What Pataakha has in common with Paheli, Lootere

It goes way beyond a fantastic team!

Brevity is the soul of wit.

As one of William Shakespeare's greatest admirers, Vishal Bhardwaj knows it only too well.

The director's crackling new offering Pataakha revolves around two sisters inclined to fight like cats and dogs.

It's only after the two get married they realise there's more to their bickering than meets the eye.

Starring Sanya Malhotra and Radhika Madan, Pataakha is based on a short story by Rajasthani writer Charan Singh Pathik.

Some of our finest films owe their existence to this succinct form of fiction. Sukanya Verma takes us through some of them.

Lootera

She's determined the day the final leaf of a dying tree falls she'll breathe her last.

He restores her ailing spirit by painting a leaf in its place but dies in the process.

Director Vikramaditya Motwane weaves a lyrical period romance about an affluent landlord's daughter and a burglar around the grand gesture of O Henry's bittersweet The Last Leaf high on memorable performances by Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha.

 

Ek The Daayan

Writer Mukul Sharma's eerie short story about a kid's viewpoint on witchy things collapses into horror stereotypes in Ek Thi Daayan.

But his daughter Konkona Sen Sharma's freaky act alongside Huma Qureshi and Kalki Koechlin does well to send shivers down Emraan Hashmi's, and our, spines.

 

Star (Bombay Talkies)

Of the four short films in the anthology project commemorating 100 years of Hindi cinema, Dibakar Banerjee's Star based on Satyajit Ray's short story Patol Babu, Film Star makes a lasting impression.

It's a joy to watch Nawazuddin Siddiqui bring alive a character he knows like the back of his hand -- a struggling actor.

 

Raincoat

The sweet sacrifices of O Henry's acclaimed short story The Gift of Magi are fleshed out sublimely to commend the heartbreaking generosity of Rituparno Ghosh's Raincoat when former flames reach out to help one another despite their own scarcities.

 

Paheli

Vijaydan Dheta's entrancing Duvidha about a woman's emancipation after a shape-shifting spirit takes the form of her AWOL husband is gorgeously realised in Amol Palekar's direction of SRK-Rani Mukerji starrer, Paheli.

Three decades before, art-house ace Mani Kaul adapted the premise for his National Award-winning film of the same name as Dheta's short story.

 

Shatranj Ke Khiladi

Two best friends and Lucknowi aristocrats are consumed by a game of chess even as the world around them crashes like a house of cards.

An aesthete ruler prepares to relinquish his throne as the British comes forth to take charge.

Literary legend Munshi Premchand's short story of the same name receives a befitting manifestation to this and more in Satyajit Ray's masterful Shatranj Ke Khiladi.

 

Rudaali

Attracted to the soulful findings across a feudal setting and culture of professional mourners in author and activist Mahasweta Devi's short story, Director Kalpana Lajmi examines a silently suffering woman's harsh reality as well as the only comforting friendship she shares.

Dimple Kapadia bagged a National award for her brilliant performance, set against Bhupen Hazarika's moving score.

 

Swami

A rebellious village girl's romance with the rich neighbour is short-lived after she's married off to a gentle widower in Basu Chatterjee's adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's short story elevated by Shabana Azmi's sparkling delivery.

 

Rajnigandha

Once again Basuda shows his expertise in expanding a short story's profound universe to offer a glimpse into the fickle workings of a young woman's heart in Rajnigandha.

Based on Manu Bhandari's Yahi Sach Hai, the slice-of-life focuses on Vidya Sinha's lures when life asks her to pick between secure and stimulating. 

 

Teesri Kasam

Though Basu Bhattacharya's cinematic adaptation of acclaimed writer Phanishwarnath Renu's Mare Gaye Gulfam bombed at the box office, it's considered a career milestone for everyone involved, including stars Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman.

As a bullock cart driver and nautanki star confront unique challenges through the course of their impossible relationship, Teesri Kasam exudes a simplicity that's impossible to resist.

 

Kabuliwala

Rabindranath Tagore's tearful short story about an affectionate dry fruits seller from Afghanistan and an adorable Bengali girl his daughter's age translates to an equally personal drama on screen courtesy Balraj Sahni's heartrending portrayal and Salil Choudhary's passionate soundtrack.