Introducing the characters living in a Mumbai chawl through a Sutradhaar, 3 STOREYS (meaning 3 Floors) actually focuses on more than three interlinked stories about uncertain relationships in life revolving around different families living in the same chawl. It begins on an impressive, ambitious note with a thrilling tale, but isn’t able to deliver an equally convincing content post the initial 40 minutes resulting in a courageous but strictly average product.
Directed by the debutant Arjun Mukherjee, the film doesn’t have any constantly rising graph or story progression and tries to incorporate too many issues together missing the entertainment quotient. Where the first section works really well featuring a brilliant Renuka Shahane as an old Christian lady willing to sell her house at an unjustified amount, the other sections or stories fail to rise above the routine, presented in a comparatively less engrossing manner. However the performances do manage to lift it up as required and the actors together don’t let it become a complete drag. Plus it all marginally works if only you keep the real life logic aside particularly in the first two stories.
In the initial part of the film, Renuka plays it superbly and Pulkit Samrat is just fine as the young buyer. Masumeh Makhija shines in the second story of a suffering wife, whereas Sharman Joshi delivers a just okay performance as her ex-lover. Aisha Ahmed and Ankit Rathi playing the young lovers in the third story look fresh and the supporting actors perform well except the policeman and the father of the boy who tend to go overboard at times. Richa Chaddha sizzles in her flirty looks but doesn’t add anything significant as the sutradhaar, coming up with an interesting, unexpected twist in the end.
Overall, despite a potential premise and well-conceived characters, 3 STOREYS unfortunately remains just an average one time watch that can surely be tried when released on the online portals or aired on a TV channel soon in the coming months.
(*Spoilers Ahead)
Coming to the title of the write-up recalling the famous stalwarts of cinema.
A. The film’s basic idea of focusing on three families living in the same building is quite similar to the debut film of Hrishikesh Mukherjee as MUSAFIR (1957), which also revolves around the short stay of three different families in a rented house (coming one after another), representing three stages of life i.e. Marriage, Birth and Death. Ironically the film is now more remembered or recalled for its Kishore Kumar song "Munna Bada Pyaara, Ammi Ka Dulara" than its thoughtful theme and execution.
B. The first section of 3 STOREYS takes you back to the world of Alfred Hitchcock’s TV Series ‘Alfred Hitchcock presents’ (1955-62), wherein the master used to present (not direct) its various episodes revolving around very engaging and suspenseful short stories. The old lady and her misdeeds in the film straight away remind you of a few similar events or plots seen in a few episodes of the famous TV series wherein there is a mysterious old lady or a body is buried within the home resulting in a thrilling drama.
C. Talking about the inter-relationship between families living in a Mumbai Chawl, the backdrop strongly reminds you of KATHA (1983) - an entertaining film beautifully portraying the people of chawl and their daily life directed by Sai Paranjpye. It's a satirical drama having a lot in store in its intelligent execution, presenting the cult story of a race between a hare and a tortoise in a fresh, enlightening form. In the same period many more worth watching Hindi films also had the backdrop of Mumbai chawl like MOHAN JOSHI HAAZIR HO (1984), MAIN ZINDA HOON (1988), ANGAAR (1992), DHARAVI (1993) and more.
D. Lastly the final section of 3 STOREYS focusing on an innocent love blossoming between two young souls, not aware of their actual hidden biological relationship is quite similar to what you get to see in Shyam Benegal’s cult masterpiece MANDI (1983). However the said angle of INCEST doesn’t turn out to be as effective and hard hitting as in Bengal’s classic creation having a rare stellar cast.
On a concluding note, though 3 STOREYS doesn’t turn out to be a great engaging watch as a fresh off-beat Hindi film made on an interesting premise. It still makes you recall the above mentioned maestros of cinema and their fabulous works, that should ideally inspire the younger movie-buffs to explore the related classics.
Rating : 2.5 / 5
(Note: The article was first published on UC-News Mobile App in March 2018)
