Ajeeb Daastaans review; Konkona,Aditi bowl over in Geeli Pucchi;Manav,Shefali impress in Ankahi

By Rajesh Ahuja

Things are not what they seem to be, goes a famous saying.

 
In Ajeeb Daastaans, an anthology of short stories being streamed on Netflix, a lot of emotions in relationships between individuals are beneath the surface than what are visible to the naked eye.

In Neeraj Ghyawan's Geeli Pucchi (sloppy kisses) , a story that charts the relationship between two women of different castes, Bharti and Priya(Konkona Sen Sharma and Aditi Rao Hydari), working in a male dominated factory, the apparent bonhomie between the two hides a simmering hate that low caste Bharti feels for the Upper caste Priya, due to the latter having been given a desk job of a data entry operator even though Bharti is better qualified for it. The short film shows how the underlying feelings of Bharti are manifested in her actions.

Shashank Khaitan's short film Majnu is the story of Lipakshi (Fatima Sana Shaikh) and Babloo (Jaideep Ahlawat) who are stuck in a loveless marriage with Babloo making it clear to Lipakshi on the very night of their wedding that their marriage is just a compromise. Babloo had to give in to his father’s order of marrying Lipakshi because of her strong political background. Disappointed with her loveless marriage, Lipakshi tries to find love elsewhere. She tries to seduce Raj Kumar (Armaan Ralhan), who has started working for Babloo. However, her attempts to get close to Raj leads to some unexpected consequences.

Raj Mehta's Khilauna is the story of Meenal (Nushrratt), a domestic help, who works in an upper middle-class neighbourhood to bring up her little sister Binny (Inayat). Shushil (Abhishek), is an ironing man, who loves Meenal. The film shows how Meenal and Sushil's bearing a grudge against residents of the locality discriminating against people of lower class can have disastrous consequences.

Kayoze Irani's Ankahi is the story of Natasha (Shefali Shah) , a mother who is doing her best to learn sign language for her daughter, who is eventually losing her hearing. Natasha urges her husband Rohan (Tota Roy Choudhary) to learn the sign language because that’s the only way to communicate with their daughter. However, she faills to convince Rohan . One day, Natasha bumps into Kabir (Manav), a photographer who is deaf. As Natasha and kabir communicate in sign language, they slowly develop a wonderful friendship.

Ajeeb Daastaans review: Konkona,Aditii bowl over with their performances in Geeli Pucchi: Manav, Shefali impress in Ankahi 

Though covering a diverse cross section of society, the stories in Ajeeb Daastaans have but one underlying theme, that of emotions simmering beneath the surface finding their ways in actions of individuals.

Of the four stories in Ajeeb Daastaans, it is Geeli Pucchi and n that most effectively convey the sentiment with brilliant performances by the cast of these films and a gripping screenplay.

Geeli Pucchi effectively conveys how the underlying feelings and emotions in a relationship between two individuals can lead to unexpected consequences. The film subtly portrays the uncomfortable emotions underlying the relationship between Bharti and Priya. Geeli Pucchi features top notch performances by Konkona Sensharma and Aditi Rao Hydari, who play the two protagonists.

Konkona Sen Sharma comes up with yet another class act with her portrayal of the low caste Bharti, who bears a grudge against Priya over being denied the desk job that she felt she truly deserved . She manages to convey a lot of Bharti's emotions through her evocative eyes. 

Aditi Rao Hydari is endearing as the upper caste woman Priya, who, despite caste differences between her and Bharti , opens out her heart to her oblivious of the underlying feelings born by her office colleague. She touches your heart with her simplicity .

Ankahi bowls you over with its brilliance of conveying inner emotions without the use of words. Shefali Shah and Manav Kaul are impressive in their performances as Natasha and kabir, who develop a friendship where words do not matter and most of the feelings are conveyed through eyes and gestures.

The other two stories Majnu and Khilauna fail to impress though Nusratt Bharucha and Inayat Verma do attract notice in Khilauna with their performance.

In short, Ajeeb Daastaans is an engrossing anthology with Geeli Pucchi taking the cake with its effective portrayal of relationship between two women of different castes and top notch performance by Konkona Sensharma and Aditi Rao Hydari.

My rating:3/5- one for Geeli Pucchi, one for Ankahi and one for performances by Konkona Sensharma, Aditi Rao Hydari, Shefali Shah and Manav Kaul.