Lust Stories 2 Review: Netflix misses the spot once again

Just like how many a Netflix anthology goes, Lust Stories 2 is a mixed bag with unintentionally hilarious (and at times disturbing) lack"lust"re narratives.

Much like its 2018 predecessor, Lust Stories 2 ventures out to explore sex in realistic scenarios among realistic characters. But then yet again like its 2018 predecessor, Lust Stories 2 suffers from unrealistically painful writing. 

1. R Balki turns Neena Gupta into a sexually liberal grandmother but makes sex pedantic

The first segment is directed and co-written by R Balki (Paa, Cheeni Kum) and revolves around an outspoken dadi played by Neena Gupta. Her character feels that her granddaughter (Mrunal Thakur) can marry her boyfriend (Angad Bedi) only when they are sexually compatible. And then, this young couple must prove to their dadi that they can pleasure each other. 

Meanwhile, this dadi becomes the ambassador of “TMI” as she gives too much information about her sexual escapades to her granddaughter. Thakur, who often breaks into childish fits of “You’re so sexy, dadi” and “Oh my god”, comes off as a cringe-inducing caricature of a Gen-Z-er. 

And it is understandable that Balki wants to defy “boomer stereotypes” by making them more liberal-minded but it gets a tad bit annoying when the dadi becomes too invested in the couple’s sex life. You’ll forget Angad Bedi exists in this movie as Thakur has more playful chemistry with her dadi here!

Balki’s short ultimately comes off as him being preachy about not being prude and sexually pleasuring your partner anytime and everytime possible. But the convoluted manner in which Balki sends this message ends up making sex boring. There is a scene where the dadi says that nothing will break the couple as long as they are addicted to having sex with each other. 

Mr Balki clearly is clearly not aware of sexually toxic couples, breakup sex, actual sex addiction and what not. Much like the audience, Balki's sexual partner would need some explanation. He could have very well cast Gupta to explore an older woman’s dating and sexual choices (like what Masaba, Masaba tried doing when it was not focusing on Masaba Gupta’s uninteresting theatrics). In fact, Balki himself took on age-gap romances with Cheeni Kum. But here he turns sex into a grandma story that will not hold your attention and put you to sleep instead. 

2. Konkona Sen’s short is perhaps the only redeeming factor

Lust Stories 2’s second chapter is directed by Konkona Sen Sharma who proved her directorial chops with 2016’s A Death in the Gunj. Also starring in Neeraj Ghawywan’s poignant take on inter-caste lesbian romance in Netflix’s Ajeeb Daastaans, Sen takes on class differences amidst a sexually voyeuristic scenario. 

Zoya Akhthar tried to do the same with her short in the first Lust Stories but Sen’s treatment of the subject matter comes off as more sensitive. A contrast from her role of a domestic helper, Tillotama Shome stars in the short as a successful yet miserably single corporate employee. One day, when she comes back home earlier than usual, she finds her house help (played by the consistently brilliant Amruta Subash from Sacred Games) having sex with a stranger on Shome’s own bed. 

Shome’s character turns into a voyeur, deriving pleasure from the nasty stuff that she witnesses. Sen is bold enough to explore the protagonist’s moral dilemma but voyeurism as a whole is a very tricky subject to flesh out, especially in a short film. Most cinematic takes on voyeurism find the protagonist ogling at other people in sexually compromising situations (often without the consent of the ones having sex). 

So, you are naturally prompted to question the morals of Shome’s character. And that’s a good thing. A Death in the Gunj already proved Sen’s abilities to take on morally grey characters but then the short eventually bites off more than it can chew. Tackling voyeurism, sexual loneliness and undertones of queerness, Sen's short comes off as overstuffed and would have probably been better if it had a longer runtime. 

3. Vijay Varma and Tamannaah Bhatia might be a real-life couple but do they really have sexual chemistry?

Tamannaah Bhatia and Vijay Varma have been hounded by the paps ever since they publicly announced their relationship. Much of the hype around Lust Stories 2 was because of their short in which the real-life couple was expected to (you know) do “method acting”. 

What do we get instead? We get Sujoy Ghosh directing a pulpy mishmash of Crime Patrol/Savdhaan India episode plot twists and yawn-worthy “desi bhoot” stories. The Kahaani director is clearly running out of third-act shockers.

As thriller is clearly his comfort genre, Ghosh tries to weave an open-ended thriller for his short on Lust Stories 2. But with plot points that are too mundane and with Bhatia’s character indulging in some CID-level exposition, Ghosh’s short fails to incite any reactions (sexual or otherwise). Much like Balki’s movie, Ghosh’s short is too dumbed-down for its audience with unintentionally hilarious results.

Emulating a mix of his characters from Gully Boy and Mirzapur, Varma is unconvincingly cast as an uber-rich company CEO who rides a vintage Mercedes that crashes into a remote village. Without giving away too much of Ghosh’s plot (you already will be able to predict it as it progresses), the lead then meets up with Bhatia’s character in the village who turns out to be a former flame. 

Sex is predictable but this sex is preceded by Varma ogling at Bhatia’s cleavage, going through her lingerie and then peeping through the keyhole when she is in the shower. If Varma’s creepy mannerisms aren’t enough, they are all played out in a cheap slapstick routine. Varma played a sex-maniac serial killer just a few weeks ago in Prime Videos’ Dahaad and he was still more suave than his Lust Stories 2 creep!

Even when the sex starts, Varma briefly interrupts Bhatia with a remark that goes like “Pehle se itne hi bade the (Were they always this big)?” Yeah, that moment pretty much sums up the campiness of Ghosh’s direction in this anthology. The couple does have sex but then an Emraan Hashmi kiss scene from the 2000s had more lust in it than this. 

4. The one with Kajol is way too dark to be categorised as a “lust story”

While the first Lust Stories ended with Karan Johar’s feel-good short on sex stigmas, Lust Stories 2 concludes on a surprisingly traumatising note. Set in rural Rajasthan, the short directed by Badhaai Ho’s Amit Sharma stars Kajol as a woman who is sexually abused daily by her drunkard husband Kumud Mishra (who is also shown to abuse many other women). Kajol is convincing enough as an emotionally-burdened wife and mother and Mishra menacingly fits the role.

The film as a whole is rooted in good intentions but it comes off as too abrupt of a segue. What “lust” is Sharma trying to explore in his lust story? He offers a disturbing portrait of a household where sex can be used as a means of patriarchal control but it still feels out of place. Further, the disturbing realities that Sharma wants to bring out eventually build up to shock value. But then again, there’s nothing to be shocked about as Sharma follows Ghosh’s footsteps to deliver predictable third-act twists. 

Final verdict: Barring Konkona Sen’s segment, Lust Stories 2 proves yet again that Hindi-language anthologies have a long way to go, especially when it comes to exploring love and lust. Lust Stories 2 joins the likes of Ajeeb Daastaans, Ghost Stories and Modern Love Mumbai when it comes to inconsistent anthologies. 

We’re going with 2 out of 5 stars for Lust Stories 2.