Filmmakers are now able to present subjects that aren’t given free rein on the big screen thanks to the emergence of the OTT market and its growth. The second installment of Lust Stories, an anthology concept that both Netflix and Amazon have been fervently pushing, has directors who don’t seem like the obvious picks. We’re back to marveling at some and pointing out flaws in others with R. Balki, Sujoy Ghosh, Konkona Sen Sharma, and Amit Ravindernath Sharma. However, one of the four feels meaningless this time. Learn which one by reading on. The order of choice is displayed for the reviews. Scroll down to read Lust Stories 2 Movie Review.
Lust Stories 2 Movie Review
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Konkona Sen Sharma
Cast: Tillotama Shome, Amruta Subhash, and Ensemble.
The filmmaker Konkona Sen Sharma has a somewhat specialized and distinctive voice. Naturally, she creates her reality, one in which difficulties and taboos exist but are not immediately apparent. A working woman from the upper middle class who witnesses her maid having sex with a stranger on her bed doesn’t immediately protest; instead, she calls her boss to complain that the maid is using her bed. In only one sequence, you will experience classism, the desire of the underprivileged to live the lives of the wealthy, and the helplessness of the elite, who are quickly adjusting to a solitary existence.
But when lust enters the room, the boundaries are gone and the dynamics become hazy. Isheeta, a wealthy woman, now takes pleasure in witnessing her servant Seema engage in sexual activity with her husband on her bed. The story of voyeurism continues and is ultimately destroyed in two crucial instances: when Seema realizes Isheeta is watching and when they unintentionally come face to face. Konkana Sen Sharma explains that she is a director who is knowledgeable at this point. There are two of these. One is a class gap between the landlord and the maid, while the other is where they enjoy their little secret. But when the bubble pops and the outside world shows up, everything falls apart. Because morality has now become a word, something none of the characters had likely considered. An eerie and upbeat musical thread runs through it all.
One of my favorite actors, Tillotama Shome, can only pull off the scene in which she has now preserved her reputation. People need to learn how to act erratically while remaining in the same frame of equilibrium, according to Amruta Subhash. Such a standout performer. Speaking of frames, Anand Bansal’s tight shots are flawless; he prefers for you to see reactions to the discourse. Even the characters don’t breathe so freely, thus he leaves very little breathing room on the screen till the very end. The highlight of this plot must be this.
Amit Ravindernath Sharma
Cast: Kajol, Kumud Mishra, Anushka Kaushik, and ensemble.
A person either has a hunger for money, power, or other people. What if he feels entitled to having them all together and lusts after them all at once? Kumud Mishra portrays a monarch of a palace that is heavily indebted but still can’t let go of his arrogant demeanor. Because his mother previously removed cow excrement from his palace, he insults the local collector in his opening scene. He has maintained a former sex worker as his queen and wants her to behave in a queenly manner as she raises his kid, who has the aspiration to fly away from his father’s mayhem. Amit Sharma is skilled at conjuring up three-dimensional environments. It is about a woman who has been tormented her entire life and wants the best for her son. It says it all that she felt safer in a brothel than in a palace.
Even while the most traumatic of the shorts begin to make sense in the climax scene, its nature won’t be one that the viewer will find simple to understand. The biggest puzzle is why a cruel King would choose a sex worker as his queen. Even in this, the camerawork and musical composition are superb. It’s a great opportunity for the actor for Kumud Mishra to display his range. Kajol needs to try out OTT experiments at last, and that is exactly what she should do.
Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Vijay Varma, Tamannaah Bhatia, and Ensemble.
For a number of his projects, Sujoy Ghosh has employed haphazard editing as a superpower. For instance, Kahaani employed a technique where the editing was just as illiterate as the primary actor and the viewer. But is that necessary for this short? It leaves a lot of stuff unresolved for a short story. While driving, a lustful married man is watching another girl strip while on a video call (a revolting scene). He had an accident and ends up somewhere that is not in the actual world. He runs into his deceased sweetheart here ten years later.
You now know that a Ghosh story can never completely disappoint. While you can see his attempts to switch genres and keep surprising his audience with shocks, he ends up branching out the plot so much that it requires much more time for research than the allotted 30 minutes. Vijay and Tamannaah play the loudest of the anthology’s love-making sequences, and they do a good job acting the parts, but the writing only allows them to do so much. Even in the sequences where he appears in the real world, the CGI villain makes it obvious that the movie was shot in front of a green screen.
Additionally, exactly what lust are we expected to emphasize here? Is it the desire for money or the desire for one’s body? The voyage isn’t complete, but the climax is excellent.
Balki
Cast: Neena Gupta, Mrunal Thakur, Angad Bedi, and Ensemble.
Never imagined R. Balki could create the anthology’s weakest short film—one that doesn’t even make sense at the conclusion. This might have been a 30-second pitch for a condom brand, and it could have been finished in that time. Nothing in Balki’s nearly 30-minute film would make sense if Neena Gupta weren’t so excellent as the grandma. The grandmother questions a couple who are getting married about their compatibility in bed. When they set out to investigate it, they found nothing at all. They are not struggling with anything or debating why they are acting the way they are.
Yes, Neena’s character does explain, but what about the individuals responsible? Why don’t they talk about this? What lesson does this tale teach us? Because each time a progressive statement is made, it sounds more like a joke than a commentary and makes your product seem increasingly more out of date. Mrunal, Angad, and other characters have their roles to perform, but they are largely one-note and have no interests save receiving nice s*x from the family matriarch. The quick climax simply serves to highlight this product’s ignorance.
The Last Words
The first Lust Stories offered a more subtle interpretation that crossed genres but had more clout. The second tries too hard to be edge-provoking, with only two films grasping the task and two finding it difficult to make a point.
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