‘Lust Stories’ at a Peek!

Okay, let’s take a deep breath, relax ourselves, and gain some courage. We are going to converse about the most controversial, and taboo topic here – sex… Well, something more intense actually, lust. This article is a symbolic of the numerous pops-ups Netflix shows me. I have been awaiting the release of ‘Lust Stories’ since quite sometime though, and have been yearning to narrate my experience of the same.

Anurag Kashyap’s narrative was relatable to the core. A middle-aged professor surviving a long distance relationship with her husband, and somehow caught in the cob-web of emotions while just trying to preserve a sexual connect with her student Tejas. Apte (Radhika Apte) does a commendable job here, and her screen presence is pleasant to the viewer. Eventually, she finds herself landing into Tejas’ house, only to discover if he had slept with his friend cum girlfriend. When the (not so) good boy asks for his favourite professor’s hand, a confident Apte blurts out, “Pagal hai kya? Main shaadi shuda hoon.”

Our society has very subtly fragmented our social status and races; where you can sleep with your maid, but accepting anything from her hand is considered impious. An incredible performance by Bhumi Pednekar as the maid to techie Ajit. Ajit prefers taking a shower after satiating his lust, and addresses Pednekar as ‘Gandi Saali’ when she refuses to bathe after sex. Well of course, she retorts bluntly to it, calling him ‘Naanga Saala’.

The one by Dibakar Banerjee is my personal favourite. Manisha Koirala juggles in a relationship between her husband and her husband’s best friend. While on a beach house Koirala and Sudhir(Kapoor’s best friend) get physical, Sudhir gets a call from Salman stating that he seeks a divorce from his wife. He gets hyper and tells him he would bet his wife would be with someone else. Alas! What an irony! However, on hearing about his relation with his wife, Salman requests his wife to stop the relationship, and also to see to the fact that Sudhir doesn’t learn about Salman knowing about their love affair. Things pacify at length, and the two(Koirala and Kapoor) reunite.

Source: Netflix

Karan Johar’s story was by far the most amusing. A young, sex deprived woman adopts to artificial ways to satiate her lust, and is discovered red-handed before her in-laws. Her gestures sync with the perfect ambiance and sound effects from K3G. Then there is a bolt from the blue. The ever so loving ‘saasumaa’ turns a villain all of a sudden and refuses to accept the girl as a bride anymore. But the ending was sans melancholy, as the ideal husband wanted to start afresh…

Kudos to the directors for perceiving a concept that totally broke the stereotype of mainstream cinema. Surely, Indian cinema can be much more than just love, action and romance. 

We could also be home to an ‘Arkangel’(Black Mirror), a ‘Money Heist’ or an ‘Infinity War’, or perhaps something more and elusive.