Don’t Want To Commit To Web Series Or Film Franchises? Stream 11 Gripping Anthologies Instead
Over the past year and a half, many of us have been holed up at home, courtesy widespread of the lethal virus. With no recreational activities to do out of fear, the only constant entertainment in our lives has been web content in the form of movies and shows.?
However, there is a limit to everything. Complete normalcy feels like a far-fetched idea at the moment and many of us have lost the will to stream more shows. Redundancy is at its peak. C’est la vie - such is life and we have to keep trying to ace it.
?If you are looking to take a break from regular OTT content, then anthologies are your safe bet.??
These series come with various episodes that do not have a complete correlation between them. The episodes sure follow a similar theme but they are an easy watch as they are mostly of short-duration. Many renowned filmmakers are joining hands to present some phenomenal stories to entice the audience.?
The latest one to join the bandwagon is Mani Ratnam. The celebrated filmmaker who has churned out award-winning films has joined hands with other directors to come out with Navarasa - The nine episodes of this anthology series represent a different emotion or rasa such as anger, compassion, courage, disgust, fear, laughter, love, peace and wonderment.
While this is yet to release, here’s taking a look at 11 such series that you should definitely watch. Scroll!
1. Feels Like Ishq
This is one of the most recently released ones. All the episodes revolve around the concept of innocent feeling that is more than liking but less than love - the feeling of ‘butterflies fluttering in the stomach’ kinds. It features artists like Radhika Madan, Tanya Maniktala, Amol Parashar, Rohit Saraf and Sanjeeta Bhattacharya among others.
2. Ajeeb Dastaans
This anthology brings four contrasting stories that revolve around complex equations and relationships. Starring Fatima Sana Shaikh, Jaideep Ahlawat, Armaan Ralhan, Nushrratt Bharuccha, Abhishek Banerjee, Inayat Verma, Konkona Sen Sharma, Aditi Rao Hydari, Shefali Shah, Manav Kaul, and Tota Roy Chowdhury, Ajeeb Dastans has a variety of storytelling with interesting twists and turns.
3. Ray
This anthology series consists of 4 episodes based on short stories by Satyajit Ray. With a run-time of only an hour, this series features an ensemble cast including Manoj Bajpayee, Harshvardhan Kapoor, Ali Fazal and Kay Kay Menon among others. These are high on thrill with a very strong emotional core that’ll keep you hooked till the end.?
4. Stateless
Stateless is a story of four strangers – a refugee, a woman on the run, a driven bureaucrat, and a struggling dad – who intersect at an Australian detention center. The mini series highlights their struggles that come along with being stateless. A difficult yet entertaining watch.
5. Black Mirror
The premise of every episode of Black Mirror tends to follow futuristic or dystopian narratives. These stand alone episodes are satirical in nature as they focus on what the future could hold for the world if technology got out of hand.
6. Bloodride
This Norwegian anthology TV series revolves around a bus ride. The interesting plot of the show focuses on a different passenger in each episode. These travellers encounter horrific events at their destinations. For instance, Leon relocates his family from the city to the countryside because of financial issues. His wife, Molly, witnesses neighbours sacrificing a cat in the woods. She learns all residents make blood sacrifices on the ancient Viking stone for wealth.
7. Modern Love
This one is an Amazon anthology series about modern love and romance based on the weekly column from The New York Times. Each episode has new characters and a story of love at its center that revolves around how love unfolds in the modern age right from dating apps to missed opportunities. The series has a fantastic cast including Dev Patel, Anne Hathaway, Tina Fey, Andy Garcia, and Andrew Scott.
8. Criminal
A police procedural anthology series, each episode of Criminal is a stand-alone psychological drama that consists of interrogation of an individual by a team of police investigators. Every scene is confined to just three areas in a single location; a police interrogation room, a darkened viewing room that looks into the interrogation room through a one-way mirror, and the hallway and stairwell outside the rooms.?
9. Lust Stories
Starring Bhumi Pednekar, Radhika Apte, Vicky Kaushal, Kiara Advani, Manisha Koirala, and others, Lust Stories set this trend in motion. Directed by Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, and Karan Johar, this anthology shows four stories that explore the relationships of four different women, their desires and sexuality.
10. Unpaused
The story revolves around the lives of people impacted by the COVID pandemic. Raj & DK, Nitya Mehra, Nikkhil Advani, Tannishtha Chatterjee, and Avinash Arun directed this anthology film which stars Gulshan Devaiah, Sumeet Vyas, Saiyami Kher, Richa Chaddha, and others in lead roles.
11. Dus Kahaniyaan
Just like the name suggests, the film is a collection of 10 short stories. Starring Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Arbaaz Khan, Nana Patekar and Naseeruddin Shah, the stories have diverse topics like lust, religious bias, infidelity, lust, companionship, and a bevy of human emotions.
