Dus Kahaniyaan

Sometimes, a short story of 10 minutes or a music video of 4 minutes has a better story to tell than most 2.30 hour movies.

Dus Kahaniyaan is a very novel attempt by producer-director Sanjay Gupta, ten stories, six directors and an ensemble of actors. The idea is great and it turns out be an enjoyable experience as well. Even though all ten stories are not outstanding, all of them are absorbing, what with their taut narrative, brilliant acting and the mandatory twist in the tale.

The directors whose stories truly stand out are definitely Gupta himself, Meghna Gulzar and debutant director, Rohit Roy.

Lovedale, Sex On The Beach, High On The Highway are perhaps the weakest stories of the lot. Matrimony, which stars Mandira Bedi, Arbaaz Khan and Sudhanshu Pandey, is a witty, urbane take on matrimony directed by Gupta. Even Strangers in the Night, is an interesting story. The irony behind Rise & Fall, which sees the appearance of Sanjay Dutt and Suniel Shetty, is well bought out in the film. Zahir, which stars Manoj Bajpai and Dia Mirza is also interesting. While the entire package of ten is rivetting in itself, not all strike an emotional chord as the Rice Plate, Puranmaas and Gubbare do. These three have a moving narrative, great performances and masterly direction.

One realizes that the attempt is to bring different kinds of stories together. But not all of the stories have that which makes good cinema, the twist in the tale notwithstanding. But this is an interesting attempt by Gupta and his production house to infuse an element of novelty into mainstream Hindi cinema.