Dus Kahaniyaan

Dus Kahaniyaan
Official poster of Dus Kahaniyaan
Directed by	Sanjay Gupta Apoorva Lakhia Meghna Gulzar Rohit Roy Hansal Mehta Jasmeet Dhodhi
Produced by	Sanjay Gupta
Starring	Diya Mirza Sunil Shetty Arbaaz Khan Jimmy Shergill Amrita Singh Nana Patekar Minnisha Lamba Sudhanshu Pandey Anupam Kher Aftab Shivdasani Naseeruddin Shah Sanjay Dutt Manoj Bajpayee
Distributed by	White Feather Films
Release dates	7 December 2007 (2007-12-07)
Running time	114 mins
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹200 million (US$3.0 million)
Box office	₹350 million (US$5.2 million)

Dus Kahaniyaan (English: Ten Tales) is a 2007 anthology Indian film comprising ten short films telling ten different stories which are directed by a host of six directors. Some of the stories have twisted ending and bring supernatural elements and have similarities with other supernatural series like Tales from the Crypt. The film was declared an above average grosser at the box office.^[1] The film is inspired from the Hollywood movie The Ten.

Plot

The plot is divided into ten stories

Matrimony (Directed by Sanjay Gupta, inspired by Roald Dahl's short story "Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat")

Cast

• Arbaaz Khan
• Mandira Bedi
• Sudhanshu Pandey

Synopsis

The bored wife of an MNC vice president (Arbaaz), Mandira, has an extramarital affair with an army officer she met on a chatroom. She meets him every Thursday on the pretext of visiting her aunt. At home she is a doting and dutiful wife. She describes her affair as not only for sex but also for genuine love and consideration. As it turns out, her lover has to report to his post and gives her a beautiful diamond necklace. She loves it but is hesitant to take it. When the officer insists, she devises a plan. She goes to a jeweler and hands over the necklace with an arrangement that she be given a coupon, which under the pretext of a lucky draw and she'd be given her necklace. The next morning, her husband goes to collect the "prize". He calls her from his office and asks her to come over to see what she has got. She goes with great enthusiasm, but to her utter dismay finds a small diamond ring. She comes out of his cabin and tries to call the jeweler. Her cell phone does not get reception, so she turns to her husband's secretary and asks her to dial the number, only to spot the necklace on the secretary. The secretary mentions that it is from her "boyfriend" revealing that her husband is also having an affair with his secretary however since she cannot confront him without revealing her own affair she is "hoisted with her own petard".

High on the Highway (Directed by Hansal Mehta)

Cast

• Jimmy Shergill
• Masumeh Makhija

Synopsis

Two college graduates who are in love with each other have a habit of getting high and taking a walk along the highway. On the night after their graduation when they are walking down the road a bunch of goons try to kidnap Masumeh and succeed in spite of Jimmy putting up a fight. Masumeh gets helped by the cops but Jimmy feeling responsible, slashes his wrists and dies. Masumi cries by his bed.

Pooranmasi (Directed by Meghna Gulzar)

Cast

• Amrita Singh
• Parmeet Sethi
• Minnisha Lamba

Synopsis

Amrita's daughter Minisha has just been engaged and her father is out on business once again leaving the ladies alone. Amrita has led a loveless life and on this particular day her daughter adorns her mother with a colourful dupatta and comments on how pretty she looks. Amrita realises that it is the night of full moon, and her lover promised her long ago that he would be waiting outside the door every full moon night. For once she decides to open it and let her desire take over her. After spending the night with him in the fields she returns home in the morning; many villagers notice the colourful dupatta on her head and mistake her for her daughter. When the villagers come to break the marriage describing the incident, Minisha learns that it was her mother who went to meet the man. She cannot recite what has happened, as it would defame her mother, but she in unable to bear the taunts of the villagers and thus she commits suicide by jumping into the well.

Strangers in the Night (Directed by Sanjay Gupta)

Cast

• Mahesh Manjrekar
• Neha Dhupia

Synopsis Mahesh and Neha are husband and wife. They have the habit of discussing past distractions in their relationship. They do it on their every anniversary. Mahesh forces Neha to tell about her experience. She starts discussing how she once passionately kissed the guy`s hand. She also describes how she was taken in a railway station`s waiting room in a dark night. She tells that she would have done anything but did not do. Her husband becomes envious. Neha unravels the twist in the story. She ultimately reveals that she actually kisses his hand and hugs him to save a child. The child was being attacked by religious riots. And as the rioters cast and Neha`s cast was same that person did not attack him and by that time that child escaped. The love scenes were actually a part of their action.

Zahir (Directed by Sanjay Gupta)

Cast

• Dia Mirza
• Manoj Bajpayee

Synopsis Zahir (Manoj Bajpayee) comes to stay in an apartment of one of his friend somewhere in Versova. He comes there after he gets a rejection from his girlfriend. There he finds Sia (Diya Mirza) sharing an apartment in the same floor as him. They eventually become good friends. Zahir wants to go deep in the relationship but cannot do so because of Sia rejecting him. Zahir however still fall's in love with Diya` One night when Zahir was with his friends and visiting many bars in the town to console himself he sees Sia. She is a dancer in a dance bar. After coming home, he goes to her apartment and confronts her and despite her attempts to explain the truth to him an intoxicated Zahir rapes her despite her pleas to stop him. The next day he wakes up and Sia has already left, however he finds a note from her. In this letter she had written that she has AIDS and that was the reason of her rejection of Zahir's love which was based on consideration for his health and wellbeing not his belief that she had intentionally rejected him . This story is told by Zahir where he reveals that Sia has died two years before him and a remorseful Zahir is just waiting for that to happen to him.

