Thoughts I Had While Watching Lust Stories 2’s Vijay-Tamannaah Break My Heart and Konkana Drop My Jaw

Like any internet binge viewer, I too sat through Lust Stories 2 over the weekend. I signed on to Netflix as soon as it was available, and I spent a significant amount of my Friday afternoon viewing and talking about each tale with other subscribers. The second collection of anthologies, Lust Stories 2, included works by Sujoy Ghosh, Konkona Sen Sharma, R. Balki, and Amit Ravindernath Sharma. For both good and bad, each story got me thinking. Let’s go right into everything I thought while viewing each Lust Stories 2 tale without further ado.

There are spoilers ahead.

The short film Made For Each Other, starring Neena Gupta, Mrunal Thakur, and Angad Bedi, centers on a grandma determined to find out if the soon-to-wed pair is suitable not just in terms of hobbies but also in bed. Everyone finds her demand intrusive, but they finally accept that Mount Fuji must explode for a successful marriage.

The short video is straightforward, but I would still suggest it to anyone for whom talking about sex is still frowned upon. Neena Gupta is without a doubt the protagonist of this short narrative. She is exceptional. Her demeanor on social media and in real life are quite similar, which makes her character much more approachable. Bravo for the casting. It is such a welcome change of pace to see an adult discussion about marriage and sex on television. Excellent work, R. Balki.

The Mirror is a story about two ladies who are on opposing sides of the mirror and what happens on a bright day, as portrayed by Tillotama Shome and Amruta Subhash. Veda (Amruta) is having sex with her spouse at home on her bed when Isheeta (Tillotama) enters her home to assist. She is first repulsed by the thought of men on her bed, but soon becomes fond of being a witness. The ladies eventually meet face to face when the curtains close, and a sequence of events take place that highlight women’s aspirations and class power.

The Mirror is a slow-moving, but wow, what a gorgeously rich piece of art that concentrates on class and its flaws without being preachy about it. Konkana Sen Sharma seamlessly shifts between different modes, giving the impression that all of their points of view are equally valid. I really thought it could have been raised a little bit more to elicit a robust conversation, but I also like Konkana’s perspective, which takes a more nuanced approach to this issue. If you watch the narrative again, it seems like you could discover a fresh perspective. The narrative is elevated by Tillotama and Amruta.

Ex: I had high expectations for this one, but it most definitely let me down. Vijay Varma and Tamannaah Bhatia collaborated on a sexually charged Lust Story under the direction of Sujoy Ghosh. After 10 years, Vijay and Tamannaah’s characters, an ex-husband and ex-wife, meet paths and the flame rekindles. But the story takes a turn that no one anticipates.

Despite the match being unusual, I knew the twist as soon as the tragedy happened. Much better imagery might have been used to depict Sex With Ex. It seems as if Sujoy was attempting to cram a full film’s worth of material into a tightly-boxed short picture.

Tilchatta: A guy (played by Kumud Mishra) who is married to a former sex worker is still attempting to survive off the remnants of his nobility. Given his love for women, he grabs hold of any gorgeous lady and sleeps with her without asking any questions. And to top it all off, he is a violent spouse. His wife (Kajol) lusts for independence while he lusts for ladies. She does all in her power to win this war of passion, including convincing her son to go to England for further study. But since she doesn’t have luck on her side, it’s a battle until the very finish.

The story Tilchatta, which means “cockroach,” was well written. Through Kumud, Amit Ravindernath Sharma effectively conveys the horror generated by a cockroach. Also worthy of praise is the final double whammy. The third one, though, was problematic for me since it begins with a guy lusting after women and swiftly escalates to rape, both marital and outside the home, and violence. Even though I have given it some thought and have attempted to see it from several angles, it still remains a problematic viewpoint in my opinion.

If I take a parallel stance with this viewpoint, the narrative has two outstanding performances from Kajol and Kumud Mishra. Since she took a break from performing, Kajol has been extremely selective about the projects and appearances she accepts, which has made us long for her presence. And what an actor, Kumud! He has such a knack of getting under your skin that by the time it’s through, you want him out of your sight completely.

R Balki and Konkana Sen Sharma’s tales would be my top picks out of the four. The main justification for this is that these occurrences and events are relevant and/or may occur in our everyday lives. The writing and acting in Kajol’s narrative by Amit Ravindernath Sharma come in second. With Sex with Ex, Sujoy fails to deliver.

If a third season of Lust Stories were to be produced, I’d want to see Imitaz Ali, Shakun Batra, Sriram Raghavan, Vivek Agnihotri, Rohit Shetty, Gauri Shinde, and Meghna Gulzar try their hand at telling a story. In the next leg, I would also want to see a couple more tales that highlight the LGBTQ community.