Ankahi Kahaniya
RATING
Introduction
Another Month Another Anthology! A genre which was considered a niche not too long again is at a risk of being overutilized. And it is that OTT platform at the helm of it yet again – Netflix. I am not sure what the thinking behind it is but it is definitely a bit of an overkill. The OTT though has brought us gems in the genre like Paava Kadhaigal and Feels Like Ishq and some underappreciated ones like Ray and Navarasa, now is back with a brand new film Ankahi Kahaniya this time featuring just 3 ‘unsaid’ tales. And I have finally finished watching it, is it worth your time? Stay tuned, this time in our regular format.
Story & Screenplay
Unkahi Kahaniya follows the story of 3 ‘unique’ stories exploring different shades of love and infidelity. And this time it is a story of 1 hit and 2 miss hits.
The first story has a very different concept of a man who is a loner falling in love with a manequin. But it needed some amount of polished execution to engage the audience. But all you shot is a story that just went around in circles and thereby was just so boring and uninteresting. The execution is flawed and it seemed to be that after a point the writers ran out of writing material. This film was a slog unfortunately.
The second story features a young couple both moviebuffs trying to break the shackles of their respective family and flee. The story here may not be too novel but it is executed quite well. This is the story that does standout among the other two which just falls flat. The screenplay is engaging though it didn’t completely hold my attention. But overall, this one deserves a watch.
The third story features a man and a woman trying to trace back the affair of their respective spouses. The story was pretty different but this again suffered from a flawed execution and thereby leading to boredom. The screenplay lacks pace here and could have been a bit quicker and maybe a bit crisper. This one was just an average affair for me.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are alright in the first and third films while again the second one stands out. I didn’t find the BGM memorable in any of the three films. Ashwany Iyer Tiwari who has directed the first film is one of the few directors whose work I generally enjoy. Sadly, here she misses the mark and her direction doesn’t stir up the required emotions. Abhishek Chaubey has got to be one of the best young directors that we have in the circuit currently and he is in a league of his own here. The subject was tricky and it did come with a baggage but Abhishek has made it his own, pretty good direction. But considering his high standards, this may well just be his weakest film yet but still very good. Saket Chaudhary best known for Pyaar Ke Side Effects should have been in his comfort zone directing the third film. Sadly, his direction is a little inconsistent, probably he may have been in two minds as to where to draw the line. With a heavy heart I must admit, he does lose the plot here.
Performances
The performances are pretty good but none of them can save the film in its entirety. Abhishek Banerjee yet again stamps his class in a film that yet again fails to utilize his talent. Rinku Rajguru and Delzad Hiwale are both exceptional and their screen presence is an add on in the standout second short. Palomi Ghosh and Nikhil Dwivedi are both excellent, so are Zoya Hussain and Kunal Kapoor but sadly the flawed execution of the third short just reverses all the good work done.
Conclusion
Ankahi Kahaniya promises on some unsaid stories but at the end of it you can’t help but feel that some stories are best left unsaid. A story of 1 hit and 2 misses. Available on Netflix.
External Links: IMDB