Pulkit Samrat's 3 Storeys, Saif Ali Khan's Darna Mana Hai - 8 Most Popular Anthology Movies in Bollywood and That One Best Story in Them

An anthology is a series of short movies or stories that are contained within a book or a movie. Anthology is a rarely attempted genre in Bollywood, it is often considered made for a niche audience. Can't blame the makers of they have this thought because, unlike the successful Love, Actually or Valentine's Day in the West, rarely has an anthology movie made money at the box office. This week's release, 3 Storeys, belongs to this genre. While the movie has got surprisingly good reviews, there is a negligible chance of the movie performing well at the box office. Sad but true.

In Bollywood we have made some really interesting anthology movies. Only one has clicked at the box office, but nearly every one of them have one little gem that shone the brightest to share. Looking at 8 of the most popular anthology movies in Bollywood, and the one best short movie in them.

3 Storeys

Best Track: Renuka Shahane - Pulkit Samrat's Storey

After the movie introduces its main players, the first story involving a supposedly crazy Catholic aunt (Renuka Shahane) begins when a prospective buyer of her house (Pulkit Samrat) arrives at her flat. Though she quotes a very high rate for that decrepit flat, he agrees to buy it as it is closer to the railway station. But why is the flat priced so high? What's his real intentions? And why is there a hole in the kitchen? With this surprisingly twisty tale, 3 Storeys starts off with a bang, with an excellent performance from Renuka Shahane while Pulkit is also good. Though the other two stories pale in comparison, the movie gets the right start and you are hooked from hereon.

Darna Mana Hai

Best Track: Vivek Oberoi - Nana Patekar Story

Darna Mana Hai came during a time when Ram Gopal Varma was in his peak form and even his productions were looked with much interest. This anthology movie, directed by Prawaal Raman, caught the fancy of the movie-goers when it came out thanks to the huge star cast and its innovative theme. Not all the stories made the right impact though (the apple story was the weirdest). But couple of stories were awesome, with the best being this spooky track between Vivek Oberoi (in fine form) and Nana Patekar (rad as always). Filled with some genuinely tense moments and black humour, the track relies on the banter of these two actors and gives the viewers one helluva surprise when the final twist arrives. The 'No Smoking' track, featuring Saif Ali Khan and Boman Irani, comes a close second.

Darna Zaroori Hai

Best Track:  The final story, featuring Randeep Hooda

Darna Zaroori Hai, though a sequel to the above movie, looks more like a pale imitation of Darna Mana Hai with most of the twists from the first movie rehashed here. But the final ghost story, featuring Randeep Hooda and an excellent Zakir Hussain, is so good that it doesn't deserve to be in this movie. Right from the moment when Randeep's bewildered young man hits a ghostly spirit and land himself at the police station with no memory of what happened later, you are in for a twisty treat!

I Am

Best Track:  Omar

Onir's anthology movie, while not as acclaimed as his debut My Brother Nihil, offers some dark, poignant moments in its four tales. Its best track, though, is its most disturbing as well. Starring Rahul Bose, Arjun Mathur and a creepy Abhimanyu Singh, the movie is about two gay men who tries to find a spot to get intimate and how there rendezvous lands them in trouble with the law. The movie unflinchingly shows how the society looks down upon gay liaisons and how homosexuals often end of getting victimised for their choices.

Love Sex Aur Dhokha

Best Track:  Paap ki Dukkaan

Dibakar Banerjee's portmanteau of the dark side of Indian society, has two great stories and one pretty average one. While the first one (Titled Superhit Pyaar) leads you into a sense of fun and humour before dropping you into that macabre ending that will haunt you for long, it is the second story that has a harder impact on you both as a citizen and a viewer. Featuring Rajkummar Rao in his breakout role, the story deals with voyeurism that is becoming a huge menace, growing on a daily basis. Though it lacks the shock factor of the first movie, Paap ki Dukkaan still leaves you with a sense of numbness even when you see that final scene coming long back. You just wished it wouldn't happen...

Bombay Talkies

Best Track: Star

To commemorate 100 years of Indian cinema, Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and Anurag Kashyap join hands to make this anthology movie comprising of four shorts. While the rest of the stories are quite decent, it is Dibakar's short movie is easily the best of the lot. Starring the brilliant Nawazuddin Sidiqui, it is about a has-been drama artiste who gets a walk-on part in a movie starring Ranbir Kapoor by a stroke of luck, and how that makes him reconnect with his past. It also features the late Sadashiv Amrapurkar in his last role. If you have ever harboured acting ambitions in your life, you will completely relate to the story.

Salaam-e-Ishq

Best Track: John Abraham And Vidya Balan's track

Nikkhil Advani's second film was looked with excitement for being an anthology movie with huge stars (Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Govinda etc) and also being his next after the awesome Kal Ho Naa Ho. Though the movie was decent in parts, it failed to create the Kal Ho Naa Ho magic at the box office. However, there was one track in the movie that gives it the much needed real emotional poignance - the love story between Vidya and John's characters. It's about this always-in-love married couple who finds themselves trapped in a shattering twist of fate, when the wife meets with an accident and loses her memory. She can't remember the fact that she is married and has no recollection of her husband. This leads to some touching scenes, as the guy does his best to make her fall for him again. With some decent execution and fine performances from both the lead stars, Salaam-e-Ishq needed more stories as this.

Dus Kahaaniyan

Best Track: Rice Plate

Dus Kahaniyaan, one of the last collaborations between director Sanjay Dutt and Sanjay Gupta, features ten shorts made by ten directors. While it boasts of a huge talent both in front of and behind the camera, the movie was overall a wasted attempt. Save for one little gem! Rice Plate, inspired by a 1990 American short film called The Lunch Date, is about a bigoted Brahmin woman (Shabana Azmi) who has to share a table with a Muslim man (Naseeruddin Shah) at a restaurant. Filled with some genuinely warm and funny moments, the short reflects the bigotry in our society and how we are so sunk in our dogmatic views that we mostly fail to check our own shortcomings. It is also a mystery that actor Rohit Roy, who makes his directorial debut here, has never directed a movie after this.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 09, 2018 08:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).