Ankahi kahaniya Review: Netflix new anthology take us through winding paths of longing and love
Ankahi kahaniya Web Series Rating: 2 Stars
Just watched Ankahi kahaniya web series on Netflix. So let’s analyze the cast, release date, story, positive/negatives and at last my personal view on this web series.
Cast: Abhishek Banerjee, Zoya Hussain, Kunal Kapoor, Nikhil Dwivedi, Palomi, Rinku Rajguru and Delzad Hiwale
Director: Saket Chaudhary, Abhishek Chaubey and Ashwini Iyer Tiwari
Release Date: 17th September 2021 (Netflix)
Duration: 3 Episodes/ 35 Mints
Story: Series starts on a promising note with director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s story about a clothing store salesman Pradeep (Abhishek Banerjee). He has come from a village in Madhya Padesh and is stuck in the daily monotony of earning a wage as a salesperson in a ready-made garment store in Mumbai. While everyone around him is busy going on dates right from his younger slick co-worker who takes his girl to Juhu beach, to his roommate in his Basti who is glued to his phone as he romances his lady love.
Cupid finally takes pity and Pradeep falls hard for a female mannequin who is brought to the store to display women’s clothing and names her Pari. He dresses her meticulously, talks to her, adorns her with jewellery, takes her around in an auto and walks on neon-lit beaches lugging her around. All hell breaks loose when the store owner sees video footage of him romancing the mannequin. What happens after that and why Pradeep is doing so is about this story.
Director Abhishek Chaubey’s story takes the anthology several notches up with a love story set entirely on the margins of poverty and grime. Nandu (Delzad Hiwale) is a poor boy with an ailing father who does various jobs to meet the day’s end. His reality is far grimmer than you can think of. He cleans public washrooms, sells vada pav, and works as a part-time ticket assistant at a single-screen theatre.
On the other hand, Manjari (Rinku Rajguru) lives with her family but is almost an outcast and trapped in a life of abuse and shame. She is reduced to doing chores at home and her only escape is watching Marathi flicks at the local theatre where she meets Nandu. Soon both of them bridge the gap and look forward to seeing each other on their movie dates, or strolls amid nature in a desperate attempt to find solace and escapism from their harsh reality. They find a connection between themselves with the desire for a better future. They want to set themselves free and decide to come together in the process. The unexpected moments of making some tough choices make up for the rest of the story.
The last story directed by Saket Chaudhary narrates the story of infidelity and broken relationships. The story takes us through an unlikely bond that the two people develop when they find out that their spouses are having an affair. Manav (Kunal Kapoor) and Natasha (Palomi Ghosh) are a couple with kids while Tanu Mathur (Zoya Hussain) Arjun Mathur (Nikhil Dwivedi) are married. Tanu finds about the affair between Natasha and Arjun and decides to meet Manav.
In a desperate attempt to right her husband’s wrong and understand why this even happened, she meets Manav. Together, they try to dissect and understand what must have led to their partner’s infidelity. Through conversations and Tanu’s desperate attempt to save her marriage, we see a sense of abandonment she feels after years of marriage. Manav, on the other hand, is more practical and is emptier than you could see him from the surface. His failure has cost him his marriage which has been subtly exuded onscreen. What happens after that is all about this story.
Positives
1. Excellent Performances
2. 1st Story
3. Screenplay
4. Concept
Negatives
1. Climax
2. Length
3. 2nd and 3rd Story not much interesting
4. Average Direction
Durgesh Tiwary’s View : When I had watched the trailer of this series planned to watch in my free time because trailer looks refreshing and also title of this series attracts me.
Stories of self-emancipation, urban loneliness, and struggling with self-identity often get missed in our fast-paced lives. We might claim to understand it, but more often than not we fail to understand where all of it stems from. While the Abhishek Banerjee starrer deals with the loneliness and unsettling feeling one grapples with when they move to a new city, the second starring Rinku Rajguru and Delzad Hiwale focuses more on the feeling of being Alone despite being surrounded by people, wanting to break away and escape reality. The third story, with Zoya Hussain, Kunal Kapoor in central roles, deals with the feeling of abandonment in a loveless marriage and self-identity crisis.
Overall Ankahi Kahaniya is a mixed bag. The pace isn’t of primary importance here. All the filmmakers take their time to narrate their stories. My View on this web-series Time Pass if you like slow burn stories. For me 1st story is outstanding and rest are average.
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