A good piece of storytelling based on actual events makes this movie a great watch. The treatment given to the plight of a struggling writer who pulls off a hoax on a publishing company is in a class of its own.

Set in New York in 1971, the film takes the audience through a roller coaster ride of lies and dubious research methods as well as some witty dialogue.

Richard Gere plays the down-and-out author Clifford Irving, who cooks up a scheme to write a bogus biography of Howard Hughes, the reclusive American billionaire.

Wonderfully enacted, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag is a tale about a woman’s transformation from a simple village belle to a high-profile escort girl.

The story is set in Varanasi and revolves around two sisters Badki (Rani Mukerji) and Chutki (Konkona Sen) who watch helplessly as their cash-strapped parents try to retain possession of their ancestral house.

While mum (Jaya Bachchan) slogs tirelessly to keep the home fires burning, ailing dad (Anupam Kher) keeps reminding the family that they would have been better off if they had had a son.

You don’t have to be a dog lover to enjoy this fab comedy. It’s different. It has a soul. It also has extremely interesting characters and it’s a comedy but exists in a sad satire.

Peggy, played beautifully by Molly Shannon, is a middle-aged spinster secretary who has a dog named Pencil. One day, the dog dies of poisoning. The story goes on to reveal how lonely she is and how she discovers that her true calling is her love for animals.

The performances by other cast members are remarkable. Regina King is excellent as a girl desperate to get married.

Eighteen tales, 21 directors, multiple genres, multitude performers, talent galore, all romancing Paris, the city of love. The film is a collection of short films of five minutes each, and is a tribute to Paris and to cinema.

The stories are placed in no particular order but the flow of the involvement of the characters and stories is charming.

The range is enormous, from a man seeking a girlfriend to a grieving mother, an aspiring actress being nurtured by a blind boy, a young boy finding his soul mate in another boy, a French youth striking a friendship with a Muslim girl, a husband falling in love again with his dying wife, a father helping his daughter, a maid longing for her own child, a mime artist enacting the formation of his family, a love story being saved by Oscar Wilde, a drug addict attracted to her pusher, an elderly couple formalising an end to their relationship, a lonely woman finding herself as she embraces Paris and even a vampire love story .