Lust Stories Review - A Case Study of Normalcy

In Indian society, pleasure is a taboo - especially when it comes to women. Even more so, lust is shadowed by love - the pure and holy feeling that charged the 90s and 2000s of Bollywood. In DDLJ, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol slept in the same room but never together. It was this unrealistic depiction of reality that furthered us from the truth - that is in everyday life, lust is far easier to find than love. Directors Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and Karan Johar team up once again for an anthology based around this unexplored feeling.

Lust, as they tell it, resides in each one of us. It is the externalities around us that force us to suppress it. The main characters in each of the four stories are women - Kalindi, played by Radhika Apte in Anurag’s film, is an erratic, unreasonable and in some places infuriating teacher who realises that there’s never really no strings attached. Then there’s Sudha, played by Bhumi Pednekar in Zoya’s film. Sudha is the house-help who has to come to bearings with the fact that she, in the eyes of her boss, is nothing more than the jhadu-pochawali.

In Dibakar’s film, there’s Reena played by Manisha Koirala, who understands the hard way, that marriage and sex cannot be companions, it has to be one without the other. Lastly, there’s Megha, played by a glowing Kiara Advani, who with the help of Rekha (played by a fantastic Neha Dhupia), realises that women have needs that ought to be catered to in the bed room. The four women are fascinating case studies of normalcy. They each lead the quintessential urban life or some reality of it. It is through the four masterminds’ lenses that we realise just how absurd and tiresome this normalcy can get.

Anurag’s film didn’t touch me as much as the rest of them. While his look into a woman’s experiences with absurdity was beguiling, after a point, it just got monotonous and repetitive. The short was far too long with not enough story. Watching Radhika Apte perform was enchanting, however. Her downfall into madness was pitch perfect and Radhika didn’t let a note slip. But the screenplay was ultimately what let her down. Zoya’s film stayed with me longer than the other three. Perhaps because the opening shot had the house help engaging in sex with her boss. The sheer shock factor just simply intrigued me. As the short went on, you could tell that the textures were raw, real and emotional.

But it all held together because of the superior Bhumi Pednekar. Bhumi’s transformation into this hopeless, lifeless and despondent character was inspired. Her acting talent was so evident - in fact, throughout the short, I doubt she had more than 20 words to say. Still the impact of her facial expressions and the way that the camera so lovingly captured her doing everyday tasks like making tea or mopping the floor almost romanticised it. Then there was Dibakar’s film, dealing with issues such as adultery, lust and feeling unlovable.

My favourite line was from a demoralised Manisha Koirala, who explained to her husband that the reason they didn’t work out was because he treated her like his mother and not his wife. In a single line, Dibakar conveyed a whirlwind of emotions. Through his short, he showed us how quickly our society blurs the line between the two. Manisha Koirala, Jaideep Ahlawat (from Raazi) and Sanjay Kapoor were all brilliant. But, the one I laughed the absolute hardest in was Karan Johar’s short starring Kiara Alia Advani, Neha Dhupia and Vicky Kaushal.

Karan’s short started as light and charming but soon (especially in the eponymous masturbation scene) turned into a theatre of the absurd. Let’s just say, I will never be able to watch Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham again without thinking of this scene. But, his short never really felt like a part of the anthology. It felt like a small film of its own - it had background music and two songs devoted to its runtime. While hilarious and insightful, Karan’s short felt detached from the rest of them, perhaps because it wasn’t as raw.

But the biggest problem with Lust Stories was the way that the male characters are treated. Either they’re shown to be goofy fools who don’t understand or simply chauvinistic assholes. There is no in between. Vicky Kaushal is a fantastic actor, and in places does shine, but is never given the screen time to live up to his full potential. Zoya doesn’t ever give us an insight into why Sudha’s boss (played by a repellent Neil Bhoopalam) is the way he is. While Neil gives us a fleshed out performance, Zoya never lets the character naturally formulate. It is Akash Thosar (of Sairat fame), however, in Anurag’s short, with his hilarious ringtone featuring a crowd applauding that leaves the maximum impression.

He perfectly blends in emotion and goofiness. Just like Lust Stories. I’m going with 4 stars for Lust Stories. Normalcy here is the starrer - but as these directors tell it, it is the most absurd thing out there.