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Lust Stories 2 review: Bold and Sexciting!
What: Lust Stories 2 - The anthology navigates the contours of sex, desire and passion with depth and finesse infused by the four remarkably talented directors.
Lust Stories 2 review
Lust – the most primal human desire has always been misconstrued as vice. It comes with a negative connotation. But the feeling is always deep, intense and organic. In Lust Stories 2, which is the spiritual sequel to the 2018 anthology, four directors, namely, R.Balki, Sujoy Ghosh, Konkana Sen Sharma and Amit Ravindranath Sharma unravel its myriad facets through deeply rooted stories offering humor, quirks, intrigue and spice.
Balki explores a facet of this feeling in his story with generous quirks and wilderness by equating coital conjugation to a test-drive before buying a vehicle through her central protagonist, Neena Gupta who plays the Daadi, the matriarch whose granddaughter (Mrunal Thakur) is going to get married to her suitor, played by Angad Bedi. Gupta imparts pearls of sexual wisdom to her family by emphasizing sexual compatibility over other matching qualities like Chinese Khaana, Sufi Gaana and Duniya Ghumna! Staging scenes bursting with hilarity comes naturally to the talented director and also her protagonist after her discovery of mojo from Badhai Ho. Gupta is rightly termed by her granddaughter as a passionate, wild rockstar when she compares our body to a volcano like Mount Fuji waiting to erupt (read, Orgasm!)
This episode sets the tempo for the anthology and then treads into the zone of sexual voyeurism, where Konkana Sen Sharma has a rather subdued gaze at female sexuality and dark desires through two women – who play the madam (Tillotama Shome) and the maid (Amruta Subhash).Shame’s shock after discovering Subhash making out with her husband in the former’s flat during her absence gradually turns voyeuristic and source of sexual pleasure, Subhash also enjoys being watched – this continues until an ugly showdown between the two. Sen equips her story with these two talent powerhouses, generous moaning and close-ups shots that reveal the inner desires of the protagonists. Bold and Bravo!
Lust Stories 2, which is produced by Ashi Dua and Ronnie Screwvala, faces a mild implosion with the bizarre episode from Sujoy Ghosh that stars the new sensation Vijay Varma (playing Vijay Chauhan, pura naam!) and Shanti (Tamannah Bhatia) – playing the estranged couple – accidentally uniting after a decade and making out in her home while her cop husband is out on duty – only to find themselves with a bizarre climax!
The final one from Amit Sharma is a stark commentary on domestic sexual abuse and also offers a twisty and tenebrous turn in the majestic mansion where the King (Kumud Mishra) abuses his oppressed wife, played by Kajol and preys on other women. His son, grappling with Daddy-issues, wants to go abroad for higher studies to save his mom from his monstrosity. Sharma implants intrigue through the entry of a new maid in the mansion, played by Anushka Kaushik who becomes the object of the Kings lust.
The anthology on the whole is wonderfully performed, brims with impressive production design and cohesive background score (by Aman Pant).
The stories are rich, diverse and evoke a strong sense of ethos and relationships and sexual liberation. But with boldness, comes cleavage, make outs and moaning. It's a mixed bag of sweet, tangy and spicy flavors that burst in your mouth.
I go with 4 stars out of 5 for Lust Stories. The 4-part anthology is streaming on Netflix from 29th June 2023.
Ahwaan Padhee, is an IT Techie/Business Consultant by profession and a film critic/cinephile by passion, is also associated with Radio Playback as well, loves writing and conducting movie quizzes. More By Ahwaan Padhee