Dostana (2008)

Podcast Episode Description:

🎬 Gay Flirting, Devious Roommates, and Bollywood Shenanigans in Dostana! 🎬

In this episode of Fear of Stairs: Desi Films Decoded, get ready for a hilarious dive into one of Bollywood's most iconic rom-coms, Dostana! Spoiler alert: It's a wild ride where two hetero dudes pretend to be gay to snag a fabulous apartment—and the chaos that follows is chef's kiss. 🍌

Join us as we chat about:

・The mind-blowing goofiness of two guys believing they can woo Priyanka Chopra by pretending to be gay

・The heart-pounding drama of manipulating kids to ruin relationships—yes, things get dark

・Why John Abraham’s abs deserve an award (we’re not biased, promise)

・The outrageous fashion moments that shook the Indian sartorial scene to its glittery core

Whether you’re new to Bollywood or a longtime fan, we're breaking down this madness with humor, sass, and lots of WTF moments.

Grab your popcorn, hit play, and join us in dissecting if Dostana is a must-watch classic or just a crazy fever dream.

🎧 Listen now and let's dive into this Bollywood extravaganza, a delight with each funny twist and eyebrow-raising turn. 🎧

Episode Transcript

Adam (00:00):
Do you know Kirk Cameron?
He was like a Christian actor.
He was in Growing Pains and stuff.
He used the banana as an example of why God's real.
Because the banana is

Winnie (00:12):
perfectly held

Adam (00:13):
in the hand and it peels off.
And how could...
obviously God exists
because how would this banana be so perfect
otherwise?

Winnie (00:22):
That's what she said.

Adam (00:23):
Well, yeah, but also like, okay,
coconuts, pineapples,
all the other fruit,
and that banana we made,
that's not like a real banana.

Winnie (00:32):
It's handheld.
Yeah, when you think about it, it's perfectly handheld.

Adam (00:35):
Because we made it genetically
like that. It's us,

Khilli (00:38):
not God.

Winnie (00:39):
I think influence came from humankind.
That's why it suits humankind.
That's why it's

Khilli (00:43):
true that human
exists.

Winnie (00:45):
God doesn't.

Khilli (00:46):
God didn't

Winnie (00:47):
make banana.

Khilli (00:47):
We

Adam (00:48):
made beer.
Whoever made banana

Khilli (00:51):
is God.
God made mangoes though.
But

Adam (00:54):
it's not that easy to eat.
But

Winnie (00:56):
maybe God made bananas as like
a way to practice things.
Thank you.
Welcome to Fair of Stairs, Desi Films Decoded, the podcast where four friends from different backgrounds unlock the world of Desi cinema.

(01:21):
I'm Winnie, the Desi who's never been to India.

Khilli (01:23):
Hey, I'm Kili. I'm from India, yes, and I love films.

Nicky (01:30):
My name is Nikki, and I'm not good at pretending to be someone I'm not.

Adam (01:36):
I'm Adam
and I'm from America
and this week I learned
that India made
the most progressive gay film I've ever
seen in my life

Winnie (01:48):
that's a stretch
from this time period
probably like the only gay film as well
this was probably one of the first
mainstream gay films

Adam (01:58):
in India?

Khilli (02:00):
yes

Adam (02:01):
I've never seen a movie
avoid so many landmines
and just like
I

Khilli (02:07):
mean come on
like I was watching
like drift swiftly
through it

Winnie (02:10):
yeah the execution
was beautiful

Khilli (02:12):
it was like

Adam (02:13):
mission
like Tom Cruise
avoiding lasers
of all the things

Khilli (02:16):
that could like

Adam (02:17):
cancel this movie
and they avoided it

Khilli (02:19):
and then like
stayed real
kind of relevant
for like still today
I think it would not
be looked down upon much
like

Winnie (02:26):
people cannot

Khilli (02:26):
find
like fault lines much
apart from

Winnie (02:29):
a few

Khilli (02:29):
but like
barely

Winnie (02:31):
anything
so any guesses
on what this movie is

Adam (02:34):
If you've read the title, you're right.

Nicky (02:38):
Vicky,

Adam (02:38):
what is it?

Nicky (02:39):
It's the Stana.
It's apparently a very influential movie
when it comes to
talking about homosexuality.
uh it's 2008 film

Adam (02:51):
this movie is softcore porn as well

Winnie (02:54):
oh not really uh i felt pretty turned on
like is it because supriyanka chopra no all

Adam (03:00):
of them

Nicky (03:00):
everyone like

Adam (03:01):
john

Winnie (03:02):
abraham is super hot that is
true um

Adam (03:06):
Yeah, the woman.

Winnie (03:07):
Priyanka Chopra.

Adam (03:08):
I mean,

Winnie (03:09):
Priyanka Chopra Jonas now.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, that's her.
Okay,
cool.

Adam (03:14):
Got it.
Got it.
Yeah, she's gorgeous.
But no, there's like a ton of revealing clothes.
They're in America.
They're in Florida.

Winnie (03:20):
So I think they have more of an excuse to

Adam (03:22):
show off skin and stuff.
And they do.
And it's just all glamour shots.
It's like, yeah, pretty.
Softcore porn for guys and girls.

Nicky (03:31):
Yeah.
In this movie, it stars people we've already seen in past episodes.
We have Abhishek Bakchan as Sam, who's a nurse.
And then the other guy is John Abraham, the hottest man alive.

Winnie (03:49):
For sure.
Agreed.
The hottest man alive.

Nicky (03:52):
As some fashion photographer in his rock hard abs.
Yeah.
And then we have Priyanka Chopra, who's.

Winnie (03:58):
come on no enthusiasm
look at that

Nicky (04:02):
wow
I turned gay for like
two hours

Winnie (04:05):
watching this movie

Adam (04:07):
same I like looked
into John Abraham's

Khilli (04:09):
life and career
afterwards I was like this guy
huge gay propaganda film

Adam (04:14):
it's the same cast as Doom
it has Abishak and John Abraham
But it has the same exact problem as Doom where you don't understand why Abhishek is in the film. He offers nothing. He brings nothing. And next to John Abraham, you're like, well, okay, obviously, there's no love triangle. Obviously, he's better looking. He's cooler. He's funnier. He's a better actor.

(04:37):
uh abhishek can abby suck my dick

Winnie (04:39):
oh wow you heard that

Adam (04:42):
right here john abraham forever

Nicky (04:46):
i

Winnie (04:47):
think abhishek was like the starring though like i think the movie like it was his role and abraham joined after and
He definitely had, like, the star.
I feel like it was very much the movie was trying to push him as a leading role.
And John Abraham as, like, supporting actor.
Which is, I think, what happened in Doom also.
But just because of, like, presence alone, John Abraham takes up a lot more.

(05:08):
You know, like, some of

Adam (05:09):
the...
I think Doom was John Abraham's first role.
And so that's why he was, like, second built.
But now, in this...
Yeah, come on.

Khilli (05:19):
I think story-wise, both has equal weightage, equal screen time.
No, like Abishak was nominated

Winnie (05:26):
for the best actor.
It was not John Abraham for this movie.
Okay.
Yeah.

Adam (05:32):
But realistically, looking at this scenario, Abishak, who plays a nurse and nothing wrong with that.

Winnie (05:39):
Wait, wait, can we talk about why?
Maybe that's too soon, but why is he a nurse?
Yeah.

Nicky (05:44):
to give sponge baths to women.
Exactly.

Winnie (05:47):
Exactly.
That was literally his rationale.

Nicky (05:55):
It was like a porn parody waiting to happen.
Yeah, I

Winnie (05:59):
just

Adam (05:59):
sponge bath hot babes all day.
I

Winnie (06:02):
don't do that to

Adam (06:03):
the elderly at all.
I don't wipe old people's assholes.
I just sponge bath really hot women

Khilli (06:09):
all day.
I think that that encourages him so much.
He can do the other things.

Adam (06:16):
Like.
Like cleaning

Khilli (06:17):
the ass all over other people.
But

Adam (06:18):
that's so weird to get into nursing.
Because you can like.

Winnie (06:22):
Right.
Because in the scene it's like an old man in the hospital bed.
Asking why he didn't just suddenly become a doctor.
It's just a few more years.
and then you see like a hot lady show up
and be like nurse I'm ready for my bath
it's completely out of a

Adam (06:34):
porno
doctors don't see that
normally
just nurses get the hot hot
action

Winnie (06:43):
it's a gay
archetype
that they're going for right
he's a nurse
Oh, man.
Look at my bias showing.
Is that gay people occupation?
No, based on social conditioning and
gendered profession.

Khilli (07:03):
Nursing is gendered.
So people...
It's like...
Doctor, like when you say doctor, people would say he without

Adam (07:09):
knowing.

