Movie: Dosth

Director: S.A.Chandrasekharan
Cast: Sharat Kumar, Abhirami, Raghuvaran, Prakashraj, Indu, Nizhagal Ravi.

Imitation is the best form of flattery, they say. So, when a Tamil film turns out to be almost a frame-by-frame copy of a Hollywood film, following faithfully the incidents, sequences and even the artwork of the original, what can one say, except that the director is only expressing his admiration for the original.

A wealthy widower Vishwa, his little daughter Nila, his best friends Raghu and Raghu's wife Gauri make a cosy foursome, till Vishwa's world comes crashing down. Vishwa and Raghu decide to have a day out and set off on a boat. Vishwa wakes up in the morning to find Raghu missing, a bloodstained knife on the deck, and he hauled up as the chief suspect for Raghu's murder. Undergoing a seven-year jail sentence, Vishwa learns to his shock that Raghu was very much alive and that Nila was with him. Vishwa jumps prison and follows Raghu's trail to Goa where Raghu was now a respectful hotel owner.

He learns that Raghu had pre-planned the whole show to get his hands on some insurance money. He had used Vishwa as a pawn and killed his own wife Gauri when she refused to co-operate. With the cop now on his side, Vishwa gets his daughter back and finally kills Raghu. The question whether a man can be convicted twice for the same crime, is raised. A big question mark appears on the screen, but then the director decides to give his own answer by showing Vishwa and his daughter, happy and enjoying each other's company. 

The motive for Raghu's action is not very convincingly told in the plot. The killing of Raghu reminds one of the director's earlier films - 'Sattam Oru Iruttu Arai'. Abhirami's character is added for the romance-glamour value. Though the actress has played her part well, there is no significant role as such to the main story. Prakashraj, with his tendency to overplay, makes a mockery of the character of the cop, sent out to catch the fugitive. Sharat and Raghuvaran come out well in a scene, in the boat, where Raghuvaran throws bizarre accusations at Sharat, and Sharat taking it sportingly laughs it off.

The director seems to have lost his touch and his originality. 'Dosth' is a badly made version of 'Double Jeopardy', and it is quite embarrassing watching the film.