DUS KAHANIYAAN
5 GOOD, 1 AVERAGE, REST BAD
By Vishal Verma

Rating:

What is it?
An omnibus Indian film which comprises of ten short films telling ten different stories which are each directed by a host of seven directors.

Sanjay directs the chunk out of the lot. He narrates five of them - Gubbare, Matrimony, Zahir, Strangers in the Night & Rise & Fall. Out of the five 3 are good - Gubbare, Matrimony, Strangers in the Night. Out of which ‘Strangers in the Night’ turns out to be the best of the lot of 10.

Ronit Roy gets the opportunity to show his abilities as a story teller and comes up with a promise with ‘Rice Plate’. He must thank Shabana Azmi for making his job much easier by an outstanding performance.

What a way to begin with Ronit, directing Shabana & Naseer on debut! Nice job, now what next. Meghna does her bit seriously in ‘Pooranmasi’ (nice concept, shocking end).

Jasmeet Dhodi (Lovedale) makes an attempt to narrate this mysterious ‘Jhumka mila re’ love story. But it fails to make any impact.  Apoorva Lakhia’s dark comedy ‘Sex on the Beach’ is just average.

Hansal Mehta directs a real junk – High on Highway – a story of two junkies on a highway, which is nothing but rubbish.

Hansal also joins Sanjay Gupta to direct this ‘Baba (Sanjay Dutt and Nawab (Sunil Shetty) ki Bhaigiri ki Dastaan, which turns out to be a sheer waste of talents.

What to look out for?
There are in all 10 stories but let’s take a look at the best and those which made the impact.
‘Strangers in the Night’ - The best of the lot, this one stands out in particular for its surprise end and the hidden layers. It speaks about the typical sensibilities of a male chauvinist (Mahesh Manjrekar) and the mindset of the rightwing told through the stimulating encounter of a lonely woman (Neha Dhupia) in the waiting room of a railway platform which is caught in a communal ambush.
The little boy angle which finally unfolds the whole story is just brilliant.

Rice Plate: This one can be watched again only for Shabana Azmi, she plays a devout hindu woman whose only meal gets claimed by a muslim (Naseeruddin Shah). An irresistible tale of how things and prople come together.

Gubbare: A heart warming journey within a journey. Anita Hansdani has an argument with her husband (Rohit Roy) in bus and sits next to a man carrying dozen ballons (Nana Patekar). Nana unfolds his journey of life to Anita which provides her with important lessons in life.
Nana Patekar is in fine touch.

Pooranmasi: An emotionally powerful tale of a doting mother (Amrita Singh) who is ready to do anything for her daughter (Minnisha Lamba), who is about to get married and how her one impulsive act turns their life into a drastically tragic end.

Matrimony: A modern day story of love and betrayal where a bored wife (Mandira Bedi) of a top notch executive of an MNC (Arbaaz Khan) fools her husband every Thursday and meets her lover ( Sudhanshu Pandey) secretly. But fine day betrayal knocks at her door and eventually she is at the receiving end.

What not?
The rest of the stories are sheer waste of time and talent.

Recommended: For takers of short films and those who want to experience something different.