दस कहानियां

Well, taking cue from RGV's "Darna...." series (and Tarantino/ Rodriguez), Dutt Baba conceives Dus Kahaniyaan on similar lines. At the very outset, it seems all the segments are crammed thereby leaving with ""Bang-Bang Thank You Ma'am" feeling. Perhaps more time was warranted for the characters to take shape and the plot to sink in.

Matrimony:: The plot is a straight lift from one of the email forwards. Arbaaz looks suave and Mandira quite convincing.

High on the Highway:: Very contrived of the entire lot. Jimmy's performance is at its worst and somebody please give him a truth serum of his awful hair color.

Puranmaashi:: Probably owing to time constraint the plot seems extremely lame. Coming from Meghna, my expectations were riding high owing to Gulzar genes.

Stranger in the night:: Again, not one of the brightest crayons in the box. In short the plot is "Looking London - Going Tokyo", if you know what I mean.

Zahir:: Again a downer plot, topped up with great performance by the two. Also perhaps Dia would have been a ideal choice in High on the High on the Highway segment.

Lovedale:: Seemed straight out of Yashraj camp - too coincidental.

Sex on the beach:: Plot is copied from Darna series. No great shakes in there.

Gubbare:: My vote for the Number One segment. Short, crisp and effective. The conversation of Nana to his wife should have been edited for creative impact.

Rice Plate:: Number Two vote. Thought the plot seems to be copied from one of the email forwards, its the Shabana and Naseer who make up with the top-notch performance.

Rise and Fall:: The plot needed more space. Also the non-linear format confuses. The background score is loud. Otherwise a meaty plot.

Watch it if you have nothing to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

'Dus Kahaniyaan' is very much a collection of 10 shorts. None of the stories have anything to do with the other. 6 directors tell their story in 10 short films but only a few are worth watching.

Apoorva Lakhia's "Sex on the Beach": These days one can only expect sleaze where Dino Morea is concerned and this one provides that. It looks like the sleazy version of a story from 'Darna Mana Hai' except this one is boring. Tarina Patel in a cheap bikini trying to pull off Ursula Andreas's famous walk-from-the-sea scene is laughable. This is the worst short of them all.

Sanjay Gupta's "Rise & Fall": I don't understand why Gupta chose to tell this uninteresting story that has been told x number of times already. Well, it is quite known that Gupta is a hack so nothing new there. Sanjay Dutt is decent and Sunil Shetty is bad. The cinematography is good but the action sequences are overdone.

Sanjay Gupta's "Strangers in the Night": The twist in this one will make viewers laugh. From erotic it turns to preachy. Why were these two people having this conversation? Mahesh Manjrekar was lame and Neha Dhupia was alright (she looks sizzling).

Hansal Mehta's "High on the Highway": Another pointless uninteresting story. It tries to be dark but ends up being too messy. Jimmy Shergill hams when he's screaming but otherwise he's okay. Ditto for Masumi Makhija.

Sanjay Gupta's "Matrimony": This is a poor adaptation of Roald Dahl's 'The Colonel's Coat'. It lacks the wit of the original short story and the characters aren't that interesting. Arbaaz Khan fails to impress while Mandira Bedi and Sudhanshu Pandey are just okay.

Jasmeet Dhodhi's "Lovedale": What i liked about this one was Anuradha Patel. OK, she was there only in one scene (and does a good job) but it's remarkable to see how little she's changed in 20 years (I last saw her in 'Ijaazat'). The story is nice but seems a little too rushed, hence unbelievable. Anupam Kher is forgettable. Neha Oberoi looks sleepy and Aftab Shivdasani is average.

Sanjay Gupta's "Zahir": This is one of those stories with a message. It's not as engaging but what makes it watchable is Manoj Bajpai's performance. The actor displays Saahil's easy-going nature, his loneliness and his sexual frustration with tremendous ease. Diya Mirza shows improvement as an actress.

Meghna Gulzar's "Pooranmashi": A tragic tale of a mother and daughter. It's one of the shortest stories but also most effective. Amrita Singh is fantastic and Minisha Lamba is really cute and does a fine job. The story is a little predictable but this one engages far more than the other seven mentioned above.

Sanjay Gupta's "Gubbare": A touching story. The story sounds familiar but the dialogues seem genuine. Gupta does a good job with this one. Nana Patekar is wonderful. Rohit Roy and Anita Hassandani are very competent. This is a nice one.

Rohit Roy's "Rice Plate": Save the best for last. This one is the best among the 10 shorts not only because of two of the most accomplished actors, but also because of the way the story is told. Roy tackles relevant issues concerning religion and prejudice but he does it with a wonderful balanced sense of humour, that doesn't prevent the message to get through. It's great to see Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi work together after years. Azmi is hilarious as the eccentric Brahmin while Shah downplays his part with dignity. Rohit Roy shows great promise as a director and perhaps this is a career-path he can consider. This one is a treat to watch.

