INDIA New England News
Ajeeb Daastaans (film on Netflix); Cast: Jaideep Ahlawat, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Armaan Ralhan, Abhishek Banerjee, Nushrratt Bharuccha, Inayat Verma, Konkona Sen Sharma, Aditi Rao Hydari, Shefali Shah, Manav Kaul, Tota Roy Chowdhury; Direction: Shashank Khaitan, Raj Mehta, Neeraj Ghaywan, Kayoze Irani; Rating: (three stars)
BY VINAYAK CHAKRAVORTY
It is provocative, for the way it twists the very concept of love from being an emotion that demands unconditional sacrifice to a mere tool for realising selfish gains. It is flawed, too, for the way it struggles to utilise that unusual premise, while bringing alive its spread of relationship sagas.
Is this even a debate? But for conversation’s sake,
Majnu starts as a predictable storyline that Bollywood has churned out again and again. It’s the story of a Bara Banki overload with criminal dealings, Babloo (Jaideep Ahlawat), and his audacious wife, Lipaskhi (Fatima Sana Shaikh), who questions the patriarchy notions, even when it comes to amoral virtues like cheating. Why should boys have all the fun, or rather, privileges? We see that in her spirit, but also, the pain of being stuck in a loveless marriage. Enter Raj – a good looking London-bound finance graduate who is asked to stay back by Babloo – who soon begins a down-low romance with Lipakshi.
On Friday (April 16), Netflix released the anthology film Ajeeb Daastaans on their platform
The film has four segments directed by Shashank Khaitan, Raj Mehta, Neeraj Ghaywan and Kayoze Irani
It is jointly produced by filmmaker Karan Johar and Netflix
It is provocative, for the way it twists the very concept of love from being an emotion that demands unconditional sacrifice to a mere tool for realising selfish gains. It is flawed, too, for the way it struggles to utilise that unusual premise while bringing alive its spread of relationship sagas.
Ajeeb Daastaans is a curious bag indeed, if only for its utterly wicked entertainment quotient, and also because it is a rare film coming out of mainstream Bollywood that looks at love as anything beyond a sacrosanct sentiment.
Ajeeb Daastaans movie review: Good and bad co-exist in this morally ambiguous anthology
The common modus operandi seems to be a subversion of our expectations at the end, even if the effectiveness of this strategy wavers.
Share Via Email
| A+A A-
Ajeeb Daastans, a four-part anthology, has atypicality in its stories, although the degree varies from film to film.
Express News Service
Karan Johar’s segment in the 2013 anthology, Bombay Talkies, ends with the song, ‘Ajeeb Daastan Hai Ye’, as a bewildered Dev (Randeep Hooda), who has just come out as a homosexual to his wife, sits, doubtful about his future. The song befits the fogginess of his situation, and with Karan Johar producing Ajeeb Daastaans, a four-part anthology, you can see where the idea might have stemmed from. Translating to ‘Weird Tales’, Ajeeb Daastaans has atypicality in its stories, although the degree varies from film to film. The common modus operandi seems to be a subversion of our e