Best anthology based films and series - List hai toh hit hai

Welcome to another episode of OTTplay List hai toh hit hai, it's one podcast that talks about films and shows belonging to a particular theme. And today's episode is going to showcase some of the best anthology based films and series for you to watch on OTT. I'm your host Nikhil and let's begin the list.

Modern Love

A New York Times weekly column inspired this Amazon Prime Video series that seeks to explore the many facets of love — be it familial, romantic, friendship or self-love. These stories, set in New York, are neatly wrapped in 30-minute-long episodes. Anne Hathaway, Dev Patel, Tina Fey, Catherine Keener and Andrew Scott, among several others, feature in this series. But it is not the glowing cast that’s the only attraction of the show. The biggest strength of Modern Love is that it never is patronizing or reductive in its approach to concepts like companionship and platonic love. 

Feels Like Ishq

Netflix’s six-episode anthology series Feels Like Ishq is the kind of warm and breezy experience that makes even the most hardened cynics hopeful for a while. From high-school crushes set against the pandemic, to strangers finding love at a wedding, Feels Like Ishq is a bonafide feel-good series. Radhika Madan, Amol Parashar, Rohit Saraf and Simran Jehani are part of the cast. 

Ajeeb Daastaans

This Netflix anthology brought together Neeraj Ghaywan, Shashank Khaitan, Raj Mehta and Kayoze Irani to present four “strange tales of love”. The stories are set in northern India and deal with aspects of marginalization and intersectionality. Khaitan’s Majnu is about a queer man trapped in a loveless marriage to protect the family honour, whereas Ghaywan’s Geeli Pucchi, arguably the most critically acclaimed among the four, revolves around a queer, Dalit woman in the workforce who falls in love with a married Brahmin woman. Even though the storytelling is inconsistent, Ajeeb Daastaans hits it out of the park in terms of its out-of-the-box premise.

Ankahi Kahaniya

This anthology brings together stories of companionship. The compelling snippets range from love, kinship, brotherhood and are stitched by the common factor of hope against all odds. Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Abhishek Chaubey and Saket Chaudhary collaborate for the shorts and produce authentic tidbits on Indian lives. Stunning performances by Abhishek Banerjee, Rinku Rajguru and Kinal Kapoor buoy this drama. Ankahi Kahaniya is streaming on Netflix.

Unpaused: Naya Safar

The series charts the lives of people trying to grapple with the second wave of the pandemic. While the original one focused on the shock of dealing with the first wave and lockdown situations across the country, the second one deals with life after the initial hit. From navigating marriages to finding inner resolutions to death and loss, Unpaused: Naya Safar is all about facing adversities with the will to try. This Amazon Prime series is a must-watch and should go right up on that binge list.     

C / O Kaadal

This Tamil slice-of-life anthology film on Netflix is a remake of a Telugu movie titled C/O Kancharapalem, and narrates the love stories of four couples from different age groups. The film does not follow a linear timeline, with each story woven together to finally come to a holistic conclusion. The film, helmed by debutant director Hemambar Jasti, was showered with praises for sensitively handling issues of caste, gender and religion, and is a must-watch.

Putham Pudhu Kaalai

The Tamil anthology film has five parts, with the stories set during the first national lockdown in India during the pandemic in March 2020. Each story focuses on the various challenges faced by those affected by the pandemic as well as highlighting the silver linings in the midst of the unprecedented global pandemic. Each part was directed by renowned filmmakers Sudha Kongara, Gautham Menon, Suhasini Maniratnam, Rajiv Menon, and Karthik Subbaraj, and featured a star-studded ensemble of popular actors from across India.

Aanum Pennum

Aanum Pennum is a Malayalam anthology film and is arguably one of the most underappreciated films of 2021. The film features three stories set in different time periods in Kerala, post-independence, focusing on the relationship between man and woman. Each story explores various themes of individuality, lust, love, hope, and betrayal. Aashiq Abu, Venu, and Jay K. directed each anthology featuring an ensemble of Parvathy Thiruvothu, Samyuktha Menon, Darshana Rajendran, Joju George, Asif Ali, Roshan Mathew, Indrajith Sukumaran, Basil Joseph , Nedumudi Venu, and Kaviyoor Ponnamma.

Paava Kadhaigal

 The Tamil anthology charts different life stories as each individual embraces their dark side. The 2020 series, which literally translates to Sinful Tales, has a stellar ensemble cast including names like Kalidas, Sai Pallavi, Kalki Koechlin, Gautham Menon and Prakash Raj. The series explores each story that encompasses layered meanings of love. After its Netflix release, the anthology largely received positive reviews, with most noting the actors’ nuanced performances. 

Love Death and Robots

David Fincher and Tim Miller serve as executive producers for this critically acclaimed Netflix animated series. Created by Miller himself, the series is a collection of several animated shorts with episodes ranging from six minutes to 20 minutes of runtime in different animation styles. Each episode explores various genres and themes aimed at a mature audience. The series is a soft reboot of the 1981 anthology film Heavy Metal. The series will return for a third season on Netflix in 2022. 

Well that's the OTTplay List hai toh hit hai theme special for today, I shall be back again with another episode soon, until then its your host Nikhil signing out.

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