Dus Kahaniyaan

"Dus Kahaniyaan" comes from the stable of Sanjay Gupta's production house-WHITE FEATHER FILMS. In the past they have come out with "Musafir", "Kaante", "Zinda" & "Shootout At Lokhandwala". Two things that one can be certain of in the movies from this production house are Sanjay Dutt and lots and lots of style! In "Dus Kahaniyaan" you find both, but in parts! "Dus Kahaniyaan" can be described best as like a book of short stories covering different genres or spectrum. It has , like the title says, 10 stories. Each one of them is a separate story and therefore what makes this movie different from the likes of "Darna Mana Hai" etc. is that the stories are not connected by any common thread! Each story exists in a different world, completely independent of each other just like the different stories in a book.

Now, coming to the important part-are the stories good enough to grip you? Well, personally I feel that there are at least 4 stories that are a notch above the other 6. That's my personal opinion though some viewers might take a liking to a few of the other stories as well. The best of the lot are (not necessarily in that order): MATRIMONY-Features Mandira Bedi, Arbaaz Khan and Sudhanshu Pandey. It's about marriage and infidelity. Good acting from all three and the twist in the tale is awesome-my favourite of the ten stories! RICE PLATE-Shabana Azmi and Naseruddin Shah. You expect the best from them and are not disappointed. The story is about religious belief's-two contrasting views! A subtext of communal harmony.

ZAHIR-Another story with a twist! Features Manoj Bajpai and Dia Mirza. Good narration though acting was just about passable! It's about a writer (Manoj Bajpai) who has failed in love but see a ray of hope (yet again) in Dia Mirza. But is She ready? Has an underlying social message too! POORNAMASI-A tale of honour. Revolves around a mother-daughter played by Amrita Singh and Minnisha Lamba respectively. A decent story (that's the least you can expect from it's writer-Meghna Gulzar).

The other 6 stories that I haven't mentioned didn't really grip me! There's SEX ON THE BEACH (Dino Moreo, Tareena Patel) that has some good visuals, sound effects and tilts towards the spooks but just doesn't do it. GOOBARE (Nana Patekar, Rohit Roy, Hansika Mansandani) is predictable and so is the one that has Aftab Shivdasani and Neha Uberoi! RISE AND FALL involving Sanjay Dutt and Suniel Shetty is confusing (due to the way it's narrated) and is only high on style. STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT (Neha Dhupia, Mahesh Manjrekar) is below average too. And the weakest is HIGH ON THE HIGHWAY (Jimmy Shergill).

The advantage for the viewer when you are watching a movie like this is that the movie literally moves on! If you don't like a story, it wouldn't tax you for long-that's the best part. Some stories, like I said, could have been better. Sometimes, like in their earlier movies, the stress is put too much on Style and Gloss rather than the fundamental part-the script. The point is then missed! So an overall rating of 5.5/10. 4 for the four good stories and 1.5 for genuine innovation-something different. A sequel-why not. Can get 6 or 7 right next time!

You can blame Sanjay Gupta for making violent movies, based on the underworld or the bizarre. But one needs to give him credit for doing stuff thats not too run-of-the-mill.

Having gathered a young crew of directors, mostly novice, comprising of Meghna Gulzar (Just Married), Apoorva Lakhia (Shootout at L'wala/Ek Ajnabee), Rohit Roy amongst others, Gupta gives them less than 15 minutes time to showcase his own concepts.

The collection opens with MATRIMONY (4/10). Mandira Bedi is surprisingly good.

Next up is HIGH ON THE HIGHWAY (1/10). Jimmy Shergil gets irritating.

POORANMASHI (3/10) brings Meghna on who gets a good job from Amrita Singh. Lamba is wasted. Nice rural touches.

STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT (4/10) gets one added star for its narrative style. It is made to deceive. But unbelievable. Manjrekar disappoints as the husband.

The last pre-intermission segment is ZAHIR (4/10) and this one disappoints. Crudely shot by Gupta. Manoj Vajpayee is uninterested & way below-par.

