Ajeeb Daastaans
Available on Netflix
The four stories of AJEEB DAASTAANS focus on relationships set against mores, customs, and prejudices of modern India. The first, The Lover, depicts an unhappy arranged marriage. He, wealthy, violent, and seemingly criminal, promises he'll never love her. From a powerful family, she is given no choice but to accept her fate in the convenient merging of the two families. Soon, the reason he gives her no kids is clear. When he demands the promising and handsome young son of an employee manage his finances, sexual tensions rise in the house. Both husband and wife are attracted to him, but the employee has his own agenda. The chapter called Toy highlights the difficult life of an orphaned and poverty-stricken housekeeper forced to raise her young sister. A wealthy family hires her, but the powerful and violent husband tries to force himself on the housekeeper. The story ends in a bloody murder. Sloppy Kisses features the only woman working in a factory. Abundantly competent, with a college degree and hopes of moving to a white-collar financial job, the masculine-looking employee is passed over for a less competent, higher-caste, more feminine-looking woman. When the two fall in love, the higher-caste woman fails to protect her lover, leaving the lover to seek subtle revenge. Unspoken, the last episode, is the most conventional but perhaps most relatable, as an unloved married woman with a deaf daughter encounters a joyful deaf man and falls in love. Class plays no part here, but distant male parenting versus nurturing female parenting offers other stereotypes that the filmmakers seem to want to break down.
Starring Fatima Sana Shaikh, Jaideep Ahlawat, Armaan Ralhan
Director Neeraj Ghaywan, Kayoze Irani