Kaali Peeli Tales Review: The simplistic tales are way more ordinary than the people they are about

Kaali Peeli Tales 

Cast: Vinay Pathak, Gauahar Khan, Sayani Gupta, Maanvi Gagroo, Soni Razdan, Sharib Hashmi, Hussain Dalal, Priyanshu Painyuli, Sadia Siddiqui, Tanmay Dhananya.

Director: Adeeb Rais

Platform: Amazon miniTV

Kaali Peeli Tales is an anthology consisting of 6 short films dealing with the concept of love, longing, betrayal, and finding oneself. In the film CID released in 1956, Johnny Walker sings ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Jeena Yahan, Zara Hat Ke Zara Bach Ke, Ye Hai Bambai Meri Jaan’. The shorts in Kaali Peeli Tales are about a city infused with complex characters and human emotions although the anthology refuses to be as grittier and messier as the themes it’s representing. 

Often anthologies are directed by different makers and hence the change in edibility within the narratives. In Kaali Peeli Tales, however, all 6 films are directed and written by Adeeb Rais. Adeeb wants to deal with the unseen and often dark shadows of people and relationships though he manages to summon the greeting card version of complexities. Adeeb is keen to notify the viewers of the simplistic solutions to the nexus of problems by having cardboard characters mouthing the most obvious take on their personalities.

In Marriage 2.0, a married couple played by Hussain Dalal and Maanvi Gagroo are discussing the idea of an open marriage by having each other meet their office crushes. The discussion however seemed to be weighed in by the unintentional humor of the poor dialogue writing. At one point, Ashwin played by Hussain says to his wife while drinking wine, ‘Keto kar karte weight loss ke saath brain loss bhi ho gaya hai’. Hussain, a competent dialogue writer himself tries to save the day by eavesdropping a comical tonality in his dialogue delivery however the inconclusive narrative is not ready to chart above its own mediocrity.

Vinay Pathak and Soni Razdan try to give a sense of a lived-in experience of marriage that has been broken years ago in Harra Bharra meanwhile the writer is trying to forcibly justify the metaphorical existence of the title by juxtaposing the term ‘Harra Bharra’ to everything between food and home. The curly narrative is existential in its thought however the arc of the screenplay lacks enough enticing or exciting junctures. 

Starring Adeeb Rais himself along with Inayat Sood, Love in Tadoba explores a meet-cute between a blogger and an Instagram influencer, who diss each other by the virtue of assumed superiority. The film tries to tackle the beginning of a relationship between a newly divorced young woman and a commitment-phobic young man, who in fact is wearing his heart on his sleeves and does not justify commitment phobia through his actions at all. In the matter of the hearts, pseudo-philosophical conversations take the cake.

A star cast of fine actors including Sayani Gupta and Priyanshu Painyuli discover the immensely light-hearted consequences of betrayal in Single Jhumka. Priyanshu plays a theater actor who is still struggling to make his beads in the city while Sayani tries to infuse some depth in the one-tone character that goes through a metamorphosis of seeping into the existing marriage by cheating on her husband. The film develops on its narrative ground though the obvious consequences proposed by actors in overtly explanatory dialogues snatch away some moments that could have been beautiful.

Sharib Hashmi plays a man who tries to envelop his life back by reaching out for love the day he is released from prison in Fish Fry aur Coffee. Sharib delivers a consistent performance of an earnest man who does not want to dwell on the disgust that life has embarked upon him unfairly and would rather move on by constructing a brighter future brick by brick. Adeeb does a wonderful job by creating characters that are aware of their limitations in life and find the beauty at the moment that has just passed by. 

Tanmay Dhanania presents a substantial case as a teacher who has been closeted about his sexuality and does not want to stretch the lie by having a child with his wife in Loose Ends. The already noticeable beats of the narrative are outshined by the compelling performance of Tanmay. He refuses to devour his very self with the moral construct of the society around him. Adeeb deals with the character graph with sensitivity and the characters guide the narrative.

The title ‘Kaali Peeli Tales’ has emerged from a rather forced metaphor of each story ending with one or more characters realizing the deep end of their hidden sense of freedom on the back seat of a cab. The taxi or the metaphor don’t play an active role in driving any narrative however represent the guiding realizations of complexed characters. You can watch the anthology on Amazon miniTV.

Let's take it one Friday at a time!

ALSO READ: Kaali Peeli Tales Trailer OUT: The anthology starring Gauahar Khan & others is all about unconditional love