay, stilted emotional graph, plodding pace and predominance of one actor throughout.