By
KOMAL NAHTA
Netflix, Flying Unicorn Entertainment and RSVP’s Lust Stories 2 (A) is an anthology film consisting of four short films. One film each is directed by R. Balki, Konkona Sen Sharma, Sujoy Ghosh and Amit Ravindernath Sharma.
R. Balki’s film — Made For Each Other — is the story of a girl (Mrunal Thakur) and boy (Angad Bedi) who are in love and whose families are in the process of finalising their marriage. The girl’s grandmother (Neena Gupta) is very modern and liberal in her thinking. Much to the embarrassment of the two families, she openly asks the two love birds whether they had ensured that they were sexually compatible. The grandma then goes on to justify her stance of pre-marital sex.
The film has a bold subject but it gets repetitive after a point of time as the grandmother goes on an on about the need to be sexually compatible. Therefore, the drama doesn’t move forward after the initial ten or fifteen minutes. In other words, R. Balki’s story is quite alright but the screenplay (R. Balki and Rishi Virmani) and the dialogues (R. Balki and Rishi Virmani) needed to be more varied.
Neena Gupta’s performance is very natural. Mrunal Thakur is suitably bubbly. Angad Bedi doesn’t get much to do. Kanupriya Pandit, Hemant Kher, Anjuman Saxena and Mehul Buch lend decent support.
R. Balki’s direction is good. Aman Pant’s music and Shellee’s lyrics are functional. Aman Pant’s background music is fair. P.C. Sreeram’s camerawork is sharp. Ajay Vipin’s (Patanga Art) production designing is okay. Nayan H.K. Bhadra’s editing ought to have been sharper.
Konkona Sen Sharma’s film — The Mirror — is about a spinster’s (Tillotama Shome) maid (Amruta Subhash) using the owner’s bed to make out with her husband everyday while she is at work. She gets to know this by chance when one day she lands in her house before time, completely unannounced, and sees the maid in bed with her husband. Rather than correcting the maid or throwing her out, the flat owner spies on the maid and her husband making love every day while pleasuring herself simultaneously till the cat is out of the bag.
Konkona Sen Sharma and Pooja Tolani’s story is risqué and has some shock value. But it is a bit too lengthy. The screenplay, penned by Pooja Tolani and Konkona Sen Sharma, is quite engaging. Pooja Tolani’s dialogues are pretty realistic.
Tillotama Shome is very natural. Amruta Subhash shines as the maid. In the role of her husband, Shrikant Yadav, is effective.
Konkona Sen Sharma’s direction is nice. Sagar Desai’s background score is okay. Anand Bansal’s cinematography is good. Tiya Tejpal’s production designing is basic. Sanyukta Kaza’s editing is alright.
Sujoy Ghosh’s film — Sex With Ex — is about a married couple (Vijay Verma and Tamannah Bhatia) separated and united after several years. The husband’s car meets with an accident, after which he, by chance, comes face to face with his ex-wife. The ex-wife reveals that his present wife had ensured that she should be out of his life as she wanted to marry him. But a slip of the tongue on the part of the ex-husband makes the ex-wife realise that there was more filth in the sordid drama than she had imagined. Does the couple actually meet or is it a figment of imagination?
Sujoy Ghosh’s story and screenplay are quite novel but the lust element is minimal. The drama also tends to slightly confuse the viewers. The climax is shocking but it is not lustful enough. Dialogues (by Sujoy Ghoash and Ankit Dahiya) are okay.
Performances of Vijay Verma and Tamannah Bhatia are alright. Jugal Hansraj makes his presence felt. Tarun Khanna (as Inderjit Singh), Jennifer Piccinato (as Nisha) and Mukti Mohan (as Anita) provide fair support.
Sujoy Ghosh’s direction is good. Raja Narayan Deb’s background music is appealing. Tapan Tushar Basu’s cinematogaphy is nice. Production designing (Rajesh Choudhary, Madhumita Sen and Ajay Sharma) is fine. Urvashi Saxena’s editing is quite sharp.
Amit Ravindernath Sharma’s film — Tilchatta — is about an erstwhile whore (Kajol) living as the wife of a lecherous businessman (Kumud Mishra). He abuses her but she has pinned her hopes on her son who is raring to go abroad for further studies so that his mother can accompany him and thereby free herself from the husband’s clutches. To teach her husband a lesson, the wife plans something very evil. But she is in for a terrible shock.
Saurabh Choudhary’s story and screenplay keep the audience engaged. The drama has lust and suspense, both of which are very engaging. Saurabh Choudhary’s dialogues are impactful.
Kajol does a very fine job as Devyani. Kumud Mishra is fantastic as her lecherous husband. Anushka Kaushik looks pretty and acts ably in the role of Reena. Zeeshan Nadaf makes his presence felt as Devyani’s son. Vibha Chhibber is natural as Kaki. Hem Joshi (as Bittu), Payal Pande (as Bitari) and Manoj Tiger (as Bhanu) are adequate.
Amit Sharma’s direction is very good. Subhajit Mukherjee’s background music is quite good. Tapan Tushar Basu’s cinematography is lovely. Viveka Rachel Bania’s production designing is appropriate. Chandrashekhar Prajapati’s editing is reasonably sharp.
On the whole, Lust Stories 2 is an average fare because not all the films are equally interesting. Amit Ravindernath Sharma’s film, Tilchatta, is the best of the four.
Released on 29-6-’23 on Netflix.