‘Lust stories 2’ review: Fifty/Fifty
“Lust Stories” is a famous Indian web show, and it particularly has a solid craze among youth. Now Netflix has come up with “Lust Stories 2,” and it stars Tamannaah Bhatia, Vijay Verma, Neena Gupta, Mrunal Thakur, and Kajol in the lead roles. Let’s see how the series is.
Story
The anthology series consists of four stories. In the first story, “Made For Each Other,” two lovebirds, played by Mrunal Thakur and Angan Bedi, decide to marry, and they also get their parents’ approval. But Neena Gupta, who plays Mrunal’s grandmother, says that the couple should check their compatibility in sex before marriage.
The second story, “The Mirror,” is about a working woman played by Tillotama Shome. One day Tillotama watches her maid having sex in her (Tillotama) house. The maid keeps continuing the same for a long time. Tillotama Shome, who doesn’t have a sex life, starts enjoying her maid’s makeout sessions.
The third story, “Sex With Ex,” is about a CEO, played by Vijay Varma, who has a wife and two kids. One day, his car breakdowns, where he unexpectedly meets his ex-wife (Tamannaah Bhatia). The sudden disappearance of Tamannaah makes Vijay Verma marry another girl.
The fourth story Tilchatta is about a prostitute played by Kajol. She marries a person belonging to the royal family, but her lustful husband mistreats her.
Analysis
“The Mirror story” is the best among the lot, and it is also unique. The way the characterisations are written is simply amazing. There is one more aspect of this story that will come as a surprise to the viewers. Konkona Sen Sharma depicted the sexual fantasies of people in a superb manner. The reason why the maid chooses her mistress’ house for doing sex also is convincing.
Kajol’s “Tilchatta” story is decent. It justifies the lust tag and has a message over the end. There are a couple of well-executed twists in this story, and they are tough to guess too.
The biggest dissatisfaction was with the story featuring Tamannah and Vijay Verma. Though they both share amazing chemistry, the story is highly disappointing. It is unclear as to what the makers wanted to communicate to the viewers with this story. The way the mysterious village has been shown looks odd. All those who expect a solid storyline in this story will get highly disappointed.
The first story, “Made For Each Other,” actually has a relevant point, but the presentation lacks the punch. Many repetitive scenes keep coming one after the other, causing boredom. The bland narration significantly hinders the impact. If there had been some highs and lows, the impact could have been a lot better. The pacing of the final story is a bit slow.
On the whole, “Lust Stories 2” doesn’t fully live up to the hype around it. While a couple of stories are engaging, the other two are utterly disappointing. The cast did a good job, but the end result is underwhelming. You can watch the second and last stories and skip the other two.
Performances
Tillotama Shome and Neena Gupta stand out from the rest. They got into the skin of their characters, and their performances are nothing short of brilliance. Mrunal Thakur, Kajol, Tamannaah, Vijay Verma, and Kumud Mishra are good in their respective roles.
Technicalities:
R Balki directed the first story, and he did a below-par job. Though the point chosen is relevant, the narrative is bland. Konkona Sen Sharma did a very fine job, and the way she fleshed out the characters is too good. Sujoy Ghosh’s story is the weakest of the four as it fails to highlight the essence. Amit Ravindernath Sharma did a decent job. But his story could have been even more gripping.
The music by Raja Narayan Deb, Aman Pant, Sagar Desai, and Subhajit Mukherjee is quite satisfactory. The cinematography by Tapan Tusar Basu, PC Sreeram, and Anand Bansal is good, and particularly the visuals in the last story are solid. The editing is decent. The shoddy CG work in Tamannaah’s episode affects the viewing experience considerably.
