Ten social evils weaved in one flick…
Uzma Zafar

Director: Vishal Bharadwaj, Apoorva Lakhia, Hansal Mehta, Sudhir Mishra, Jasmeet Dhodi
Producer: White Feather Films
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Nana Patekar, Arjun Rampal, Aftab Shivdasani, Viveik Anand Oberoi, Arbaaz Khan, Rohit Roy, Bipasha Basu, Tanushree Datta, Mandira Bedi, Neha Dhupia, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergill, Sammir Dattani, Sudhanshu Pandey, Tusshar Kapoor
Story/Writer: Gulzar, Javed Akhtar, Kamlesh Pandey, Vishal Bharadwaj.

It would be quiet unfair if one compares Das Kahaniyan with Darna Mana Hai, Darna Zaroori hai, Salam-e-Ishq, Honey Moon Travels Private Limited and Just Married as the aforementioned film is very different from the rest and thus, is of a genre of it’s own that has never been attempted before in the Hindi cinema. It’s a 2-hour film containing 10 different stories, some easily comprehended and others hard to relate to and yet some which are simply for fun! Nevertheless, each tale is complete in it’s own 8-15mins duration and in the end, all the characters do not meet like we are used to watch but in fact, the film is like that book which carries many short stories in it. If looked deeply, each story gives a separate message, highlighting various social evils prevailing in a given society.
The first tale is Matrimony starring Mandira Bedi, Arbaaz Khan and Sudhanshu Pandey. It is the tale of a broken family. Apparently, the couple is perfect to the onlooker but there are a lot many holes in their relationship, well-hidden through their pasted smiles. Being the wife of a busy businessman who has no time for home, the lady finds pleasure elsewhere. However, it’s only later that she realizes something astonishing that changes her life. This tale captures the lifestyle of the elite and it’s end is open to varied perceptions. High On The Highway starring Jimmy Shergill and Masumeh is a complicated affair and is very hard for the viewer to comprehend as it becomes abstract at certain occasions. Nevertheless, the issue of drugs and it’s impact on life is highlighted, putting forward the idea that you lose everything you care for through this curse on mankind. Pooranmashi like Matrimony, is again about how one wrong turn can destroy the entire marital relationship. However, this time the bonds of a mother and daughter are shown and the mother’s and the latter’s immaturity to trust someone in her past, even after getting married. This is the mistake that some women of the lower classes make, risking their present and the future.
On the other hand, Zahir starring Manoj Bajpai and Dia Mirza, is also a bold step forward, exposing the male rage and expression of strength on the females while making HIV-AIDS the main theme. Then, Strangers In The Night starring Neha Dhupia and Mahesh Manjrekar makes one think that we should not doubt the people we love for not always things are what they seem to be. Each year one of the couple shares something with the other that he or she has kept hidden from the other. When it comes to the wife, she talks of an apparently passionate physical incident before marriage. However, what comes out in the end is intriguingly shocking. The story gives the message that most of the time it’s the male ego, doubt and possessiveness as they call it, that ruins the relationship. Sex on the Beach, starring Dino Morea and Tareena Patel, on the other hand, is about a beach bum and fun lover who’s quench for adventure destroys him in the end. The theme might be creepy but how it’s presented is quite funny in a positive sense and adds a lighter touch to the otherwise serious drama at hand. The tale warns all the guys to not trust every beauty while saying that all that’s pretty to the eyes is not necessarily safe to the hands as well. The idea of the cursed book is of course adopted from the Western films.
Love Dale starring Anupam Kher, Anooradha Singh, Aftab Shivdasani and Neha Uberoi is probably the sweetest of all the tales, adding a lighter and in fact, romantic touch to deception and betrayal-filled tales put before. Her parents have found a match for her and the goes is going to another city, to meet and check him out. On her way, she meets a woman and then, a man, which changes her life forever. And it is then when she’s getting married that her father allows her to go to her love and spend a better life than an arranged one. The theme is probably about all those parents who become a stone wall between their kids’ marriage when it comes to a love one. Rice Plate starring Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah is about racial and in fact religious indifferences and a woman’s hunger which makes her forget her pre-conceived notions for a while and it changes her life for the better. Ghubarre starring Nana Patekar, Anita and Rohit Roy is a touching tale about relationships and how a moment can end everything and all that’s left is memories to cherish if there was time for making good ones even! And last but not the least Rise & Fall starring Sanjay Dutt and Suniel Shetty, was probably the best way to end the film. It’s a tale of two underworld gangsters, one the don and the other; his right hand, trying to cut his roots and invade over the former’s status. It probably gives the message to trust no one and that when two of the gangsters die, two others are born and the process goes on and so do the mistakes! Dus Kahaniyaan is a unique movie; a product of 6 directors, 25 actors, 4 music directors and 10 stories for a two hour long movie. On the whole, the interesting stories outnumber the not so interesting ones and though it not be a blockbuster on the box office but would do not so bad either as the tales have the ability to keep one hooked. The tales might be different at the surface but are similar at the core as each one gives the message that a moment lost and in fact, one little mistake, can change one’s life for ever, let that be in anger, lust, frustration or any thing. One should not give in to his desires and use his head instead. Thus, it’s in fact 10 social evils weaved in one flick. It’s best part is probably that all the stars in it are in roles that we can relate to them as. This flick might be bold but all that it teaches us is morality! Of course, there’s no song in the flick, just the title score that also comes in the end. As the genre of the film is not much known to many and is in fact one that everybody would not be able to relate to, so it would be popular among a select audience only. As it contains themes that are somewhat bold, so the kids should not be let to watch the film. Only mature audience with a craving for diverse themes and appetite for trying different tastes would be entertained by each tale giving a separate moral in the end. .