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Lust Stories (2018)

On the occasion of 100 years of Indian Cinema, four Bollywood directors came up with four short stories and combined them as a feature film- Bombay Talkies. It was a fresh move. So, they are coming together once again for another anthology, called Lust Stories.

As the name suggests, this film talks about lust in human beings. Basically, it is a women centric anthology. Because each story has a female protagonist. The stories are in the reverse order of what we'd seen in Bombay Talkies. That means, the order is Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee & Karan Johar.

Last time, most significant story was by Anurag according to the title. This time too, he has come up with pitch perfect story according to the given subject, that is lust. Radhika Apte plays a complicated housewife cum professor cum lover. Akash Thosar plays his character fine. It is Radhika's brilliant performance which will leave you awestruck after it gets over.

Zoya's story is unexpected. Because, I had a story written by me last year, and this is exactly the same. Though, I had written longer than it. I am not saying that it is a fraud. But, having same thoughts are common. I am extremely surprised to see this type of story to be made as a film. Hat's off for that. Not much dialogues is the major plus point. Bhoomi's eyes speak all.

Dibakar Banerjee is a mastermind. His story is so simple that one can easily feels that I had seen this type of stories. But the execution is the best. Among four, best director is undoubtedly Dibakar. Manisha Koirala, Jaideep Ahlawat and Sanjay Kapoor have given their best. While watching, you cn not leave that frame and think about the next scene. It is simply a brilliant craft. That last look of Manisha is awesome!

And the last story by Karan Johar is on sexual satisfaction. Kaira Advani and Vicky Kaushal along with Neha Dhupia are there in the most odd (as it's the only comedy sort film among four) film of this Lust Stories. You will laugh out loud when a filmmaker is trying his own old song on a very opposite action. I am damn sure that that part is an idiotic as well as a typical filmy scene that only Karan can do. I am not sure it is suitable here in this anthology or not, but it speaks about an actual problem which a lady suffers. Those who want only entertainment, can directly watch this one. Other intellectuals will find 1st or 3rd as 'The Best'.

Overall, save your money by avoiding stupid Race3. Reviews are out. Everyone is unhappy with it. Instead, wait for Sanju. And if you have Netflix, then make up this weekend with this anthology- Lust Stories. Other links are there as well for download. This will save your money and time, because you can watch it anywhere & anytime! The subject itself is bold, that there are no bold scenes required. So don't watch it for that purpose. It is for selected audience, but you can give it a try. This will give out a great message that lust is a different word than sex. So viewers, sometimes do try different things.

Lust Stories
The title of this film is kept to raise eyebrows and capture attention. That is great. But does the film deliver on its premise and promise?
Let us find out in the review.

Short film 1:
This film is a compilation of 4 short films. The first one is directed by the great and over talented Anurag kashyap. Reviews are purely opinion based so, whatever I say, is just my opinion having said that… BY GOD! Has Anurag LOST his shit or what!
This short film is incoherent, badly edited, horribly acted, seriously badly written and has ZERO point.
The acting first, I don’t know who is seeing this and thinking, this acting radhika apte is Oscar winning crap… the acting is so make believe it almost looks like the rehearsal tapes of a cancelled play! She dominates the whole screen time and she is an eye sore to watch.
Next the GREAT direction by this so called Bollywood legend. The short film has entire long segments, which are in first person, as in interview types. If that WAS not enough talking to camera, the actress also RANDOMLY breaks the fourth wall in-between scenes like deadpool or like in house of cards. But the effect is not even 0.00001% of those amazing films and shows. If t he goals was the show how bad his direction skills are, CONGRATULATIONS. Anurag is now the new ram gopal Varma.
The editing is horrible; the cinematography is so terrible that BMM students with a cam phone can do better. Come to think of it... I am not entirely sure that this hasn’t been shot on a camera phone.
Lets not talk about the use of music and the film ends randomly.
Rating : 2.5 / 10