Winnie (07:10):
And

Adam (07:10):
then

Khilli (07:10):
for nurse, it would be she without knowing.
Breaking that down,

Adam (07:14):
but step by step.
But even the movie didn't make fun of him too much.

Khilli (07:18):
No,

Adam (07:18):
which was nice.
They're like, no, it's cool.
He's a pervert.

Winnie (07:21):
He's fine

Khilli (07:21):
as a nurse.
And you're

Winnie (07:22):
like, okay.

Adam (07:23):
Yeah.
The movie didn't make fun of nurses.

Winnie (07:26):
And it didn't stretch

Adam (07:27):
that too much.
But the

Winnie (07:29):
love triangle also was not that strong.
Because Priyanka Chopra had another love interest the whole time.
Played by Bobby Deol.
I remember reading an article about this movie.
And the person, the blogger, was just like...
This movie tried to convince me that Bobby Deol is...
hot and it's not working

Nicky (07:44):
yeah

Winnie (07:45):
it wasn't working for me i didn't

Nicky (07:47):
buy that it gave me he gave me dumb
that energy i'll get into

Adam (07:50):
that it's like him

Winnie (07:51):
with priyanka really it didn't it

Adam (07:54):
didn't match up and
it's your boss and

Winnie (07:56):
he's being weird

Adam (07:57):
and

Winnie (07:57):
nothing and you have john abraham right there

Adam (08:00):
like really

Khilli (08:01):
yeah really priyanka is not going for like hotness only
But

Winnie (08:06):
he doesn't have much

Adam (08:07):
personality

Winnie (08:08):
either.
We can get

Adam (08:09):
into it later.
But

Winnie (08:10):
again,

Adam (08:10):
John Abraham's right there.

Winnie (08:12):
Right.
Argument over.

Adam (08:14):
Anyways, yeah.
We promise we're going to try to keep the length of the episodes a little shorter because
the one feedback you like to hear for a podcast is talk less.
So we've heard you loud and clear.
We're going to try to make it so it fits your gym exercise.

(08:35):
Okay.
All right.
Thank you.
So Nikki, what's the setup of this movie?

Nicky (08:38):
It's set in Miami of all places.
And you have these like two bachelors who are just like sleeping around with women.
One's a nurse.
One's a fashion photographer as we've already established.
And they're like apartment hunting.
and they basically pair up to go look for this apartment,

(09:00):
and then they manage to find one available apartment,
but then they learn that the conditions to live there
is that there's no men allowed,
and Priyanka Chopra's character is living in there.
So they have this funny little idea that they would be like,
hey, why don't we just be gay and call ourselves a couple?

(09:23):
and see how it works.

Adam (09:25):
I also want to mention, because she'll come up later,
the anti-character.

Nicky (09:29):
The anti-character, yes.
She was the one that was the liaison
for the apartment, I guess.
She has this very...
I don't know the right word, like, narrow-minded view.
I mean, we'll get that a lot.
We get that a lot in this movie with, like, the elderly characters,

(09:51):
like the mom and the auntie.
They have, like, this view of how gays should be like
or, like, how people should.
you know society roles i don't know i don't know where i'm going

Khilli (10:03):
like the stereotyping gay people
i think they were like very very older conservative stereotyping of gay people like how they would do
and then like kind of a condescending way of looking at them yeah that that that auntie
auntie was doing that yeah a lot but

Adam (10:20):
the movie is the most mean to auntie

Khilli (10:23):
like
yeah the

Adam (10:24):
movie hates that character the most

Winnie (10:26):
and they like

Adam (10:27):
constantly make fun of her and they
look down on her for being

Winnie (10:30):
kind of bigoted and conservative

Adam (10:32):
and stuff and and she's the
she's the uh

Winnie (10:36):
part of the joke

Adam (10:36):
she's the but the joke instead of the gay people

Winnie (10:39):
it's her for being
kind of

Nicky (10:41):
like old

Adam (10:41):
and bigoted which is good yeah

Nicky (10:43):
yeah there were
there were a lot of things
like you know
they kept imagining
fantasizing her
there were like
a few fantasy themes
where like she's like
dressed as Marilyn Monroe
at one point

Winnie (10:51):
oh my gosh
yeah
or

Nicky (10:53):
like she was
she and her like
party girls
they like
touched
Abhishek's character
all over the place

Khilli (11:13):
like

Adam (11:01):
Yeah, she's a horrible,

Nicky (11:03):
assaulting person.

Khilli (11:05):
Even though to do that with the mother, like her part, like her sensible part is when she's sensible and then her, like when she's like hating the idea that her son is gay.
she's caricatured
a lot
a lot

Winnie (11:19):
like

Khilli (11:20):
her
all the actions
are

Winnie (11:21):
caricatured
but I think her
character played
like a very big
part of the movie
in showing that
kind of progressive
elements of
acceptance from a
parent
because by the end
of the film
she accepts her
son as gay

Adam (11:31):
and loves him
no matter what

Winnie (11:47):
and

Adam (11:33):
Yeah, the mom does a big

Winnie (11:35):
character

Adam (11:36):
arc.
Right, right.
It comes around.
And

Winnie (11:39):
she's like the mom in every...
I don't know if you guys have started recognizing her by now,
but she's the mom in

Nicky (11:43):
almost all.

Winnie (11:45):
She's like the mother of Bollywood, it feels like.

Nicky (11:47):
I picked that up when she starts laughing in.
think about your mother and her old age or whatever

Winnie (11:55):
ptsc triggered all the times you've
seen her slapping other
yeah you were
always like

Khilli (12:01):
the first thing like she was saying like
you were always always like that since your dad father died and it's like my father died when i
was two years

Winnie (12:09):
old i think it

Khilli (12:13):
was harder to write a father character to come around maybe
yeah

Winnie (12:18):
maybe

Khilli (12:20):
like needed
needed

Winnie (12:20):
more scene
to pour

Khilli (12:22):
her character
and

Winnie (12:23):
maybe it would have
like caused more backlash
they're like
one step at a time
let's let the mother
accept it for

Khilli (12:27):
this
then

Winnie (12:28):
that is a whole
another battle
that's how it happens

Khilli (12:30):
in Indian Housel
many times
like first you have to
like convince you
most of the time
I'm not

Winnie (12:35):
saying all the time

Khilli (12:35):
but the
You have to convince your mother first.

Winnie (12:38):
Most probably

Khilli (12:39):
she would understand first.
And then it goes to the father.
And
I've met quite a few Indian men who are progressive, liberal to some degree.

Winnie (12:46):
But then when it comes to gay, they'll be like,
Yeah, it's okay. I'm fine with people being gay.
But I wouldn't want my son to be gay.
And I think that's still a very common
belief to
hold.
I've heard very deep.

Nicky (12:56):
Yeah.
So I think one of the things that the film spares no time in trying to show us is that
Our two men are pretty hot.
Like in the

Winnie (13:07):
first opening

Nicky (13:08):
scene, they have like raw, hard abs.
They dress very stylishly.
I'll just use the word stylishly.
You know, they drive like fast cars.
A lot of women are all over them.

Adam (13:20):
You make big money as a nurse and a photographer.

Winnie (13:33):
Yeah.

Adam (13:24):
If you got it, flaunt it.

Khilli (13:25):
How much would a nurse make in Miami?

Winnie (13:28):
It's actually, well, I'd say

Khilli (13:30):
$40,000,

Winnie (13:31):
$50,000
$50,000 a year
at least.

Khilli (13:34):
So he's spending

Adam (13:34):
half his
money on rent. Yeah, $50

Khilli (13:37):
,000
I thought like

Winnie (13:38):
maybe

Nicky (13:52):
$50,000.

Adam (13:40):
he's being very irresponsible with his money.

Winnie (13:42):
Photographer is probably less paid.
Way less.

Adam (13:46):
So they get the apartment
and they live in separate rooms.
Yeah.

Winnie (13:51):
Before I get there,

Nicky (13:52):
I just want to point out
how they got the idea to be gay.
Oh,

Winnie (13:56):
yeah.
They went down

Nicky (13:57):
to get hot dogs.

Winnie (13:59):
Of course, hot dogs.
The person

Nicky (14:01):
next to them was like,
a really a really stereotypical homosexual soldier

Adam (14:07):
yeah that was so weird that it's a soldier it was

Nicky (14:11):
so weird like to me i just broke out laughing the moment he popped in like he was he was like crying
and talking and it's like weird and
like stereotypical like inflection and he talked about how like oh my boyfriend got sent off to
iraq and we we had a good life in afghanistan i

Adam (14:28):
don't i don't know that was weird to me it was
so weird that he's in the american military because they famously don't like gay people

Nicky (14:36):
don't ask don't tell right yeah like they

Adam (14:38):
just told you to hide it they wouldn't have been able
to be in like an open relationship at the time i don't know why and it's miami miami like it's
all gay people
doing any other job.
Be a hairstylist, dog walker.

