Ajeeb Daastaans

Story

From unrequited love to loyalty and from sexuality to cast issues, 'Ajeeb Daastaan' touches so many dark issues in society. All the four stories revolve around love, heartbreak, and betrayal. 

Review 

Majnu 

Ajeeb Dastan begins with Majnu story. Written and directed by Shashank Khaitan, the story is about Babloo (Jaideep Ahlawat) who marries a powerful politician's daughter (Fatima Sana Shaikh) because of the pressure from his father. On the wedding night itself, he says that it was just a marriage of compromise and the bride cannot expect anything from him. The devastated newlywed bride starts looking for love outside marriage which leads to complications. This is a tale of passion which ends on an unpredictable note. Despite having some political strategies, the story fails to impress the audience. 

Khilauna  

Written by Sumit Saxena and directed by Raj Mehta, 'Khilauna' is the story of a young woman Meenal (Nushrat Bharucha) who works in middle-class homes to pay for the education of her sister Binny (Inayat Verma). A man from her neighborhood Sushil Abhishek Banerjee is in love with her and the new secretary (Manish Verma) exploits the vulnerable situation of Meenal to satisfy his physical needs. The mood of the story is extremely dark and even the climax of the story is quite unsettling. Though the editing of the story is quite good and the performances are impressive, the story will make the audience uncomfortable and even the characters also highly unrelatable. 

Geeli Pucchi

Directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, the story revolves around two characters played by Konkona Sen Sharma and Aditi Rao Hydari. The story revolves around caste differences, discrimination and sexuality. The wonderful performances make the audience hard to take their eyes off the screens. The story is extremely engaging and is one of the highly praised stories among all the four stories in this anthology film. Out of all the 4, Geeli Pucchi definitely stands out with its mesmerizing portrayal of society. 

Ankahi

Directed by Kayoze Irani, the story is about a middle-aged woman who is on the verge of going deaf. Her husband hates her voice and she meets a photographer who wants to hear her words with his mind. The story has some heart-breaking moments and is pure. It has a beautiful message that no matter how hard life is, there is always a positive hope to hang on to. 

Verdict 

Though the four stories are different and shed light on different dark issues of the present society, only 'Geeli Pucchi' and 'Ankahee' stories are good and presented in an impressive way.