AJEEB DASTAANS – Every love story has its language

Ajeeb Dastaans – a 2021 Netflix released movie consisting of four segments, each story is connected with a similar theme of fractured relationship but with an unexpected ending.

The first segment MAJNU among the other four segments is directed by Shashank Kaiten. This segment revolves around a couple who are forced into a matrimonial alliance befitting their parents. The character Babloo (Jaideep Alawhat) is a shady businessman, who highly depends on his accountants. And his wife Lipakshi (Fatima Sana Shiek) is a politician’s daughter. Since Babloo failed to fulfill the duties of a husband, Lipakshi tried seeking attention by flirting with Raj (Arman Ralhan), the son of Babloo’s driver who eventually works for the former. The casting somehow failed to elevate the essence of the story and the screenplay seems too lethargic. Monotonicity – evoked by stagnant characters, stock scenes, stale themes – is barely rivaled by its patronizing gaze. The story does end with an unexpected revelation but it’s disappointing because it’s just a mere revenge story.

The second story is KHILAUNA directed by Raj Mehta starring Nurushart Bharuccha as house helper – Meenal, Inayat Verma as Binny-Meenal’s younger sister, and Abhishek Banerjee as Sushil who is a local clothes presser.

This segment revolves around Meenal trying to get electricity for her house, and the process lands into trouble. Like MANJU, KHILAUNA too ends with a disturbing yet dramatic scene. The segment juggles with the past and the present, where the cops torture Meenal and Sushil leaving the audience excited and eager to watch the segment till the end.

The story sheds light on the harsh reality of the society where the upper class and the lower class are highly dependent on each other when in need, but would accuse each other of trouble. Despite having a good built around the story, KHILAUNA gives away the ending hollow and predictable.

The third story of the four-segment anthology is GEELI PUCCHI, by Neeraj Ghaywan, which is a story of a factory worker, Bharti (Konkona Sen Sharma) who is unsatisfied with her current job and believes that she deserves the data operator’s job as her interview went well. But the job is given to Priya (Aditi Rao Hydari) infuriated by this, Bharti confronts her manager who simply says her last name as ‘Sharma’ and yours is ‘Mondal’. This very line explains the generations of injustice faced by various deserving works not only in factories but also in other sectors. But it seemed like Ghaywan was trying to leave the audience to question the working of the system by a conversation between Bharti and her co-worker Dashrath, the latter saying “we are Dalits. Did you forget that for a moment”?

This particular story opens a new vision for female friendships in Bollywood movies. Unlike the movie, Veere di Wedding and OTT released series Four more shots please, where the bonding simply happens over drinking and shopping, Geeli Pucchi introduces a new dynamic to female friendships. The screenplay was brilliant showing the class difference between Pryia ‘Sharma’ And Bharti ‘Mandal’, the latter’s house was dark and dusty, unlike the former’s house which was bright.

This issue as such a caste system was perfectly highlighted in the segment. For instance, a separate ‘special cup’ was given to Bharti during her visit to Priya’s house. Priya’s mother warns her to stay away from Bharti just by hearing her surname, subtly implying it would tint their family reputation as her father was going to be the head priest.

The climax is very unsettling because solidarity which comes at the expense of maintaining status is false solidarity, and is bound to fall apart.

The final segment ANKAHI, directed by Kayoze Irani, seeks comfort on a rainy day but with an upsetting storm in the end. This segment is centered around a married couple Natasha (Shefali Shah) and Rohan (Tota Roy Chowdhury), whose daughter Natasha (Sara Arjun), has a hearing impediment. Natasha has learned sign language for her daughter and worries that her husband does not spend time with her daughter. Natasha befriends a deaf and mute photographer, Kabir (Manav Kaul) who listens to her. Kabir believes that the lips can lie, but the eyes can never lie.

This seems to come off as a usual love story, but again every love story is different and has its language. Unlike the other segments, ANKAHI has nothing much to offer but the relationship shared between Kabir and Natasha seems to be an escape from the ‘real world’.