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Parents' Guide to

Ankahi Kahaniya

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Three stories about the lonely searching for love; language.

Movie NR 2021 110 minutes
Ankahi Kahaniya Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

  • Ankahi Kahaniya Movie: Scene # 1
  • Ankahi Kahaniya Movie: Scene # 2
  • Ankahi Kahaniya Movie: Scene # 3

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What's the Story?

Pradeep (Abhishek Banerjee) left his rural village for a job in the closest big city, Mumbai. With no friends or girlfriend, he assuages his loneliness with the silent and unresponsive company of the store's new female mannequin. He talks to her, takes her on romantic outings after hours, buys her jewelry, gives her a name, accompanies "her" to movies, and divulges his secrets to her. His obsessive attentions are caught on the store's security camera. He's labeled depraved and his appalled boss fires him. Jobless Pradeep heads back to his rural home to see Mom. There he meets his childhood best friend Sashi (T.J. Bhanu), now grown and lovely. Seemingly emboldened by his experience "dating" the mannequin, he reestablishes their relationship, leading to an engagement. In the second chapter, Nandu (Delzad Hiwale), a former street kid, lives in a hovel and works as a projectionist at the local movie theater. He catches the eye of a local girl Manjari (Rinky Rajguru), who sneaks off to the movies from her unhappy, impoverished home. Together they plot an escape from their lives, with a plan that turns out to be murky, if not completely nonexistent, leaving us to wonder what will be next for them. The third vignette offers a view of upper middle-class Mumbai, where the problems of the uneducated, the homeless, and the starving are exchanged for the problems of the privileged, who needn't linger on where a next meal comes. With comfort and basic needs taken care of, these characters look for other troubles. Tanu (Zoya Hussein) learns her husband Arjun (Nikhil Dwiveldi) is having an affair with business acquaintance Natasha (Palomi Ghosh). Tanu persuades Natasha's husband Manav (Kunal Kapoor) to follow clues from texts and social media to trace the origins of the affair. Manav is ready to end his marriage over the affair but Tanu just wants her successful executive husband back. She fears divorce will free Natasha to couple with Arjun, a desertion she cannot contemplate. Tanu and Manav become friends and make surprising decisions.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say Not yet rated
Kids say (1 ):

This is a puzzling amusement. The first installment, like the film Lars and the Real Girl, begins to probe the mindset of someone both lonely and shy but, unlike the Ryan Gosling film, this never goes far enough to allow us to learn much about the characters. The man's obsession with a mannequin is both sweet and creepy, played to perfection by Abhishek Banerjee, but the story offers us no understanding of how later he easily moves his affections to a fellow human. The second episode disappoints in the same way, through lack of character development.

The third, on the other hand, is consumed with the different ways people see themselves -- individually and as partners in relationships -- suggesting that the director, writer, and actors all had the insights and imagination to explore the characters further, to a far more satisfying end, making this piece all the more disappointing. In three stories about human needs, we do learn that the simple desire to belong can be steamrolled by more pressing needs caused by overpopulation and poverty.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the stark differences between the way the poor and rich live, as depicted in these stories. Does this suggest that love and happiness are privileges open to only a lucky few? Do you agree with that? Why or why not?

  • In what ways does the movie suggest that finding love, meaning, and belonging in life is more difficult for the poor?

  • Why do you think a man's love for a store mannequin was considered depraved? What kind of emotional deficits or needs might cause someone to find solace in an inanimate object?

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