Winnie (14:53):
It's like if you want to feel like you're in Miami,
here's a vet for you
just to remind you that you're in America.
No,

Khilli (14:59):
but I think...
Wait, there is no gay people
in the army?
There is

Adam (15:04):
tons.

Winnie (15:07):
But

Adam (15:07):
at the time,
they weren't allowed to talk about it.

Khilli (15:10):
Oh.
That's a video.
But he's a veteran, is it?
Or he's still in the...
Was he in uniform?
Even still,

Winnie (15:16):
there's

Adam (15:17):
no stereotype of gay military people at the time, you know?

Winnie (15:21):
Like, it's

Adam (15:22):
just...
It's weird.

Winnie (15:23):
But this movie's progressive for these things.
Super progressive.

Adam (15:26):
And they see the hot dogs and they're like,
Hey, we have dicks that look like that.
Why don't we pretend to suck each other's...
Like, the hot dog we're about to eat.

Winnie (15:35):
yep and that's exactly what they did
and they lived happily ever after

Adam (15:39):
this is so much better

Nicky (15:41):
yeah they managed to convince the auntie
right and then like
they

Adam (15:45):
have to 69 each other in front of auntie
for her to believe it

Nicky (15:52):
and then like they so they even had to like cook up a story about how like
they met each other in venice and you have like this very like which is

Winnie (16:01):
cheesy encounter

Adam (16:03):
they just wanted a film in venice yeah it was keijo being like let's go to venice there's no reason

Nicky (16:09):
And they were like doing like the most like, you know, like they were doing like these feminine gestures and dancing.

Khilli (16:15):
Yeah.

Winnie (16:16):
In the most

Nicky (16:17):
stereotypical fashion.

Winnie (16:18):
I don't know how else to put it.

Khilli (16:20):
I think Abhishek was being like more effeminate and right.
Yeah.
And then John was being like the like more duty.
Yeah.
Reserve.
They were trying

Winnie (16:32):
that stereotype.

Adam (16:34):
Who's the top and who's the bottom?

Winnie (16:38):
Yeah.
yeah what's your guess
actually that's a good question
I

Adam (16:39):
guess

Nicky (16:40):
John Abraham
stop the top
yeah that's the stereotype that's what I would assume

Khilli (16:46):
in my fantasy
he's the top

Winnie (16:49):
to me Abhishek is the top
why

Khilli (16:53):
explain

Winnie (17:06):
I

Adam (16:56):
No one's gay in this room, so we're all gonna...
So go into why you think he's a top.
Just

Winnie (17:01):
the vibes.
I guess he had...
Like I told you, I felt like when watching the movie,
they tried to push him to the front a bit more.
He had a bit more of a leading persona.
And also, I feel like John Abraham's like this really hot guy
that someone like Abishek would keep around as his, like, you know,
side piece
or something.

Adam (17:18):
I

Winnie (17:19):
feel like I was like...

Adam (17:21):
Do you think...
Can you imagine...

Winnie (17:25):
he's like a trophy wife like basically right but

Adam (17:28):
could you imagine

Winnie (17:29):
john abraham like

Adam (17:30):
taking it from
behind like that i just don't really see that in my head i mean he's the hotter person he's a hotter
person right so i feel well but i just don't think he would do that

Nicky (17:41):
i'm may i remind you there was a
scene in the the the women's changing room and it was abby shank i was getting

Adam (17:54):
um

Nicky (17:48):
Getting drilled from behind.
That's true.
Allegedly.
What?

Adam (17:51):
Oh, yeah.
In the dressing

Nicky (17:53):
room, they were like...

Adam (17:54):
Oh, jeez.
Yeah, the filmmakers

Khilli (17:55):
wanted us to see John as top and Abhishek as bottom.

Winnie (18:01):
Maybe women just wanted to see

Khilli (18:02):
Abraham.
Yeah.
So that's why the film works.
Oh, babe.
What

Adam (18:05):
was that?

Khilli (18:07):
yeah

Winnie (18:07):
for sure yeah

Khilli (18:08):
so

Adam (18:09):
they they come to the condo they pretend they're gay but they live in separate
rooms which never raises a question

Winnie (18:15):
yeah exactly priyanka is just like all right you know like
how is that not a concern

Khilli (18:22):
what that

Winnie (18:23):
they live in separate rooms if um like if a male and female
couple came and did that you'd probably be like what's going on you have relationship issues

Nicky (18:31):
Well, this is a bit of a reach, but I know that there are couples out there who sleep in separate rooms.

Winnie (18:36):
Maybe after like 10 years, you know, when you're like married and you say,

Nicky (18:39):
I'm sick of your

Khilli (18:40):
snoring.
I like to like have different room.

Nicky (18:43):
Oh, there you go.

Winnie (18:44):
All right.

Nicky (18:45):
Myth is spelled.

Winnie (18:47):
Okay.

Nicky (18:47):
Gay people, they're just like

Winnie (18:49):
us.

Adam (18:51):
Comes in all

Khilli (18:52):
colors and varieties.
Does Niha

Adam (18:54):
live with them?

Winnie (19:01):
Yeah.

Adam (18:56):
in this condo so it's three bedrooms
right it's a three bedroom
they

Winnie (19:01):
never

Khilli (19:02):
showed her bedroom
they never

Adam (19:03):
show her bedroom

Winnie (19:05):
she's always on the couch

Adam (19:07):
and we see their two
because we know the layout and they have like a shared bathroom
they talk about that a lot
but we never see her room
or if she has a private bathroom or anything

Khilli (19:17):
yeah was it a condo

Adam (19:19):
like in

Khilli (19:20):
a bigger building it was beautiful it

Winnie (19:21):
had like a massive kind of like
window with a balcony

Khilli (19:24):
yeah outlook

Winnie (19:26):
like a nice view

Khilli (19:27):
she

Winnie (19:28):
had a pool yeah yeah

Khilli (19:29):
do the nurses in
miami afford to live like that we just talked about that

Adam (19:46):
uh
One thing, I like her reason for renting out the condo, which was like, yeah, I bought it.
And then the bank started asking for money.
So now I need to do something about that.
It's like, what the

Winnie (19:48):
fuck?

Adam (19:49):
How did you think this would work?
Where did you think the money would come from?
Or do you know how buying things work?
She's like, yeah, I just randomly bought this.
And now I have to pay it back.
So she rents

Khilli (20:03):
it out.
I think it was kind of a portrait that she comes from money.

Adam (20:05):
Yeah.
And then

Khilli (20:06):
she doesn't give a...
It's like an afterthought of buying a property.
If it's an afterthought of the how are you going to pay for your property or buying,
then you're probably like super rich.
Of course.

Nicky (20:17):
Of course.
And you know, they fall in love with Neha, right?
They're attracted to her.
And how do we know this?
Because they keep checking out her ass.
There's a

Winnie (20:24):
lot of ass

Nicky (20:25):
shots in that movie.
It was like she bends down and...

Winnie (20:30):
Yeah, while Priyanka's wearing a lot of revealing clothing and they're

Adam (20:34):
slowly

Winnie (20:35):
falling in love.

Adam (20:36):
Very revealing.

Nicky (20:37):
So we get this montage of them spending time together, bonding over their friendship.
They go to the beach.
They check

Adam (20:46):
Priyanka out.

Nicky (20:48):
They go shopping.
They drive through the...
In a pink Cadillac.
I don't know if you remember that.
There's always a pink Cadillac in the movie.
Two straight guys pretending to be gay.

Winnie (20:58):
You guys remember the golden swimsuit that Priyanka wore

Nicky (21:00):
when she was on

Winnie (21:01):
the beach?
That also became iconic.
That outfit and the Desi Girls Zari.
I think those were like...
This movie had a massive influence on fashion.

Nicky (21:14):
Yeah.

Winnie (21:12):
But
then it holds

Nicky (21:13):
up.
It really does.
So tell me, Winnie, before the standout, there was never a shot of a girl walking in an iconic outfit or anything?
It just starts from there?

Winnie (21:27):
I don't know.
Maybe Kili can talk about how provocative this was in that time.
But I think Priyanka was an up-and-coming artist.
She was kind of seen for her sex factor.
So...
This movie, I know for saris, I think it definitely like set off another fashion in saris where you just wear the bikini top and the sari on top and
with the glittery
and stuff that set off a whole sari fashion bikinis.

(21:49):
It's a good look.
Was it like
very groundbreaking at the time, Kili?

Khilli (21:53):
No, like we already started watching films that had like very revealing clothing.

