'Dus Kahaniyaan' is very much a collection of 10 shorts. None of the stories have anything to do with the other. 6 directors tell their story in 10 short films but only a few are worth watching.
Apoorva Lakhia's "Sex on the Beach": These days one can only expect sleaze where Dino Morea is concerned and this one provides that. It looks like the sleazy version of a story from 'Darna Mana Hai' except this one is boring. Tarina Patel in a cheap bikini trying to pull off Ursula Andreas's famous walk-from-the-sea scene is laughable. This is the worst short of them all.
Sanjay Gupta's "Rise & Fall": I don't understand why Gupta chose to tell this uninteresting story that has been told x number of times already. Well, it is quite known that Gupta is a hack so nothing new there. Sanjay Dutt is decent and Sunil Shetty is bad. The cinematography is good but the action sequences are overdone.
Sanjay Gupta's "Strangers in the Night": The twist in this one will make viewers laugh. From erotic it turns to preachy. Why were these two people having this conversation? Mahesh Manjrekar was lame and Neha Dhupia was alright (she looks sizzling).
Hansal Mehta's "High on the Highway": Another pointless uninteresting story. It tries to be dark but ends up being too messy. Jimmy Shergill hams when he's screaming but otherwise he's okay. Ditto for Masumi Makhija.
Sanjay Gupta's "Matrimony": This is a poor adaptation of Roald Dahl's 'The Colonel's Coat'. It lacks the wit of the original short story and the characters aren't that interesting. Arbaaz Khan fails to impress while Mandira Bedi and Sudhanshu Pandey are just okay.
Jasmeet Dhodhi's "Lovedale": What i liked about this one was Anuradha Patel. OK, she was there only in one scene (and does a good job) but it's remarkable to see how little she's changed in 20 years (I last saw her in 'Ijaazat'). The story is nice but seems a little too rushed, hence unbelievable. Anupam Kher is forgettable. Neha Oberoi looks sleepy and Aftab Shivdasani is average.
Sanjay Gupta's "Zahir": This is one of those stories with a message. It's not as engaging but what makes it watchable is Manoj Bajpai's performance. The actor displays Saahil's easy-going nature, his loneliness and his sexual frustration with tremendous ease. Diya Mirza shows improvement as an actress.
Meghna Gulzar's "Pooranmashi": A tragic tale of a mother and daughter. It's one of the shortest stories but also most effective. Amrita Singh is fantastic and Minisha Lamba is really cute and does a fine job. The story is a little predictable but this one engages far more than the other seven mentioned above.
Sanjay Gupta's "Gubbare": A touching story. The story sounds familiar but the dialogues seem genuine. Gupta does a good job with this one. Nana Patekar is wonderful. Rohit Roy and Anita Hassandani are very competent. This is a nice one.
Rohit Roy's "Rice Plate": Save the best for last. This one is the best among the 10 shorts not only because of two of the most accomplished actors, but also because of the way the story is told. Roy tackles relevant issues concerning religion and prejudice but he does it with a wonderful balanced sense of humour, that doesn't prevent the message to get through. It's great to see Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi work together after years. Azmi is hilarious as the eccentric Brahmin while Shah downplays his part with dignity. Rohit Roy shows great promise as a director and perhaps this is a career-path he can consider. This one is a treat to watch.
On the whole, it is the last three shorts that I liked the most while the rest did not make much of an impression but one big flaw is that none of the stories are original and most of them have been plagiarized. I'd say watch it only for the three good.
