Review: Ajeeb Daastaans

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Ajeeb Daastaans (AD) much like Lust Stories (which had primarily Lust as the theme) is about dysfunctional relations and relationships which society always looks at with a raised eyebrow or perhaps discusses in hush hush. The four segments are directed by Shashank Khaitan (Majnu), Raj Mehta (Khilona), Neeraj Ghayawan (Geeli Pucchi) and Kayoze Irani (Ankahi). Featuring an ensemble cast from the talented Jaideep Ahlawat, the fresh from the success of Ludo Fatima Sana Sheikh, Pataal Lok's big find Abhishek Banerjee, Nusrat Bharuchha (straight from the forts of Rajasthan with Honey Singh after the success if Naughty Saiyya), Konkona, Aditi Rao Hyderi, Shefali Shah, Manav Kaul and Tota Roy Chowdhury.

To put it upfront, barring the segment by Neeraj Ghayawan the rest of them are sloppy and lacks a tighter script to match. Geeli Pucchi stands out for the brilliance of the script, Konkona and the setting in which the narration takes place. Neeraj takes pain in creating a sequence of events which matches perfectly with the plot and the context. Take for instance the home where Konkona's character Bharti Mondal stays. The walls are dark and gloomy, the paint peeling off, the rooms look glum and sad and it perfectly reflects on Bharti Mondal and her backstory and the present too. At workplace, the same kind of environment and setting pervades. It is a factory that makes big container drums for chemical storage and one look at the place you can sense it is a dull and very sad place. Filled with men working in the shop floor, Konkona in an extremely de-glam role (reminds you of Charlize Theron or Francis McDormand in North Country) of the factory worker. 

Early on we know she is efficient, deprived, has anger issues and does not mince words. She has a world of her own where she is comfortable and inspite of the caste issues (both at workplace and personal life) has come to terms with it. All seems well until Aditi Rao Hyderi (Priya Sharma) walks in to join the factory in the position which Bharti Mondal was promised earlier. And from thereon the film moves to a trajectory where the brilliance of Konkona gets highlighted frame after frame. In a blink and you miss moment, she is fed by Aditi's character with a spoon being delicately pushed into her mouth. It is a subtle scene being played out in the factory cafeteria and Konkona is visibly blushing and hesitant to take it and yet she longs for the love. It is a scene of maybe 30 seconds but you realise why Konkona still remains top of the heap in performance. Aditi plays the perfect second fiddle to her and enjoys her moments when given the space to perform. Especially her quiet moments with Konkona after office hours. 

The other three segments fall apart either for a faulty plot or a screenplay and some misplaced casting. The first segment has Jaideep who is not comfortable in his role at all and Fatima looks unconvincing in her part while emoting or while mouthing her lines. The dark space of the haveli also does not bring forth the Ajeeb factor in the plot. It does not take off after 5 minutes into the narration. The second one was building up well and a misplaced Nusrat Bharuccha (glamourous in her role as the maid) was trying her best to do justice, but in the mode to make the plot abstract, it looks weak on the foundation. Usually, we have seen a Radhika Apte or Tillotama Shome in the character of Meenali (Nusrat Bharuccha) and somewhere there is a conditioned stimulus to it. The last segment featuring the amazing Shefali Shah fails to do justice with three extremely talented actors, Manav, Shefali and Tota. There are fault lines in the screenplay and the end never justifies the start. The closure is abrupt and is in silos to the entire narration. 

Ajeeb Daastaans is a one time watch for sure and for exploring the eccentricities in relationships. Relationships which are beyond class, sex, society and most of all breaks traditions. And you may call that Ajeeb as a Daastaan or may be as the new normal. Choose your sides else it will be easy to write-off the plots.

It's on Netflix. Go watch.          


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