Winnie (21:58):
There were like

Khilli (21:59):
certain films which have that kind of costume.
And then there will be certain films that will not have.
So the costume designer was Manish Malhotra and Aki Narula.
I know this guy Manish Malhotra.
I mean, he was like a very big fashion designer for...
celebrities and also films uh and then i think she he designed the costume for priyanka

Winnie (22:21):
and

Khilli (22:22):
the
other guy aki he designed for everyone else so manish was like this all glittery glamour

Winnie (22:28):
kind of

Khilli (22:29):
yeah so i think he brings out that side of
the fashion he comes up with that fashion

Winnie (22:34):
and it's

Khilli (22:35):
kind of a trendsetter yeah but in terms of
revealing it was it was already yeah we were already seeing and

Adam (22:41):
it was okay fine yeah but it
feels like a like sports illustrated swimsuit edition

Khilli (22:46):
movie yeah yeah

Adam (22:48):
it's just skin everywhere
like just hot people showing skin the entire movie

Winnie (22:54):
but

Nicky (22:55):
like we like Winnie said the the fashion in
this movie is quite influential you see all the characters they are
there's a lot of style to it.
Every shot you see.

Winnie (23:05):
And Abhishek and John Raham
for not being gay
was still just very gay.
Do you guys remember
with the scarf
that they had tied around,
the sweater?
I don't know if that was

Adam (23:15):
intentional or not,

Nicky (23:30):
but...

Adam (23:17):
They fit like that.
They look super gay.
I mean, they have sashes and yeah, they're like unbuttoning their shirts and stuff.
Yeah.
I just

Nicky (23:25):
think of like the Ritik in Kabi Kushi Kabigam when he was like wearing like sleeveless shirts.

Winnie (23:32):
Yeah.
There

Nicky (23:33):
was that reporter that said like, hey, you know, you look kind of like she didn't
she didn't outright say it, but like he looks kind of feminine.
It's that it reminds me of that.
There's a lot of like.

Khilli (23:44):
Yeah.
Uh.

Winnie (23:46):
which is basically like karan johar influence you could say it's always his movies like

Adam (23:51):
what a dream
if you could just dress up these guys as gay guys and get away with it like barbie dolls

Winnie (23:56):
yeah exactly

Adam (23:57):
you

Khilli (23:58):
guys remember the discussion during dhoom like how they were like so
they felt like they should like start kissing each other
Yeah, so I think this is like a script written after watching Dhoom.
Like, okay, cause those two guys.

Winnie (24:11):
It's fan fiction.
It's fan fiction.

Adam (24:14):
What if they lived together?
Yeah.

Khilli (24:17):
You see, they said like in some other life,
who could have been like good friends while...
Like before killing himself, John says like in some other life, we could have been really good friends.
So that's what Devstana is.

Adam (24:29):
For sure.
This is like an alternate universe where

Khilli (24:32):
they make

Winnie (24:33):
out

Adam (24:33):
instead of fight with

Khilli (24:35):
each other.
Yeah,

Adam (24:36):
exactly.
This is like a girl's fantasy land too though, right?
Like living with two hot dudes.

Winnie (24:52):
Yeah.

Adam (24:42):
i know but which

Winnie (24:43):
is funny right because priyanka gets stressed about it when she finds out they're
both in love with her and i'm like wow what a terrible situation to be in like two hot guys
okay one average guy and one really hot guy is in love with you i think

Khilli (24:57):
they were like equidistant
to her so she cannot choose and pick at that point and she already kind of started seeing the other guy who

Winnie (25:04):
was like

Khilli (25:04):
being like a
puppy to her
kind of like
I

Nicky (25:10):
mean for

Winnie (25:10):
a while
she was talking about

Nicky (25:11):
her struggles
right in the beginning
she was talking about
how like
oh you know
I'm still single
the guys I'm with
are gay

Khilli (25:18):
yeah

Winnie (25:18):
family

Nicky (25:19):
probably
would have vouched
for that though

Khilli (25:21):
yeah she already had a heart for those two guys that's that was sheer but she was in her head like
oh they're gay so

Nicky (25:28):
yeah like Priyank uh her character Neha she works at a magazine so so
her boss is basically like leaving for another publication and then he kind of wants to be like
like, you know, figuring out who should take over.
And Neha gets this funny idea that, you know,
why don't I invite him to dinner and meet my gay roommates

(25:48):
in a ploy to, like, you know, get her to win the position, I suppose.
Yeah.
And then, you know, you get this dinner scene where it's, like,
You know, it's a very funny one, I think.
They pretend to be gay in front of her boss.
And they also get the immigration officer, surprise inspection, who's just trying to see if they're really gay.

(26:15):
And then...

Adam (26:16):
Wait, but let's...
Come on.
So...
But they – we need to talk about that plot.
They're going to the American courthouse, right, to do like a gay marriage certificate thing.
To

Nicky (26:29):
get the permit, right?
Residence permit.
Right.

Adam (26:32):
And then they meet this gay government officer who's like, okay.
But then he just randomly shows up to their house –
and uninvited and doesn't tell them and says,
I just need to make sure you're gay.
So I'm going to hang out with you and party all night.
I'm also gay.
I'm just going to hit on all of you as well.

(26:54):
And so like this government officer is just kind of like assaulting them
and forcing them to be gay in front of him.
So like they can get residency.
And I don't think they do surprise gay inspections like that.

Nicky (27:05):
Well, I want to ask Adam, does that work in Miami?
Do they get...
Do gay people get shorter queue times at the immigration office?

Adam (27:13):
If you're a straight couple, yeah, they can randomly show up at your house and just say,
okay, now dance with each other to make sure you're a couple.
And sometimes the government officer will hit on the wife or the guy, depending on his

Winnie (27:24):
sexuality.

Adam (27:26):
And they can just show up anytime.
And so I guess it's the same for gay people.

Khilli (27:31):
He actually has hot for John Abraham.

Adam (27:34):
So that's why

Khilli (27:34):
he sent a letter to Abhishek Bachchan's home

Winnie (27:38):
address that he

Khilli (27:39):
gave in England.

Winnie (27:40):
And

Khilli (27:41):
then to cross-verify with his mother whether he's gay or not.
And his mother says that, like, no, he's not gay.
So that's why he came to like with a heart for John Abraham that he can hook up with John or something like that.

Adam (27:55):
It's an immigration officer trying to ruin their relationship and deport someone so that he can be with his like a strange lover.
And also, yeah, so Abhishek's mom lives in London.

Nicky (28:07):
Yeah.

Adam (28:07):
And they're like, oh, we sent it to that address.
And then it cuts to her house with a bunch of palm trees.
like very clearly not in england and then like one hour later she's in miami because she like
hopped on a plane from london i thought the time and geography was

Khilli (28:21):
no i think that was like a
flashback to how she really is or is it

Adam (28:27):
like oh no she had her house in london with palm trees i
don't

Khilli (28:30):
oh yeah that that part is not it just

Adam (28:33):
looked like miami but for some reason it was london

Khilli (28:35):
To the

Winnie (28:36):
immigration officer's defense, though, like he did walk into the bathroom and see John Abraham and Abishay plotting this whole thing,
right?
Yeah, so he had reason to be suspicious. You would think he would have denied their application because he saw them scheming against the system.

Khilli (28:51):
But they were talking in Hindi.

Winnie (28:53):
And that's another point that really bothered me.
Usually films don't irk me the way they irk Adam.
Like, I don't get hung up on any small details.
But throughout the dinner scene, which is, like, quite hilarious, like Nikki said,
it's very unclear whether the immigration officer understands Hindi or not.

Nicky (29:08):
Yeah.

Winnie (29:09):
Because there are some points where he's, like, understanding what's going on.
And

Nicky (29:13):
then there was a part where the mom was, like, talking to God.
And he was, like, there was, like, a throwaway gag where he was, like,
Who is she talking to?

Winnie (29:21):
Yeah, yeah.
It's just really strange, that whole setup.
Can we

Nicky (29:24):
fuck

Winnie (29:25):
yet?
When's a threesome happening?
That's what I'm here for.
I have to stamp your residency here.

Khilli (29:32):
Do you guys remember Priyanka Chopra didn't tell her boss that...
they're a couple.

Nicky (29:38):
Yeah.
Because she

Khilli (29:40):
needed them

Nicky (29:40):
to

Winnie (29:40):
think that they're single.

Khilli (29:41):
Yeah.
So that he can hit on them.

Winnie (29:44):
She was pretty much
trying to pimp out
her gay roommates
for her job
to get a promotion.
So not

Khilli (29:48):
everyone is like,
everyone is gray here.

Winnie (29:52):
Everyone's manipulative.

Adam (29:53):
That side of their

Khilli (29:53):
character.
That's true.