On the whole, it is the last three shorts that I liked the most while the rest did not make much of an impression but one big flaw is that none of the stories are original and most of them have been plagiarized. I'd say watch it only for the three good.

Dus Kahaniyan - Six Director's 10 short stories in one film is the novel part which can be compared with "Darna Mana Hai" kind of movies. The only difference is that here "Its like seeing 10 short films at one go" as they are not related with each other and no linking scenes. Here I will rate each story for you and that will give you the whole idea of the movie :

The Best of 10 Stories 1. Puranmaasi (Amrita Singh, Minisha Lamba and Parmeet Sethi) If this short story does not inspire our film-makers to look into our own literature in Hindi, Urdu & Punjabi for new subjects then no one can inspire us really. Directed by Meghna Gulzar its based on the short story of Kartar Singh Duggal. The plot is so powerful and shockingly impactful that you feel surprised, why it was not adopted for a complete movie. The most impressive of the 10 and the unarguably the best part of the movie. You will only remember this at the back of the mind after watching all the 10.

Other Good Stories 2. Strangers in the night (Neha Dhupia, Mahesh Manjrekar) (Good use of surprise element, human touch and sensuality) 3. Zahir (Manoj Bajpai, Dia Mirza) (You find it funny as you get to know the real thing though its quite serious) 4. Rice Plate (Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah) Rohit Roy makes his directorial debut but chooses an inspired theme. Though he does a fine job but the similarities with the short film "The Lunch Date" (1989) are really questionable. Check out : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100076/plotsummary

Below Average Stories 5. Matrimony (Mandira Bedi, Arbaz Khan and Sudhanshu Pandey) (On Out of marriage Relations told many times) This story is inspired from 1st Episode of SEASON 6 of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" Titled : Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat Check out at : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047708/episodes#season-6 http://www.alfredsplace.com/presents.htm 6. High On The Highway (Jimmy Shergill, Masumeh) (About a drug addict couple..Not impressive) 7. Love Dale (Anupam Kher, Aftab Shivdasani and Neha Oberoi) (Follows the "Darna Mana Hai" tradition with Ghosts) 8. Sex on the Beach (Dino Morea and Tareena Patel) (This too follows the "Darna Mana Hai" Ghost thing) 9. Gubbare (Anita Hasnandani, Nana Patekar and Rohit Roy) (Again on "Darna Mana Hai" lines) 10. Rise and Fall (Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty) (Gang Fights and Stunts……Just Passable)

So with only 4 out of 10 watchable stories, it gives only average rating to the movie. Rating : 2.5 Stars (Dont miss "Puranmaasi", the story is the pride of our rich literature)

Thankfully,Dus Kahaniyaan has more good kahaniyaans than bad ones.Here

are some stories that didin't match up:

High on the Highway directed by Hansal Mehta starring Jimmy Sheirgill. Didn't do it for me.I felt bored quickly. This was ten minutes long but it felt much longer to me.The story was pretty bad and the acting got annoying after awhile.

Sex on the Beach directed by Apoorva Lakhia and starring Dino Morea. With a title like that and *taring Dino,you probably know what your'e getting into! Its a supernatural thriller and some parts in the beginning did keep you interested but the ending totally killed the movie.

Rise and Fall directed by Sanjay Gupta Starring Sanjay Dutt and Suneil Shetty.

No,its not totally bad.But for most part,it does leave you confused .Good performances,no doubt,but definitely could have been better handled.

Love Dale by Jasmeet Dhodi starring Anupan Kher and Aftab. A modest debut by Dhodi.Sweet story but predictable.

The rest of the stories were good.Sticking out are Rice Plate starring Nasseruddin and Shabana and Gubbare mainly because of Nana Patekar.

Overall,DK does have enough stories to keep you entertained for two hours.The song in the end was nice but unnecessary.

I and my friend Pratibha went to watch the first day first show of the much advertised movie wondering what surprise the 10-in-1 package would have in store for us. Yes...contrary to what you may expect, its 10 short films-the title's a dead giveaway! The six vidz worth watching are Matrimony, Lovedale, Gubbare (Balloons), Puranmashi (Full Moon), Zahir and Rice Plate...its a veritable mix with humor thrown in...the directors have endeavored to impress the audience with a "snap effect" - the last minute startling or unexpected twist to each of the movies. They have succeeded to some extent but failed in the entirety.

Three movies, viz. Zahir, Rice Plate and Strangers in the Night try to convey a social message. Lovedale is pleasant whereas Sex on the Beach leans towards spookiness. Sanjay Dutt starrer Rise and Fall is rather ill conceived...they could have done with lesser rainfall to hide the gory scenes! Gubbare, Pooranmashi and Matrimony portray love and debauchery marvelously. Zahir amuses.

The much advertised title song plays out during the closing credits.

Verdict - A One Time Watch!

Sanjeev Logani