Shivi's Take: Ajeeb Daastaans

 Shivi's Take: Ajeeb Daastaans

Ajeeb Daastaans 2021 is officially one of my favourite films. It is an anthology of four short stories directed by Shashank Khaitan, Raj Mehta, Neeraj Ghaywan, and Kayoze Irani. Every story explores something different desire, power, caste, betrayal, connection and yet they all sit together in the same emotional universe. I genuinely regret not watching this earlier.

The first story starts with Fatima Sana Shaikh as Lipakshi and Jaideep Ahlawat as Babloo. From the first frame, you know this marriage is a transaction. Lipakshi is bored and emotionally shut out so she starts looking for something more. That something arrives in the form of Raj played by Armaan Ralhan, the son of their former driver who now works for Babloo’s company.

His name is Raj Kumar but he prefers just Raj. That detail felt intentional. Like someone trying to redefine themselves (I hope I am not reading into it too much). He skips a job offer in London to stay back and work with Babloo and soon he catches Lipakshi’s eye. At first, it feels like a classic forbidden romance setup but things get twisted fast. Raj is not just there for the romance. He’s playing a long game and when you find out why, it hits. What you don’t expect is Babloo falling for Raj too. That turn was unexpected and bold.

It’s a smart story and structured well but emotionally it didn’t hit me as hard as the others. It felt more like a stylish prelude to what was coming next.

The second story is Khilauna and this one completely flipped me. Nushrratt Bharuccha plays Meenal, a domestic worker trying to navigate life in the slums while keeping things together for her younger sister Binny played by Inayat Verma. She’s dating Sushil played by Abhishek Banerjee and the three of them share this chaotic but strangely intimate rhythm.

What starts off as grounded social commentary quickly becomes something else entirely. The class divide, the need to hustle, the emotional manipulation all of it is laid out so sharply. And then the last few minutes completely changed how I viewed one of the characters. I won’t spoil it but that ending had me frozen. The way it’s written is clever but what really sells it is the acting. Everyone’s in top form here. This was definitely one of my favourites.

Then comes Geeli Pucchi and honestly this one could have been a full-length feature. Konkona Sen Sharma plays Bharti Mandal, a Dalit woman working at a factory. She’s overqualified and constantly overlooked. Then there’s Priya played by Aditi Rao Hydari an upper-caste upper-class newly married woman who enters the workplace completely unaware of what her presence signifies.

They build a relationship that is emotional and possibly romantic but never fully defined. That grey area is what makes it so powerful. Konkona is just unreal in this. She barely speaks but every glance, every pause, every shift in her energy tells you exactly what she’s thinking. It’s nuanced and painful and intentional. You feel everything Bharti feels without needing it explained to you. This story moved me in a very real way. It felt like the most emotionally mature piece in the whole anthology.

The final story is Ankahi and it felt like the perfect way to end. Directed by Kayoze Irani, it stars Shefali Shah as Natasha, a mother trying and failing to connect with her deaf daughter. She meets Kabir, a deaf photographer played by Manav Kaul, and they begin this gentle, silent bond that feels more honest than anything she has in her marriage.

There’s barely any dialogue but the emotional clarity is insane. Manav Kaul is magnetic here. He expresses everything through his eyes, his gestures, his stillness. And Shefali Shah is, as always, phenomenal. The restraint in her performance is what makes it heartbreaking. Their connection is full of pauses, longing, tension, comfort. It is love but in a form we rarely see in Indian cinema. I loved that this story came last. After so much intensity in the previous segments, this gave you space to just breathe and feel.

My favourites have to be Khilauna and Geeli Pucchi. Both stories are tough and uncomfortable in the best way. They are subtle but never hollow. Abhishek Banerjee’s performance in Khilauna caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting that much range from him but he completely owned that role. And Bharti, Konkona’s character, might be one of my favourite women on screen in the last few years. She’s powerful, soft, strategic, angry, and completely believable. There’s a quiet confidence in the way her story is told.

One small note. I usually love Fatima Sana Shaikh’s work. She was great in Ludo, which also had a four-stories structure. But here, in Majnu, something felt a little off at first. I wasn’t connecting to her performance until that last scene where everything shifts. That moment saved it for me and reminded me why I like her as an actor.

Overall, Ajeeb Daastaans is exactly the kind of work I want to create. Thankyou to everyone who worked on that film. You created a masterpiece.

Thanks for reading.

: shivikas777@gmail.com