Lovedale (Directed by Jasmeet Dhodi)

Cast

• Anupam Kher
• Aftab Shivdasani
• Neha Oberoi
• Anuradha Patel

Synopsis Neha meets a lady on the train on her way home where she was getting engaged. The lady gives her an earring and vanishes at the next station: Lovedale. Neha wanting to return the earring alights and follows the road to a house where Aftab is painting. They become acquainted. Aftab attends Neha's engagement and feels hurt. Neha is also unhappy and her father questions her doubt. Neha tells about Aftab and her father tells her his flashback about how he met a lady on the train to whom he had given one earring before the train left the station. Neha and her father compare the earrings and decide that her meeting Aftab was no coincidence and she breaks the engagement to join Aftab. However, the story unfolds with a vicious climax. Aftab notices the earrings that Neha was wearing and, on questioning, he is informed that it was the earring that was given to her by the lady in the train. Aftab shows her a picture of the lady: his mother who died 10 years ago!

Sex on the Beach (Directed by Apoorva Lakhia)

Cast

• Dino Morea
• Tarina Patel

Synopsis

Dino finds a book on the beach and picks it up. The title of the book is 'Death'. He writes his name and date of birth as instructed and starts to read the book.A seductress steps out of a jet ski and sits down next to him. Wearing a golden swimsuit she invites him for dinner at 7 pm. Dino is on time and goes over well prepared with wine and condoms. When he is about to open her dress she tells that she will be back within two minutes with more provocative clothing and surprises which he would love taking off. But Dino falls into a nap and wakes up with a sound. He sees her dead in the bathroom. When he leans down to examine her closely she opens her eyes and he understands that she was actually a soul whose wishes had been left unfulfilled and chases him to the beach. She starts running after Dino which seems that she is a ghost. The process goes the whole night and in the morning Dino is found dead in the beach. All are surrounded him, the girl comes and saves Dino and asks him to come along with her. Dino goes with her leaving his earthly body behind.

Rice Plate (Directed by Rohit Roy) (based on the 1990 short film The Lunch Date)

Cast

• Shabana Azmi
• Naseeruddin Shah
• Anup Soni

Synopsis

Shabana plays a staunch Hindu woman, on her way to visit her grandchildren by train. In a hurry she forgets her wallet in her house and heads to the station. Deliberately she sits only in a taxi with Hindu deity's photos (She dislikes Muslims). But then, she realizes that the driver (Anup Soni) is a Muslim. She misses her train and her next train is in two hours. She goes to a canteen and orders the cheapest meal, a plate of rice with the change she has and leaves her table to wash her hand. When she comes back she sees a Muslim looking man(Naseeruddin Shah) eating it. Angry that he was stole her plate, Shabana forgets that he is a Muslim and starts eating out of the very same plate. Later she realizes it, and leaves the place, ashamed at herself. At the railway station she notices that she had left her luggage and handbag in the canteen and goes back. There she finds her belongings near a table and a rice plate on it. Then she realizes that the Muslim man never stole her rice plate, he was, in fact, eating out of his own one, and yet he did not yell at her when she snatched it from him and spoke rudely to him. Later in the station, she offers place to a Muslim family, which shows that she had changed her attitude.

Gubbare (Directed by Sanjay Gupta)

Cast

• Nana Patekar
• Rohit Roy
• Anita Hassanandani

Synopsis

Anita and Rohit are newlyweds on a bus who start a small quarrel. Anita moves away from Rohit to sit adjacent to Nana who is carrying 11 smiley balloons with him. On questioning he tells her how he has to present his wife with the balloons every time he has angered her and how she bakes a cake if she angers him. He explains that life is too short to spend fighting. When getting down at the stop he forgets to take with him the sorry card that he had written for his wife. Anita follows him to give it to him and she notices him speaking to his wife's grave; it is revealed that his wife is dead. She realizes that he loved his wife, and still does, yet she will now never be with him. She returns to the bus and sits beside Rohit, and they do not quarrel. The essence of the story is that life is too short to be wasted away on silly fights.

Rise & Fall (Directed by Sanjay Gupta; inspired by Ching Po-Wong's Blood Brothers)

Cast

• Sanjay Dutt
• Sunil Shetty

Synopsis

The story begins with Sunil Shetty telling Sanjay Dutt that someone is going to kill him. Dutt says that if there could be anybody who could kill him, it would be Shetty. The story cuts to a flashback. It shows two young kids. One of them gets paid to kill a person. They both kill the person. The kids are Dutt and Shetty. As kids they rise and as adults they fall because of two children shooting them as in the flashback they are now the dons.

Music

Dus Kahaniyaan
Soundtrack album
Released	1 November 2007 (2007-11-01)
Genre	Film soundtrack
Label	White Feather Films

The film's soundtrack was released on 1 November 2007. Joginder Tuteja from bollywoodhungama.com gave the music 4 out of 5 stars.^[2]

Critical Response

The movie ended up with mostly negative reviews with some average reviews. Elvis Dsilva of rediff gave the movie 2.5 stars saying "it failed to create a watchable compendium of stories".^[3] Sonia Chopra of Sify gave the movie 1.5 stars calling the movie balderdash.^[4] Times of India rated the movie 3.5 out of 5.^[5]

References

External links

• Official website
• Dus Kahaniyaan at the Internet Movie Database
• Review at American Online (by Kritika Saxena)