Short film 2:
Already disappointed by the first one, I tried to keep my mood in check for the next one which is by Zoya Akhtar.
This one has Bhumi Pednekar as a maidservant and the story sort of unfold from her viewpoint. This one was far better than the screechy and incoherent first short film. It has a morose and supressed sort of feeling in the narration, which is entirely on purpose to show how stifled this woman is in her work and life. I am not giving anything away story wise, but the ending could have done with a bit more of either a twist or a resolution. It sort of ends pretty much without any fizzle.
That is not to say this is not worth a view. The technical artistry is nice, with scenes of one character exiting from one side and entering from another in the same movement, adding to the narrative.
The acting is subdued and very natural. Believable and makes one sad to the inevitable nature of the story.
This one wasn’t too good or too bad. Just decent.
Rating : 6 / 10

Short Film 3:
This short film is directed by Dibaker Banerjee. I was expecting something a bit better than the previous two from this piece.
It has Manisha koirala in it along with Sanjay Kapoor.
The acting is very natural and sanjay Kapoor does his best imitation of anil Kapoor and it almost seems like they wanted anil but got stuck with sanjay.
The story deals with infidelity and with a slow start, this one drags out for a long time. Such a long time that I felt, how did they manage to make it SO long and boring.
Maybe that was the point! To show how the woman in the marriage feels, bored and tired of the proceedings, but unable to leave. Or maybe it was just boring.
The acting was decent, the director was average, cinematography also average. Nothing bad, but just so long drawn out and end again without any resolution.
Rating : 5 / 10

Now after Three of my favourite film directors of the past having let me down badly… I mean, I LOVE Gangs of Wasseypur, Khosla Ka Ghosla, zindagi na milegi doobara etc, but all three were fairly average and Anuragji’s film was just trash. So now the last one is Karan Johar. The most hated of film makers… Though as a kid I loved Kuch Kuch hota hai a lot…
I was expecting his film to be the worst, but…

Short film 4:
By the infamous Karan Johar. Kill me if his film turns out to be the best of this lot.
The film start with Neha Dupia looking terrible, moves on to Kiara Advani who looks much better and then I forget about everything else and the story takes over.
This film is about marriage and unfulfilled desires. How only love doesn’t cut it if one of the two people married is not fully satisfied with the physical aspect of the relationship.
The acting is a bit soap opera – ish but not too over the top to be totally unbelievable. The lead pair go a great job.
The direction is actually pretty decent, its shot pretty straight forward without any weird tricks or gimmicks. The cinematography compared to the previous three is of proper Bollywood quality. Rich colors and nice crisp and sharp images. In short NOT shot on a cell phone camera by BMM students.
So in WHICH world does the Karan Johar short film be the best one in the lot ?
The answer is… this bizarre world that we live in…
This short film has everything a short film needs. Good scripts need a beginning, middle and an end. An conflict or inciting incident happens and then it is resolved by the end. This story has all of that. Not to mention a some really funny comedy elements thrown in for good measure. But not bad that they would distract from the main story.
I want to discuss more about the topic of this film, but in the spoilers section.
Rating : 7.5 / 10 . Not bad at all ! It was worth sitting thru 1 bad and 2 average short films to see this one.

Overall : Don’t expect much of lust in these stories except the last one. The provocative title is mostly misleading and the stories mostly fall flat on their faces.

Spoilers :
Karan Johar’s short film is all about how a woman whose base desires and not fulfilled by her husband and when she tries some other means of getting satisfaction, the whole thing goes wrong.
The sad part is, once her in laws find out what’s going on, they try to punish her. So the topic becomes, it is such a crime for a woman/girl to want to get satisfaction in the physical act of lovemaking. This an important topic which the so far unmarried Mr johar has touched upon. It has a message and also some sort of resolution to the whole thing.
This frankly surprised me. I mean when does this guy make socially relevant stuff? As expected, his film has to show a marriage, but this isn’t a wedding video disguised as a short film.
So see this one if you feel like skipping the other ones. It’s definitely worth a discussion.