Nicky (30:06):
That's true.
yeah there's a lot of manipulation
god damn
you know how gay people are
so in the dinner party
the last person to show up was Abhishek's mom
as Adam mentioned
I think that's when they have a heart to heart about how
you should accept
your son's
happiness like no you should be happy for his happiness but like before

Khilli (30:21):
before coming around
like she did like some weird as hell stuff like you know like going at night is his son's bedroom
and like doing some dark magic on

Winnie (30:32):
him so that like he does he's not gay

Khilli (30:36):
anymore so it's like
i think it's a good reference to like how people like now like even even in every culture people
kind of say like
oh we can make like
gay people come around and be straight either by this or by that they need treatment and
and kind of like the film film kind of uses that trope with like literal dark magic and shit that

(30:58):
which we all know like doesn't work and then that that that
that contradiction was like and that not contradiction that that parallel was pretty
good in my opinion yeah

Winnie (31:08):
i think it's a very nice depiction of how dramatic indian parents can be
like i think they used her character in a very comical way it serves an important plot point
in terms of like the key takeaway message that the film wanted to promote but they did it in such a
funny way where they show her doing all these
yes like
dramatic things and then fainting and then
she has like this one scene with the song madalala
where she's like moving through couches and it's like her world is falling

(31:31):
apart just because her son is gay.

Khilli (31:33):
Yeah.

Winnie (31:34):
Yeah.
And she actually received a nomination for best supporting actor for this
role.
So she's quite applauded for that.

Adam (31:41):
It keeps winning.
Like it's portraying everything correctly.
Like I,
I loved it.

Winnie (31:47):
Yeah.

Adam (31:48):
They did a great job.
I had – so they're trying to live with this woman that they're in love with, and they can't hit on her because they need to pretend to be gay.
I texted you guys in the chat that I had the same experience.
So in America, I used to work at a – there was a gay hamburger restaurant that was like a family –

(32:11):
drag queen restaurant in Colorado.

Winnie (32:14):
So definitely not Chick-fil-A.
It was called Hamburger Mary's.
Anti-gay.

Adam (32:18):
It was pro-gay, but it was a family restaurant.
And they did like drag queen bingo and karaoke and stuff.
And before that, I used to work at a sushi restaurant as a waiter.
And I was very bad because...
You can tell by my voice, I come off as very rude sometimes or very curt. And so I didn't, I don't do like the American hospitality that well. So I was like, okay, I'll go to a gay restaurant. And then I could just speak the same way, but they think I'm like hitting on them this time.

(32:48):
and it is true so like I was the only
straight guy in this gay restaurant but I
killed it you know like because
I would just talk the same but they're like oh he's being
like a jackass but he's gay
so it's funny
instead of like the sushi restaurant
they just like hated me and wouldn't
tip me but I would do the exact same thing and
they would like tip me so huge here

(33:08):
but then I also got
the most numbers from girls at this
place because like tons of
like girls would come and
you know,
they really like the gay bar because they feel comfortable.

Winnie (33:20):
They can like hit

Adam (33:20):
on guys without being afraid of like getting hit on back.
And like,
they're just like in a safer environment with hot dudes and stuff.
And,
and they'd always say like,
Oh man,
I wish you weren't gay.
And I'd be like,
well,
guess what?
I don't know.
surprise wolf in sheep's clothing i'm not bitch and i just met a lot of people there but there's
one time i had this this uh returning guy customer who like kind of had a crush on me and he would

(33:45):
kind of come to see me sometimes and there was this chick that i was trying to hit on but they
were like right next to each other
So, like, I was trying to, like, just communicate with my eyes to her that, like, I'm not gay.
But, like, still with the guy next to her, like, kind of still flirt back with him.
So I wouldn't, like, lose him as a long-term customer.

(34:07):
And I saw this girl later.
And I was like, yeah, man, I was trying to, like...
make you understand that like I was like
hitting on you and like I
but I couldn't say anything at the time and she's like
yeah I could not understand why you were acting so
fucking weird the whole time
I'm just like

Winnie (34:23):
stealthily
trying to like hit

Adam (34:25):
on her and like not
let this guy know I'm straight
so the movie hit close to home

Khilli (34:29):
I

Winnie (34:30):
understand

Khilli (34:30):
we've

Adam (34:31):
all been there

Khilli (34:32):
that sounds like a short film right there

Adam (34:34):
it was hard
I still remember because I'm like man
this is going to be really tricky I can't like lose
my money but
like maybe she'll get the hint

Nicky (34:43):
alright that's a goal if we get 2 million subscribers
we'll film this

Adam (34:56):
yeah we'll
We'll go back in time and recreate my.
Oh, sorry.
With the same restaurant, I'll just bring up one last thing because it always stung me.
During the job interview with that place, the guy asked me, like, what are your hobbies?
And I don't have many hobbies.
So I was like, I have friends that are DJs.
and he's like we don't need to talk about this anymore he's like that was the saddest thing he'd
ever heard he's like we could just move on and i was

Khilli (35:16):
like that got you hired i think he

Adam (35:18):
felt so bad
that my hobby was having friends

Winnie (35:21):
no this guy's probably like well he has no hobbies so he can
spend all his time at work

Adam (35:25):
which was true which was true he loved me as an employee

Winnie (35:28):
so

Nicky (35:28):
neha neha
gets like you know she gets like this pass from her new boss right
They redesigned the magazine.
She's

Winnie (35:35):
working

Nicky (35:35):
for a magazine.

Winnie (35:36):
She's working, yeah.
We've already met her.
So

Nicky (35:39):
she has to redesign the magazine in two weeks.
And, you know, she didn't get off with the right foot with the...
with her new boss, right?
And, you know, the...
We get, like, scenes of, like, the...
The three of them bonding, the three friends, right?
And there was, like, a montage...

(36:03):
I remember there was, like, a montage where she was, like, redesigning...
She was doing the photo shoot with John Abraham.
They were doing, like, some photo shoot.
They quickly explained her project, her new boss...
is proud of her.
And there was like, we get like a quick cut
to like this fashion show where it was a success.
And they wanted to see the boss come out on stage.

(36:26):
And what does he do?
He holds her hand and they come out.
I guess we get this moment where she's like smitten with him.
And when they come out on the stage,
the two men realize that, oh, they've got some competition.
so

Winnie (36:43):
the second half

Nicky (36:44):
of the movie

Adam (36:45):
yeah they have an intermission
which is nice

Nicky (36:48):
yes the second half of the movie
is like a lot of manipulation

Khilli (36:55):
some of

Adam (36:56):
the most fucked up
manipulation I've ever seen
I

Winnie (36:58):
felt uncomfortable at one point
I was like can this just stop

Adam (37:01):
how

Winnie (37:01):
are we supposed to root for these main characters
how many lives will they
ruin
I

Khilli (37:05):
like that
they went to that part that the main character
you won't root for them
That was a really nice one because you know they're doing bad things.
But by the way, the way the boss was behaving with her, was it like HR violence?

Adam (37:21):
Yes.
Absolutely.

Winnie (37:24):
He was

Khilli (37:25):
kind of flirty in his tone a lot when he was giving work and stuff like that.
You can do it and something like that.
Very seductive manner.

Winnie (37:36):
It was like mutual.
I feel like she was reciprocating which made it seem
a bit less creepy. It was definitely

Khilli (37:41):
like

Adam (37:41):
a violation

Winnie (37:42):
of like workplace
policies but.
Yeah because he's

Adam (37:46):
presenting
her as like
his girlfriend and as
getting promoted in the company

Winnie (37:53):
at the same time.
There was not much
romance between them.
I think it was meant to show that he's
a good character because he's
allowing her to get recognition for
her work.
I think a lot of
companies, the man
would just
the boss would take the credit for it
but he went to extra mileage and

Adam (38:09):
gave

Winnie (38:10):
her credit for it. I think it was
just meant to make us like
his character because
They're going to start this romance between them.
And so now we should

Khilli (38:17):
root for him

Winnie (38:18):
while the gay couple is being pretty much dickheads to everyone around them.

Khilli (38:23):
Thanks for the defense, Sweeney.
In

Adam (38:25):
India, that's

Khilli (38:26):
the most

Adam (38:27):
progressive thing a boss has ever done.

Winnie (38:30):
Literally.
That's the least sexual

Adam (38:31):
harassment any girl will experience
in that type of

Winnie (38:34):
workplace.
You're giving a subordinate credit.
You must be the best person ever.
Can I

Adam (38:39):
marry you and be a mom to your kid?

Khilli (38:42):
I got you the promotion, bitch.

Adam (38:46):
Could you just put on this mask of John Abraham

Nicky (38:49):
and I'll marry you?
She finds out that her boss is also a divorced dad.
he has a kid named veer uh and you know that you know they they the the two men they tried to like
you know uh win her affections one by one right uh you get like this moment where so like john

(39:11):
abraham uh his character has like a photo shoot in philadelphia so he goes away and then abish's
character gets like a funny idea
take her out on a date.

Winnie (39:21):
Winnie,

Adam (39:22):
I'm

Nicky (39:22):
going to ask you one thing.
Imagine you don't know
any of us, the three of us, and we all pretend
to be gay.

Adam (39:29):
Which one would you believe is gay more?

