Lust Stories
2018 Indian anthology film
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Lust Stories is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language anthology film, consisting of four short film segments directed by Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, and Karan Johar[1] and based on the concept of the 2013 anthology film Bombay Talkies. Co-produced by Ronnie Screwvala of RSVP and Ashi Dua of Flying Unicorn Entertainment, the film has an ensemble cast including Radhika Apte, Bhumi Pednekar, Manisha Koirala, Kiara Advani, Vicky Kaushal, Akash Thosar, Neha Dhupia and others.
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Ashi Dua
- Sylvester Fonseca
- Álvaro Gutiérrez
- K. U. Mohanan
- Mitesh Mirchandani
| Lust Stories | |
|---|---|
Official release poster | |
| Directed by | |
| Produced by | Ronnie Screwvala Ashi Dua |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography |
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| Edited by |
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| Music by | Background Score and Guest Composition: Sameer Uddin Songs: Amit Trivedi Tanishk-Vayu Prateek Kuhad |
Production companies | RSVP Movies Flying Unicorn Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
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Running time | 120 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
Lust Stories is the second of three anthology films from Johar, Banerjee, Akhtar and Kashyap, being preceded by Bombay Talkies in 2013 and followed by Ghost Stories in 2020, the latter also being released on Netflix. The film was nominated for two Awards at the 47th International Emmy Awards; Best TV Movie or Miniseries and Best Actress for Apte.[2] A sequel, Lust Stories 2, with segments directed by R. Balki, Konkona Sen Sharma, Amit Ravindernath Sharma, and Sujoy Ghosh, was released in 2023.
Plot
Anurag Kashyap
Kalindi is a married college professor, who sleeps with her student, Tejas. Tejas was a virgin, who Kalindi manipulates by asking him to forget about the encounter. She hopes Tejas will not develop feelings, so pushes him away. When Tejas starts going out with a student, Kalindi tries to make him jealous by regaling him with stories of her new relationship with a professor, Neeraj. Neeraj is awkward in bed and is dumped by Kalindi, who seeks comfort in her older husband, Mihir, who lives abroad. Mihir, who encouraged Kalindi to explore herself sexually - likely so he could cheat on her while they lived separately - does not respond to her. Distraught, Kalindi tries to win back Tejas, though her obsession soon becomes stalker-ish. Finally, Tejas confronts her, asking for a committed relationship in exchange for breaking up with his girlfriend. At this, Kalindi balks and walks out on him, casually revealing that she is married.
Zoya Akhtar
Ajit lives in a bachelor pad, and hires a maid, Sudha, to do the chores. While doing her job, Sudha also sleeps with him consensually. While she is just a fling to Ajit, Sudha seems to have some feelings for him. Ajit's parents arrive for some time, during which Sudha diligently works for the family. One day, another family arrives with a marriage proposal for Ajit and their daughter. As Sudha cooks, the two families discuss plans for their children. Sudha serves them tea and finds Ajit alone with his bride-to-be in his room. He caresses her face and strokes her hair. Outside, Ajit's mother distributes sweets to announce her son’s engagement. Silently heartbroken, Sudha accepts some sweets from Ajit’s mother, who congratulates her. She resumes her normal routine, and is shown leaving the apartment after yet another day at work.
Dibakar Banerjee
Reena, a banker, is in an extra-marital affair with her husband's close friend Sudhir. The two are in love and have maintained their secret relationship for 3 years. During one of Reena's visits to Sudhir's home, Salman relays to Sudhir that he suspects Reena is cheating on him. This causes Sudhir and Reena to panic. Reena voices they should tell Salman about the affair so they can openly be together and is disheartened at Sudhir's reaction as he does not seem to think it a possibility. Reena ends up calling Salman to Sudhir's home. Reena reveals to Salman that she is unhappy in their marriage, and feels that Salman only needs a mother for his children, not a wife. After she reveals her 3-year affair with Sudhir, Salman breaks down and asks her to stay for the sake of their children. Later that night, the couple bond and make love whilst Reena is grief-stricken. The next morning, she tells Sudhir that Salman knows about the affair, wants her to end it and that Sudhir can never "know" that Salman was aware of the affair at all. Reena tells Sudhir that she cannot meet him again and leaves with her husband.
Karan Johar
Megha, a young school teacher, marries Paras, who works in an office. While Paras dotes on her, he is not sexually experienced and frequently leaves Megha dissatisfied. Meanwhile, Paras’ family push her to bear children. One day, Megha witnesses her colleague, Rekha, using a vibrator in the school library. This motivates Megha to use one too; however, when she attempts to try it out at home, there is a commotion in the living room and she rushes out with her vibrator still inside her. Paras' grandmother, looking for the TV remote, finds the vibrator remote and starts using it unknowingly. She begins to increase the intensity, as Megha realises what is going on. She tries to hide the pleasure from being visible on her face, but fails. Megha eventually climaxes in the living room, as Paras’ family watch in shock. Scandalised, Paras's mother demands a divorce. One month later, Paras and Megha live separately, but Paras tells her that he does not wish to divorce her. After she firmly says that a woman has more desires than just children, Paras feeds her ice cream, indicating that he is interested in pleasing her.
