Sameer "Sam" Kapoor and Kunal Chopra are fun-loving, womanising bachelors in Miami. Sam (a male nurse) is often kidded about skirt-wearing, and Kunal is a fashion photographer. They first meet at a friend's place after a night out with girls, and run into each other again when they are interested in renting the same apartment. The apartment belongs to Neha Melwani, who works for Verve. She lives there with her aunt, who refuses to sublet the apartment to either of them since Neha wants girls as flatmates.

After meeting a gay soldier, Sam persuades a reluctant Kunal to pretend that they are lovers so they can rent the apartment. They regret their decision when they meet Neha, since they are attracted to her. The three become good friends, and Sam and Kunal fall in love with her.

As Sam and Kunal continue the charade, Sam convinces Kunal to apply for a domestic partnership with him, as Kunal is a US citizen and Sam is not. Unbeknownst to them, the approval letter is sent to Rani, Sam's conservative mother, in London.

Neha's gay boss, Murli "M", resigns as Verve's editor and must choose his successor. To impress him (and hopefully get the job), Neha invites him for dinner at her house and asks Sam and Kunal to entertain him. A US immigration agent visits them for a surprise inspection and joins the party. Chaos ensues when Rani arrives from London to confront her son about his newfound sexuality. Sam tries to deny his relationship with Kunal, but the immigration agent affirms that they are a couple. M becomes upset, because Neha had told him Sam and Kunal were both single, and leaves.

At Neha's office the following day, M announces that Abhimanyu "Abhi" Singh will be the new editor. Neha, upset at being passed over for promotion, goes home and is consoled by Rani; in turn, she helps Rani accept her son's sexuality. Kunal and Sam help Neha with a project assigned by Abhi, who is impressed with her work. They later take Neha on separate dates, both telling her that they love her. Neha, convinced that they are gay, sees the dates as friendly outings. When Abhi and Neha begin dating, Sam and Kunal sabotage the budding relationship by giving Abhi inappropriate advice; this irritates Neha, and she and Abhi quarrel. When Neha discovers Kunal and Sam's plan, she misinterprets it as jealousy of Abhi. Sam and Kunal redirect their efforts into frightening Veer, Abhi's five-year-old son, about his future with Neha. During a basketball game, Neha discovers that Abhi plans to propose to her and asks Kunal and Sameer's advice. They ask her to turn him down, admitting that their homosexuality is a ruse and they both love her. Veer tells Abhi about his fears, and during the game Abhi breaks up with Neha. She tearfully evicts Kunal and Sameer from her apartment, and resigns from Verve.

A few months later Kunal and Sam meet in court, where they are picking up residency permits. Recognising the value of their friendship with Neha and each other, they reconcile. They find Neha at a fashion show and try to apologise, but she refuses to see them. Unaware of Neha and Abhi's break-up, they ask about the wedding and Neha tells them about Veer's fears. Kunal and Sam admit that they manipulated the boy, angering Neha and Abhi. Kunal and Sam climb onto the stage and beg Neha's forgiveness. The crowd encourages them to beg on their knees, say that they love her and blow her kisses, but nothing softens her. When the crowd tells them to kiss each other, they refuse. Neha and Abhi turn to leave, and Kunal kisses a reluctant Sam. Abhi and Neha are both amazed by the lengths to which they will go to regain her trust; Neha forgives them. Kunal and Sam then get down on their knees and propose to Abhi on her behalf. Amused, Abhi agrees. Two months later, Neha playfully asks Kunal and Sam if they felt anything for each other when they pretended to be gay; they say "no", remembering their kiss.

The cast is listed below:

• Abhishek Bachchan as Sameer "Sam" Kapoor
• John Abraham as Kunal Chopra
• Priyanka Chopra as Neha Melwani
• Bobby Deol as Abhimanyu "Abhi" Singh
• Kirron Kher as Rani Kapoor
• Sushmita Mukherjee as Neha's aunt
• Boman Irani as Murli "M"
• Shrey Bawa as Veer Singh
• Shilpa Shetty (cameo appearance in the song "Shut Up & Bounce")

Development

During the production of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), Tarun Mansukhani conceived a film about three friends who share an apartment. After the production wrapped, Karan Johar told him that Mansukhani was ready to direct a film and should write a script; if Johar liked it, he would produce the film. He set the film in Miami, since he liked its lifestyle and culture: "People in Miami work hard and party harder and I wanted to capture that in my film." Mansukhani worked for eight months on the script; Johar liked it, and asked him about the cast. In an interview, Manuskhani described Dostana as a story of "how the three strangers come together, live together in an apartment and have their moments of happiness and sorrow."

The director was inspired by his own experiences: "The germ for that comes from my own childhood memories of school-time friends. I have lived in boarding school for most of my childhood and the friends that I have today are the ones whom I got in touch with during 4th/5th standard. I may not speak to them for years but they are a family whom I can call up at 4 am without hesitation." Manuskhani soon realised that Bollywood had explored friendship, live–in relationships, marriage and divorce many times, and he wanted to do something different for his debut film. He decided to use sexuality to shed light on the issue, untouched by Bollywood, for the Indian audience.

Mansukhani later added the gay storyline because he thought it was an issue that needed to be touched on. However, the director did not want the film to be serious or preachy: "I also realise that when you preach via cinema nobody wants to hear it". "The film has a message, if you get it, great. If you don’t, no problem, sit back, relax and enjoy the film", he said about making it a romantic comedy. In February 2008, Johar announced the film's title Dostana; the producer named it after a 1980 film produced by his father, Yash Johar. Asked if his film was also a love triangle, he replied: "Well, yes and no. Though it's a love story, there's a never-before twist in the tale. All I can say on record is that we've never had a love triangle like this before." The gay storyline was not disclosed until the trailers were released. Manan Sagar was hired to edit the film, and the duo Salim–Sulaiman composed the background score.

Casting

Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham and Priyanka Chopra were cast in the lead roles. Aishwarya Rai was originally offered the lead role, but she refused it because she did not want to end up with another man in her first film with her husband (Bachchan) after their marriage. After Dostana's release, she regretted the decision. Saif Ali Khan refused the role of Kunal because he was uncomfortable with a husband and wife (Bachchan and Rai) playing the other two leads. In early April 2008, Shilpa Shetty was signed for a special appearance in one of the film's songs.

Bachchan said that Sam was his most difficult character to play, and he worked hard on his gestures and mannerisms: "I had to work very hard to portray a straight man acting gay. It could easily have gone over-board. I wanted to avoid making the character caricatural . Barring one portion ... we kept it controlled." Bachchan and Abraham, who had gained weight for their earlier films, had to lose the weight and become more muscular. Although Chopra agreed to wear a swimsuit, she refused to wear a bikini. The actress said that she did not lose any weight (as the media speculated), but worked out for a toned look in her films; she was also filming Fashion (2008) at the time. According to Chopra, "For Fashion, I had to put on six kilos and later had to shed chip by chip as the character progressed in the film. My body structure in Dostana is more toned than i