Nicky (39:31):
Oh my gosh.
We're like a throuple, right?
And then Keeley decides
to go shooting somewhere else
and Adam has to go away and edit
the next Fear of Stairs episode.
So I'm left with you, right?
And I'll be like, you know what? I'm going to take
you as friends.
to an amusement park.
I buy out the whole amusement park

Adam (39:50):
where there's

Nicky (39:52):
nobody there
and I'll be like, you know, this is just a hangout, right?
And we go on all the carnival rides.
We ride the merry-go-round.
We play mini golf.
Play DDR.
Play DDR.
And then not only that, but at the end of it all,
I give you a gift and I say,
this is our diaries.
and it's just the photos of us.
I don't mean us four.

(40:13):
I mean just us two.
And it's like,
this is the first day we went on a walk.

Winnie (40:18):
This is the day you beat

Nicky (40:21):
me at Tekken.
This is the day we smoked a joint together.
I don't know, you know, it's...
At that point, you would realize something is up, right?
That's like perfect friendship.

Winnie (40:31):
I don't

Nicky (40:32):
believe it.

Winnie (40:33):
Gay friendships that all women dream of.
Really the ultimate

Adam (40:37):
gay best friend.
I've given Whitney so many friendship books between us.
That's normal.
That's normal.
How does a nurse rent out an entire amusement

Winnie (40:47):
park?
That was

Adam (40:48):
my question.
That was so romantic.

Winnie (40:50):
Making jobs really

Adam (40:51):
pay really well.

Winnie (40:53):
Incredible.
I

Adam (40:53):
want to be a nurse.
If

Winnie (40:54):
I could

Adam (40:55):
own amusement parks like that.

Winnie (40:56):
So now we have them not staying in the same bedroom.
Abhishek wooing Priyanka in this way.
And still, no flags have been raised.

Khilli (41:04):
And then a beautiful romantic dinner by John Abraham.

Winnie (41:08):
Yeah, where they watch Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
While

Khilli (41:12):
hugging, like, really touchy, nice, like, you know, comfy.

Adam (41:17):
And he hires a boy to just, like, squirt.
use sprinklers on them
to make it rain and stuff.
She's having the best dates of her life.

Winnie (41:26):
I have never even had these kind of dates
from straight men, you know?
So it's like...
You'll never have dates

Nicky (41:31):
like that
from

Adam (41:32):
straight men.
That's the thing.
Straight men would never do that.

Nicky (41:35):
No, it's because they can't afford
to buy out the whole amusement park.
So here

Winnie (41:38):
you

Khilli (41:39):
learn the trick.
Like you ask straight men to like,
you know, like...
You know, like pretend you are gay.
And you're my best friend.
And you're gay.

Winnie (41:49):
Will you guys pretend to be gay?
Is that where we're going?
I

Nicky (41:54):
will have to try and see if I like kissing beers.
Looking at new feelings.

Winnie (41:59):
oh gosh well you know what's gonna happen after this

Adam (42:03):
winnie whose date was better oh

Winnie (42:06):
that's a good question i think john abraham was nicer

Adam (42:09):
like
more intimate

Winnie (42:11):
and also because like it's john abraham

Adam (42:13):
so i might be biased them i

Winnie (42:16):
think still
like what are you gonna do in amusement park is cool can we go on the roller coasters are
there gonna be any like people to

Adam (42:21):
you know navigate they went on everything

Winnie (42:26):
yeah definitely amusement park
yeah

Adam (42:29):
I mean I'm with you Winnie that's

Winnie (42:30):
my dream
me too
it feels like zombie land

Adam (42:38):
so she
goes on these dates
and she's like oh these are my fun gay
best friends
and then she's still gonna marry the guy right yeah

Nicky (42:47):
it hasn't happened yet uh so then what
happens is that the her boss invites her to this like children's charity event with an adult twist
i don't know it's like a paradox i don't know

Adam (43:01):
come to

Winnie (43:03):
this triple x kids party

Nicky (43:06):
yeah so uh that's when they you know uh
try to woo her affections and we get that scene with like her wearing the silver sari and all that
and it ends with like him uh it ends with abby coming in late and the the two guys notice that
she really has she really has the hearts for him basically and that's when they you know the

(43:29):
evilness of this movie comes out they just they so sam and kunal they team up together and
and uh try to manipulate behind the scenes

Khilli (43:40):
yeah they went be really dark they

Nicky (43:43):
went really dark
so the first thing they did was like they they went to to abby and befriended him and i don't
even know why abby would be listening to these two came in in the first place

Adam (43:54):
i would be so
suspicious of these two guys exactly

Nicky (43:58):
but he he's just like a dumb guy like he just follows every
word they say so like
You dress up in a colorful outfit.
You take...
You rip out your...
You wax off your chest hair.

Adam (44:10):
She said she liked it.
She's like, I like his chest hair.
So they're like, take it off.

Khilli (44:14):
But all this while, he's like a main editor of a fashion magazine.

Adam (44:18):
Right.
Like,

Winnie (44:19):
how did he get there when he's so easily manipulated?

Khilli (44:22):
Yeah.
He does the worst fashion ever, being like the chief editor

Winnie (44:26):
of a fashion magazine.
That's so weird.
The things you do for love.

Khilli (44:31):
that's what he said

Adam (44:34):
he makes her pay for dinner

Winnie (44:36):
oh yeah

Adam (44:37):
she was

Winnie (44:39):
talking about how
she likes that he's still
chivalrous pretty much and they start
telling him that he has to be equal
and treat her as an equal
But the worst part
What they did was when they
Got his son involved

Adam (44:55):
That's the darkest it gets
Yeah that

Winnie (44:57):
is when I just turned against them
Crossed the line
They befriend

Adam (45:02):
the kid
And tell him that
If the dad gets married this kid will get
Abandoned

Winnie (45:08):
They instill

Adam (45:09):
fear in

Winnie (45:10):
him
They're

Adam (45:11):
going to send you off to

Winnie (45:11):
boarding school

Khilli (45:13):
He's going

Winnie (45:14):
to love Neha instead

Khilli (45:15):
It's a stepmother archetype from like old generation stories, I guess.
Like stepmother will hate you and like send you away kind of thing.
Yeah.
So they were like doing that.
It's

Adam (45:28):
like so bad.
And then they make the kid fake being sick so the dad can't go on a date with Neha.

Winnie (45:45):
Yeah.

Adam (45:35):
And like so they're like pitting them against each other and making the kid lie and

Winnie (45:40):
Abby lie

Adam (45:40):
and everyone lie with each other.
At the

Winnie (45:42):
same time, they're telling Neha like, look, he's always going to choose his kid.
Like you're not his priority.
So they push her to push for the date while his son is pushing him to stay home because he's pretending to be sick.
And this is pure evil.
And what's the end game?

Nicky (46:05):
Yeah.

Winnie (45:57):
right like who's gonna get her at the end like between the two of them they're really just
plotting to make her lose this guy and while

Nicky (46:04):
selfish yes while this was happening they were
so smug about it like there was no sense of remorse whatsoever

Khilli (46:10):
thinking from dick

Adam (46:13):
They didn't care

Nicky (46:13):
about her as

Adam (46:14):
a friend, even though they

Khilli (46:15):
gave her a

Adam (46:16):
friendship book.

Nicky (46:17):
So Abby invites Neha

Adam (46:20):
to a

Nicky (46:20):
basketball game.
And that's when she finds out that he plans to propose to her.

Adam (46:25):
At the basketball game.
At the basketball

Nicky (46:27):
game, because he ordered a ring.
and

Adam (46:29):
this is the second date by the way right it's like the second date

Nicky (46:33):
right they

Winnie (46:34):
have dinner and

Adam (46:35):
he's like i'm gonna propose to her at the basketball game yep i

Winnie (46:37):
mean you see the relationship progressing
through songs and stuff right like yeah but

Khilli (46:42):
this is the worst thing you can do to anyone like you
know like put them in like this huge thing

Adam (46:46):
without any discussion

Khilli (46:47):
and just propose them and put them
in that spot

Winnie (46:50):
also it has that

Adam (46:52):
weird uh indian movie love affair with basketball right
Which I still don't get yet why.
Like, I think they're just obsessed with basketball.
Because they don't play it themselves.

Khilli (47:03):
No.
Right.
Maybe some, like,
passionable, like, international school

Winnie (47:07):
kids.
Yeah.
But

Khilli (47:08):
that's, like, limited to that.
Like, very small number of people.

Adam (47:11):
Maybe it's

Winnie (47:11):
representative of America to them.
Yeah.

Adam (47:14):
I think it's, like, Quidditch to them.
You know what I mean?
Like, if they see it, it's like,
oh, that's America.

