‘Ajeeb Daastaans’ & the four shorts formula

Netflix’s latest anthology explores themes like dysfunctional love, prejudice, loneliness and revenge

In the past year, several anthologies, such as Unpaused and Paava Kadhaigal, have made it to OTT platforms, following the tried-and-tested formula of four short films under one umbrella loosely tied together by a common theme. In the latest anthology, Ajeeb Daastaans, four stories are built around fractured relationships — and unusual ways of navigating them. In Shashank Khaitan’s Majnu, Jaideep Alhawat and Fatima Sana Shaikh find themselves in a knotty love triangle at a brooding haveli. In Neeraj Ghaywan’s Geeli Pucchi (Sloppy Kisses), the strongest film in the anthology, two women (Konkona Sensharma and Aditi Rao Hydari) who work in a factory are drawn to each other as they grapple with their widely diverse identities.