LOVEDALE (4/10) is a slow tale and you can smell the super-natural halfway through the story. Anupam Kher is wasted.

Apoorva Lakhia's SEX ON THE BEACH (1/10 is the worst of the lot. Poor performances. Crudely presented.

RICE PLATE (9/10) by debutante Rohit Roy is a pleasant surprise. Roy infuses immediate charm and is considerably helped by Shabana Azmi's brilliant portrayal of an orthodox religious Southie. Azmi takes just a few frames to warm up but ends up in control. Naseer Shah is understated. (This, in fact, is 'borrowed' from a Jeffrey Archer short story).

GUBBARE (3/10) is passable only because of Patekar. Gulzar's script doesn't really shine. Nana is a natural.

RISE & FALL (5/10) has two stories intertwined (gets very confusing too). Lots of style. I personally found Suniel Shetty a notch above than Dutt. The two teenage taporis are really good.

Overall worth a look. Technical values are pretty good. Some segments have good editing but sound designing is improper for this genre.

Dus Kahaniya falls in the line of the daring attempts made by few directors of presenting different stories of different people in one movie. But this was the most unique of all them, till today. Dus Kahaniya is just like somebody buying a short story book from a book shop which comprises for 10 different stories. But the real flaw, which i think was, i was never attemted to establish a link between these stories which may also be said as the unique point of the movie. But i don't think this gamble paid off.

Also i would certainly mention about a few stories which i personally liked, from the flock presented,were Rice Plate(Nassir Sahab and Shabana Aajmi ji,directed by Rohit Roy), Zahir (Manoj Bajpai and Dia Mirza, Directed by Sanjay Gupta) and Puranmasi(Amrtia Singh,Minnisha Lamba and Permeet Sethi, directed by Meghana Gulzar).

I would certainly say that people should watch the movie and if you don't watch it expecting links between the stories this one you will certainly like.

Here i would also mention that the most disappointing person was Apporv Lakhiya. I think the story was not new to the public, for me at least. I expect more form him after seeing some of his brilliant work.

A good attempt to bring something different to the bollywood community.

Sanjay Gupta and others have made a risky attempt to come up with something that is not usual or expected in the current trend of bollywood.

Ten different stories. No doubt about learning from them but only for half a dozen; rest really do not make an impact. It is a great effort by all and as well all know with some expceptions....Here we go...!!!!

Matrimony starring Mandira Bedi, Arbaaz Khan -- Nice one. Good to start with. Better begun is half done.....(5/10)

Pooranmashi starring Amrita Singh, Minnisha Lamba -- Great acting. You get along this "kahani" . (6/10)

High on the Highway starring Jimmy Shergill -- Don't quite remember what was in it... worst of the bunch (0/10)

Stranger in the Night starring Neha Dhupia, Mahesh Manjerakar -- A so so story to all the wicked minds....but positive lesson .. (4/10)

Zahir starring Manoj Bajpai, Diya Mirza - A good lesson for the young generation to understand whats going on in others mind..... (5/10)

Lovedale starring Aftab Shivdasani -- A story every lover will like... But I didn't find it so interesting... will give it a friendly... (5/10)

Sex on the Beach starring Dino Morea -- I recommend you to grab a plate of samosas for your family/friends while this is going on....I know the title will not allow you to do this but there is nothing in this.... (1/10)

Gubbare starring Nana Patekar -- This story is among the half dozen that I like out of 10. Nothing to describe about it...watch it.. (7/10)

Rice Plate starring Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah -- Simply great acting and great direction. Nice message. (8/10) This much just for the message.

Rise & Fall starring Sanjay Dutt and Sunil Shetty -- I am a great fan of Sanjay Dutt but I could not digest the story line so (4/10) is enough.

Summary : Look out for these KAHANI's

Matrimony, Pooranmashi, Zahir, Gubbare, Rice Plate, Lovedale

Try to Ignore

High on the Highway, Sex on the Beach

Will have different opinions over Stranger in the Night (Good narration), Rise and Fall

'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.