Khilli (47:20):
It's basketball.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Baseball is too...
baseball is too i don't know baseball i never see baseball much though no

Adam (47:28):
yeah because i think it's
too close to cricket i think basketball is super alien and weird

Winnie (47:33):
and very

Adam (47:35):
american it's only really
in america

Khilli (47:37):
yeah so they

Adam (47:38):
just like love basketball in these films

Khilli (47:41):
and they they use that as a
bullying prop yeah

Adam (47:46):
and they love just the ball to like throw people and stuff yeah
So he proposes to her.

Nicky (47:51):
He plans to propose to her, right?
And then there was a moment where he has to go get the ring.
That's when Neha has a little interaction with his son, right?
Where she was scolding him.
That triggers his fear that she's mean and that his dad will leave him.
for her.
And Neha gets up and then meets Sam and Kunal, right?

(48:14):
And then tells her, like, should I say yes or should I say no because he's going to propose
to me?
And that's when you get, like, that turning point where both the men confess their love
for her.
And that's when things start to fall apart, right?

Adam (48:26):
I'm just gonna

Winnie (48:27):
wrap it up

Nicky (48:27):
okay
I don't

Adam (48:28):
know
they just leave and they're like
we're sorry we fucked up
they come back and see her thinking that she was
gonna get married to this guy and they're not
like they both
broke up cause of the fucking kid
kids ruin everything
you know, and, uh, and yeah,

Nicky (48:46):
it was like a fashion show, right?
And then

Adam (48:49):
Hotel

Nicky (48:49):
Delano.

Adam (48:51):
Is that a fancy?
They're all at Hotel Delano in this movie.

Nicky (48:55):
So yeah, that's, that's happening, right?
And then they, they literally came up to, you know, to tell her like, hey, you know,
We're the assholes.
We fucked up.
We manipulated everything, including Abby's little boy.
And, you know, to prove that they would go to great lengths,
they had a makeup session.

Khilli (49:15):
To

Nicky (49:15):
put it simply...
that was

Khilli (49:18):
the punishment right yeah

Winnie (49:20):
that was obi's kind of like he told them make out then we'll
forgive you and then as they're making out you the camera pans to obi and he's just like man even i
wouldn't do that for you which kind of like just punches into like how bad homosexuality is i feel
like at the end of the movie where
this is the one moment yeah

Adam (49:39):
where they do some gay panic yeah
Like, not the characters, but the actors, I think, themselves are doing gay panic.
Because they're not really kissing.
No.
It's very clear they're not really kissing.
The camera covers it up.
So, like, they are afraid of kissing each other.

Winnie (49:58):
Absolutely.
But I think the fact that they even showed, you know, like, two great actors were willing to act like they were kissing was probably quite...
radical at the time.
But I didn't even like that whole scene, you know,
because I feel like they were apologizing.
At first, Neha and Abi were not forgiving them.
They were going to walk out.
And so these two guys, like, rush up to the stage
and kind of, like, almost, I feel like,

(50:19):
forcing them to forgive.

Adam (50:21):
I don't know.
I feel like they're selfish to the end.
They are.
And also the premise is, like,
you have to humiliate yourself
to prove that you're real about this,
which is, like, a weird test.
you know like you could just be nice to her or something but they like
want to ridicule them to like debase them one

Winnie (50:41):
last

Nicky (50:41):
time and that's it that's the
stana right there it's just a cute little movie about
homosexuals when if you pretend to be homosexuals manipulating
relationships

Adam (50:53):
it's about the gay agenda manipulating children to ruin straight
people's lives

Winnie (50:59):
So the movie was quite popular.
It received a lot of critical acclaim.
It used a lot of star power to bring homosexuality into the mainstream conversation in India.
But it was also criticized to some degree for promoting negative stereotypes about gay people, like we mentioned earlier.
But do you guys think it did that, having watched the film?

(51:19):
How do you think the approach was?
Well,

Adam (51:21):
before that...
When the movie came out, how did you guys feel about it or how was it received?
It

Winnie (51:28):
was received pretty well.
Yeah.

Khilli (51:30):
So it was the hype was like, oh, are they gay?
Because I think from the, I don't remember the trailer, but maybe from the trailer you
couldn't say that they were actually gay or not.
I think that like this thing that two big major actors are like appearing in a gay movie.
So that was kind of a big deal.

(51:50):
But when the film came out, it was well received.
And yeah, then like in this like mainstream films, there hadn't been any many gay representation.
Also, this is even if it is not a gay representation, but it brings the gay culture, like when you say.

Adam (52:10):
Right.

Khilli (52:07):
yeah

Adam (52:07):
I would have loved to be in the theater like if nobody knew about that and like hearing the
theater when they're about to kiss or like when everyone finds out their game like that would
have been so fun in theaters that would have been a blast if nobody knew about that yeah I would
have loved that and I think if I was a teenage girl
Winnie, if I was your age when this came out, I would have been sexually awakened

Winnie (52:31):
at all of it. The

Adam (52:34):
gay fantasy of it, the Miami lifestyle, John Abraham, all of it would be, I think I'd be obsessed with it.

Khilli (52:42):
There is actually like only two gay characters in the film, like real gay characters, the
ex-boss and the immigration officer, right?
Were there any other?

Adam (52:54):
The producer.

Winnie (52:57):
Right.
So Karan Johar in an interview addressed kind of like some of these comments about...
All of the gay criticism promoting gay stereotypes.
And first he mentioned that after this movie, he received so many emails from young people in India who were like thanking him for making the movie because it allowed their parents to become aware of homosexuality and just be able to talk about it.
But then when he was kind of like prompted on some of the stereotypical representation of gay people...

(53:22):
I'll just read the quote because I think it's quite nice.
He goes, this is in 2016, an interview, which also shows that the movie was relevant like eight years after its release.
He says, there was once a point where we weren't even aware.
People criticized me for stereotyping homosexuality in Dostana.
It's ridiculous how unaware people were before.
The film, at least, brought the conversation about homosexuality in the drawing room of every urban home.

(53:44):
Yeah, he's right.

Adam (53:46):
And, you know, in America, maybe we had films like Brokeback Mountain or something. But those were indie films. The majority of people did not see them.

Winnie (53:56):
And at

Adam (53:57):
the time, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal were major stars. They were like, you know, young actors at the time.
So for it to be like such a major studio production with huge actors and a big budget thrown behind this, like that's a big deal and bigger than anything America did at the time.

Winnie (54:18):
This movie was compared quite a bit to I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.
And I think the people who made the movie also mentioned that that was kind of like where the influence came from.
Now, I've watched I Now Pronouncing Chuck and Larry like so many years ago.
Can't really remember the plot too well.
But did you guys see any similarities?

Adam (54:35):
No.
And Adam Sandler does not look like John Abraham.

Khilli (54:52):
No.

Adam (54:41):
they're not super good looking.
And that movie had way more gay panic, right?

Khilli (54:48):
Also, at any point, you can just say,
oh, these are straight people pretending to be gay.
And then you can just walk over that...
yeah the director talked about

Winnie (54:58):
that he mentioned like when making the movie he didn't want it to
be overly preachy if you didn't want to take the gay message just enjoy it as like three people
living together in miami like it's not overly preachy at

Adam (55:09):
all and and that's what i like too
is it's not it doesn't just handle the gay stuff well but it handles
like the friend zone well like the end of the story

Winnie (55:17):
isn't

Adam (55:18):
those guys
like having sex with her she does get married to the older guy and they're just happy being friends
and that's cool

Khilli (55:26):
yeah and

Adam (55:27):
that's chill and i really like that like they're the movies like you can be
friends with girls and guys and that's it's a good uh message

Khilli (55:33):
that's a rarity in bollywood films as
well like very less film has that aspect where the main characters become friend at the end and not
like cup like in a relationship if

Adam (55:45):
you think about it the
traditionally like the least masculine stuff is to be accused of being gay and uh being friend
zoned by hot girlfriends right

Winnie (55:56):
yeah and both

Adam (55:57):
of these big main stars happen it happens to them
both of those things and they totally own it and own this movie and it's not a black mark on them
at all

Winnie (56:06):
all right we're going to

Adam (56:07):
the fear of stairs scale right we're all good

Winnie (56:10):
all right all

Adam (56:12):
right all
What was the staircase moment?
I

Winnie (56:16):
mean, for me, it was when

Adam (56:17):
they manipulate the kid.

Winnie (56:18):
Because you're like, well,

Adam (56:19):
what the fuck?
I just didn't see that going that place for these grown men to just

Winnie (56:25):
ruin a

Adam (56:25):
kid's life like this.

Winnie (56:26):
It was surprising, but it didn't add a huge twist to the plot, right?
It was

Adam (56:31):
just kind of a supporting

Winnie (56:31):
plot line to show their antiques getting very nasty.
It made them evil.

Khilli (56:42):
Yeah.

