Lust Stories 2

Thoughts summed up: Lust Stories 2 is a subpar anthology that'll only be remembered for Konkona Sen Sharma's standout segment. The rest are largely forgettable, leaving little in the way of impact.

Made for Each Other (R Balki): An ad-level concept stretched and squeezed all the way but nothing really stands out here. Neena Gupta's granny role sounded interesting at first, but quickly gets preachy and intolerable after a point (rockstar, my foot!). The ending is.. well, just an ending.

The Mirror (Konkona Sen Sharma): Stunner! Not only is the voyeur concept refreshingly presented, this segment also has the best payoff. Both Tillotama Shome and Amrutha Subhash are excellent in their respective roles. The scenes where the ladies lose their cool and their eventual reconciliation were remarkably directed.

Sex with Ex (Sujoy Ghosh): Apart from Tamannaah's unfiltered beauty, there isn't much to relish here. The story is a mess, the CGI countryside is an even bigger mess, and the climactic twist was seen coming 72 miles away.

Tilchatta (Amit Ravindernath Sharma): The plot is as old as it gets. Did this segment really need someone the calibre of Kajol? The twist at the end was fascinating (yet sad), and I think this should have swapped positions with Konkona's segment.

Okay, let's start with my review of the four episodes:

Made for Each Other - R. Balki I felt this chapter was the most ordinary of the four, and I do understand that culturally, in India, there's some shock value to the fact that a grandmother would be so racy and vocally conscious of the importance of sex and intimacy. That said, the episode just entirely relies on this gimmick and even though it's not bad, it does seem to have no point. It could easily have gone down as a random clip on social media which aims to provide some educative content, but a very superficial one, frankly speaking. Obviously, Neena Gupta is fun and does a good job, but this episode as a whole just doesn't leave a mark.

The Mirror - Konkona Sen Sharma Well, it's easily the strongest part of them all - in terms of story, script, direction, acting and execution, as well as the issues it addresses, from sex, loneliness to social class. Konkona does a fantastic job with an episode that so intelligently explores the desires of women from different strata of society. And their social class is not even a factor when it comes to their personal desires as they are equal. Tillotama Shome seems to have carved her own niche in the film industry with some wise choices, and she is fantastic here. After Sir, where she played the maid to perfection, it's interesting to see her assume the part of the employer. Doubtlessly though, it is Amruta Subhash who absolutely nails it in the part of the maid and gradually proves herself as one of the most impressive character actresses in India today. Her performance is a portrait of rage, honesty and compassion, which is exactly what this interesting episode ends up being.

Sex with Ex - Sujoy Ghosh Now this is a very basic sort of thriller, and it's quite intriguing, but it's also quite banal and formulaic. Vijay Varma can always be counted on to deliver the goods, and he's quite good here, but the episode as a whole is quite a thankless task. Tamanna Bhatia is equally effective in the part but the episode concludes on such a predictable note it's amazing a director as good as Ghosh would ever have thought this could pass as something even remotely original or impactive. It's watchable, but it's forgettable.

Tilchatta - Amit Sharma Well, anything for Kajol. Try to watch it and imagine another actress in the part, it will just not work. Kajol's presence indeed makes up for many of the flaws, for the dark and gloomy atmosphere, for the pacing, and for the story which relays hardly any positive or redeeming messages. Very well acted though. Kumud Mishra is plain excellent as the abusive drunk, really very good and very easy to hate. It is obviously Kajol though who carries the entire segment on her able shoulders. Her eyes reveal the complexity of her situation, and she so easily slips into the shoes of an ordinary, troubled woman. The final twist is quite upsetting, and it has various interesting messages, one of which relates to the two faces of plotted revenge. Sometimes the immediate solution is the good one.

People who are saying this movie is worse than the last may not remember the first one probably. In first edition, there was 2 good segments, 1 mediocre segment and 1 terrible segment. This movie exactly has the same.

First story is too much spoon-feeding for audience. Similar to what R Balki generally keep on doing. Storyline is boring and gets irritating by the time it ends. They believed they could deliver like 'Badhai ho' but failed miserably.

Story 2 was mediocre but actingwise very much satisfied. Amrutha Subhash and Tillotama are masters. Direction from Koko di is perfect. No wonder.. it is in her genes.

Story 3 was straight out of Aeshop fables. And indeed there was a fairy. Tamannah is just drop 'dead' gorgeous (pun intended). But Vijay is getting stereotyped by doing same 'innocent face but evil intention' roles. Sad for him.

Story 4 was good but predictable. Kumud Mishra was best. Kajol just continued her role from 'Salaam Venky'. Nothing fancy to deliver considering her calibre.

Konkana segment-8.5 : layered/ great use of visuals and sound/ true to the theme Last segment -6/10 : Nothing unusual. Soapy melodramatic dialogues but the ending made sense to me.

Balki segment - 1.5/10 : preachy cliched and overacted. I legit sided with the trad parents on this one.

Sujoy Ghosh segment - 2/10 : adding cleavage and sex scenes does not make it a lust story. Not sure what the choice of shooting in a studio setting was meant to convey. Some ode to bollywood bcoz the protagonist was named Vijay Chauhan i guess. Not sure if his choices were dictated by greed or lust. Overall confused bit.

Lust stories 2 is a romantic drama anthology film directed by several directors.

Made for each other by R Balki:-One of the very few surface level, passable films by balki. The subject matter of sex education and its importance in married life is on point, but the treatment is very meh type. It works well as a comic short, but never soars to an exceptional height. Mrunal thakur performed very weak in this short. There was no x-factor.

The mirror by konkana sen sharma:-This is the excellent one of the four stories by miles. Tilottama shome and amruta subhash give two epic performances. The subject matter of voyeurism is very well portrayed. This short makes sex look pleasurable and enjoyable. It also makes a very sharp remark on human ego and class and economic differences. There is one shot, where the camera shifts from a fingering tilottama touching herself watching the two of them have sex, to them having sex and then to a calendar and back to tilottama through amruta. That shot itself elevates this shot head and shoulders above the rest.

Sex with ex by sujoy ghosh:-one of the most childish and amatuerish works by sujoy ghosh. First of all, the jarring visuals stick out as a sore thumb. I mean, who can suggest such poor sets for a film. The illogical twists are of no use, they are there just for the sake. The performances are nothing in front of what we have seen from vijay and tamannah maybe. Only positive is that the sex and romance is good, they manage to bring their real life magic onto the screen.

Tilchatta by amit ravindernath sharma:-this is another fine short by amit sharma. The screenplay builds up the tension and suspense on what is going to happen next. The performances by kumud mishra, kajol excite the narrative. The ending twist within the twist is unprecedented as well. It really catches you offguard. The saying 'when you plan to take revenge, you have to dig two graves, one for the person, and one for yourself' is the gist of the short. This was a great short film.