Winnie (56:37):
right but

Khilli (56:38):
yeah i was also thinking of that but there was a weak staircase moment for pianka for
sure yeah right oh yeah the

Winnie (56:44):
basketball game would kind of be the closest
staircase moment
where they
confess her love she has a big proposal the guy is not really proposing anymore because the kid
doesn't want him to get married it's just a mess of a scene right

Nicky (56:56):
okay i actually thought abby was
gay

Winnie (56:59):
so

Nicky (57:01):
like when he held piyanka chopra's hand that was my story
that

Adam (57:09):
would be such a good

Nicky (57:10):
movie twist if he's like sorry i'm

Adam (57:12):
gay and then her two gay roommates
are straight and

Winnie (57:14):
that

Adam (57:15):
would be good uh dance floor claws oh

Winnie (57:18):
yeah five out of

Nicky (57:20):
five yeah yeah top
notch i felt like i felt like all the musical numbers had served its purpose to show like
plot progression

Adam (57:27):
what's the best one

Nicky (57:30):
For me, it had to be...
It had to be the one at the adults-only children's charity event.

Winnie (57:39):
Desi Girl?

Nicky (57:40):
Yeah.
Sing

Winnie (57:40):
it, Nikki.

Nicky (57:43):
Just

Winnie (57:43):
the chorus.

Khilli (57:45):
Desi Girl, Desi Girl, Girl, Girl.
Okay.
For you, for me, Winnie?

Winnie (57:51):
I was such a big fan of this album.
So I watched this movie quite a few times in high school.
I had like...
a really good friend who was gay not fully out of the closet we watched this movie with him so i
have like good memories of it and this album was like something i downloaded and listened to because
all the songs were so good my favorite was janik you janik you i'll be all right i'll be all right

(58:15):
okay i'm
gonna cringe when i hear this it's a great soundtrack which
scene was that i
don't
remember but it also plays at the end no at the end is madalala that's also really good but also
to give a context that like this this the soundtrack of this movie was highly acclaimed they received
nomination for best soundtrack it became the fourth highest album selling album in india in
the year which is like quite surprising for a movie soundtrack to gain that kind of recognition so

(58:39):
And Desi Girl comes from it, and I think that's a hot staple song.
I don't think you'd meet any Desi person who doesn't know it.
I don't think I've been to an Indian wedding since the song came out where this song didn't come on.
So, yeah.

Adam (58:51):
I've heard that song before.
Of course.
And I've never heard any songs, really.
Family Feud Factor.

Nicky (59:09):
Yeah.

Adam (58:58):
mother

Nicky (59:00):
three out of five I guess

Adam (59:02):
auntie, mother
like it was
like

Nicky (59:06):
the conflict was there
but it gets resolved
son

Khilli (59:10):
versus dad

Adam (59:11):
with the little kid

Khilli (59:14):
that's

Adam (59:14):
true yeah
How about this?
Regional heat check.
Did it

Khilli (59:19):
reflect

Adam (59:21):
Miami culture

Khilli (59:22):
well?
Yes.
What's your thought?

Adam (59:26):
I mean, Miami is super gay.
I think they kind of nailed it.
Even straight guys look gay in Miami.
The bowl colors, like the beach, the atmosphere.
I thought they nailed it.
and Hotel Delano is a dream.
We all know about Hotel Delano.
I

Khilli (59:45):
didn't block that name actually.
Because they kept bringing

Adam (59:48):
it up,
and I was like, are they sponsoring this?
And I was looking up the Hotel Delano website and stuff
because they just keep talking.
They're always meeting at Hotel Delano only.
All their events are there.
And so I looked it up.
It's like a famous hotel in Miami
that they started branching out later,
but I think they were just the big hotel in Miami
that paid for this movie.

Khilli (01:00:09):
Maybe just give like free staying for

Adam (01:00:12):
people.
Moral of the melodrama.
What was the big message?

Khilli (01:00:19):
Be cool.
Don't be evil.

Adam (01:00:22):
Kids are easy to manipulate.

Winnie (01:00:25):
Don't

Adam (01:00:25):
manipulate.
kids

Winnie (01:00:26):
it's okay to be gay this movie has no real gay characters but it's still okay to be gay

Khilli (01:00:31):
yeah it brings on the message very nicely without having any main gay character yeah i

Winnie (01:00:39):
give it a
five just because i feel like it has a good it has that kind of moral message where it's like
take away from it what you want we're not going to shove it in your face

Adam (01:00:47):
yeah it's

Winnie (01:00:48):
open to
interpretation all

Adam (01:00:49):
the characters are very sexy but none of them have sex with each other

Winnie (01:00:53):
yeah

Adam (01:00:55):
And that's a good moral message.

Winnie (01:00:57):
You

Adam (01:00:57):
don't have to fuck everyone.
But you

Winnie (01:00:59):
know, you can also see that the moral of the message is that
affirmative action is the wrong way to go because it'll always be abused
because we do see them

Khilli (01:01:06):
abusing the

Winnie (01:01:08):
policy
to fast track their green

Khilli (01:01:10):
card or residency.
That's how we'll make America

Winnie (01:01:12):
great again.
It was

Adam (01:01:16):
about immigrants exploiting our system.

Winnie (01:01:18):
I think we should be more strict.
That's what right-wing Americans would take away from this movie.
They didn't

Adam (01:01:23):
have to do gay sex acts with each other to get it,
and I think that's bullshit, to be honest.
This movie's

Winnie (01:01:28):
going to make it a requirement to submit a porno video.
Yeah, view

Adam (01:01:31):
it your spouse.
Okay, yeah, so what'd you rate it?
Out of five.

Nicky (01:01:38):
A strong four for me.
I think it ticks almost all the boxes.
I don't know much about the representing Miami aspect.
Yeah,

Adam (01:01:48):
I loved it.
I thought the movie was like a breeze to watch.
I thought out of all the faults it could have,
it really didn't have much.
Super impressive for that.
And yeah, just extremely attractive cast.
It's very fun.

Khilli (01:02:03):
For me, it's like I think...
it's the
Karanjir film
I like the most
as of now
how many
like whatever film
I've watched from him
this is the film
I like the most

Adam (01:02:14):
same
same
it's my favorite Kjo
so far

Khilli (01:02:17):
yeah

Winnie (01:02:18):
yeah I love the film overall
I give it a 5 out of 5
I think objectively
yeah 4
4.5
but
I just feel like
it was such an easy watch
you don't really realize
that 2 hours flew by
it stays interesting
the whole time
yeah
great movie

Adam (01:02:30):
We highly recommend.

Winnie (01:02:32):
Yeah, and we forgot to mention, but we did this movie in commemoration of...
Pride Parade.
Yes.
So

Nicky (01:02:39):
this episode will come out just in time for Bangkok's Pride Parade.
It'll be the first year that we're celebrating under the marriage equality law, which has come into effect since last year.

Winnie (01:02:53):
are you guys going

Nicky (01:02:55):
I am I usually go I've been to the last
yeah

Khilli (01:02:58):
I went once
and like it was really nice
I was taking photographs
just standing looking at the parade

Adam (01:03:06):
are there pride parades in India
it sounds so creepy when you're like I was just taking photographs
of gay

Khilli (01:03:10):
people

Adam (01:03:10):
on the side of the street

Khilli (01:03:13):
there are so many photographers

Adam (01:03:14):
taking photos of

Khilli (01:03:15):
the parade
it's a nice parade

Winnie (01:03:17):
are there pride parades in India
yeah there are
But

Khilli (01:03:22):
I don't think it's the same time.
Is it like International Pride Month?

Winnie (01:03:27):
It's Thailand,

Khilli (01:03:27):
right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So it's like different time.
I keep on seeing photographs on Facebook.

Winnie (01:03:33):
Yeah, so big progress has been made in Thailand.
We have a bill now, marriage equality bill.
Maybe one day India will get there, hopefully.

Khilli (01:03:41):
and

Winnie (01:03:41):
this film will one day be looked at
as the starting point for such a big reform.

Khilli (01:03:45):
Landmark.
They decriminalized gay sex.

Winnie (01:03:49):
Okay,

Khilli (01:03:50):
that's a start.

Adam (01:03:51):
Okay, so I can go back to the country now?

Nicky (01:03:55):
So yeah, love free, be who you are,
and we'll see you next episode.
Yeah,

Adam (01:04:03):
the next movie is...
We talked about it.

Khilli (01:04:07):
Murder.

Adam (01:04:08):
Yeah.

Khilli (01:04:09):
We're gonna do murder

Adam (01:04:09):
next.
Ooh.

Nicky (01:04:11):
Ooh.
Sexy.

Khilli (01:04:12):
It's a very sexy film.
Does

Nicky (01:04:14):
it involve shooting fathers?

Khilli (01:04:17):
I don't know who gets murdered, but someone gets murdered in the film.
Like...
like assassination

Winnie (01:04:23):
I would not have guessed that
okay
interesting
seems

Adam (01:04:27):
like a big plot twist
alright see you guys bye

(01:04:51):
bye