Cast
- Anurag Kashyap's segment
- Radhika Apte as Kalindi Dasgupta
- Akash Thosar as Tejas Bhave
- Ridhi Khakhar as Natasha Thakral
- Randeep Jha as Neeraj Choudhry
- Varadha as Mihir Dasgupta
- Zoya Akhtar's segment
- Bhumi Pednekar as Sudha Maheshwari
- Neil Bhoopalam as Ajit Khanna
- Nikita Dutta as Rukmini Sonkari
- Rasika Duggal as Sonalika Atiharan
- Dibakar Banerjee's segment
- Manisha Koirala as Reena Bahl
- Jaideep Ahlawat as Sudhir
- Sanjay Kapoor as Salman Ahmed Bahl
- Karan Johar's segment
- Kiara Advani as Megha Upadhyay
- Vicky Kaushal as Paras Upadhyay
- Neha Dhupia as Rekha
Production
Lust Stories is developed as a sequel to the 2013 anthology film Bombay Talkies. It has been co-produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Ashi Dua under the label of their respective production companies RSVP and Flying Unicorn Entertainment. The four segments of the anthology film have been directed by Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar and Dibakar Banerjee and Karan Johar respectively.[3][4][5]
Release
Soundtrack
The film score was composed and one song was guest-composed by Sameer Uddin, while rest of the songs were composed by Amit Trivedi, Tanishk-Vayu and Prateek Kuhad.
The lyrics were written by Shellee, Kumar Suryavanshi, Prateek Kuhad and Tanishk-Vayu.
| Lust Stories | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |
| Released | 15 June 2018 (Film) |
| Recorded | 2018 |
| Studio | Netflix |
| Genre | Feature Film soundtrack |
| Length | 16:00 |
| Language | Hindi |
| Label | Sangeet Music |
| Producer | Tanishk Bagchi |
| Official audio | |
| Lust Stories - Full Album on YouTube | |
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Opening Credits Theme" | Sameeruddin | 2:14 |
| 2. | "Tune Kaha" | Prateek Kuhad | 3:41 |
| 3. | "Motorcycle" | Shashaa Tirupati | 1:24 |
| 4. | "Ice-cream" | Various Artists | 1:12 |
| 5. | "Dilli Waale" | Neha Bhasin | 0:43 |
| 6. | "Jugni" | Vijay Yamla | 2:37 |
| 7. | "End Credits" | Various Artists | 4:09 |
| Total length: | 16:00 | ||
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 12 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/10.[8]
Lust Stories delightfully pushes boundaries to tell real stories about real women, who are unapologetic in their imperfections and desires, and go about mending their heart strings the best they can. Lust after all, is never too far from the other L-word. —Suktara Ghosh, in her June, 2018 review for The Quint
Critics praised the film's portrayal of women and its exploration of female sexuality, a subject which has been rarely dealt with in Indian films.[9] Film critic Alaka Sahani used the metaphor of a woman’s body is draped in a dupatta while discussing the sheltered sexuality of women in general, a theme that took a central position in the narrative; she praised the handling of the subject matter as clinical in the subversion of such regressive stereotypes associated with women who have an active sex life as the presumably amorous "vamps" in the Indian film industry.[10] Kiara Advani's masturbation scene in the film, using a vibrator, was praised for its frank portrayal of women's sexuality.[11]
Mridula R of The News Minute echoed the sentiment as she praised the film's novelty in the honest portrayal of women, their "liberation, thoughts, [and] decisions".[12] Others were also appreciative of the "glorious women [who] stubbornly and strikingly hold the reins"[13] and the "sometimes not likeable, but definitely relatable women who usually elude our screens".[14] Commentators responded positively to subtlety in the film's use of female protagonists; they were especially impressed by the fact that all of the stories had female protagonists "without being obnoxious about it",[9] how they were wielded "to tell stories from a uniquely different perspective" [15] and how it is a befitting slap on the face of India’s morality preachers as an extremely contemporary take on — not sex in India — but on the majority’s perception on how it must be represented in culture.[16]
Sequel
Lust Stories 2 is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language anthology film, second installment of Lust Stories, consisting of four short film segments directed by R Balki, Konkona Sen Sharma, Amit Ravindernath Sharma and Sujoy Ghosh. Co-produced by Ronnie Screwvala of RSVP and Ashi Dua of Flying Unicorn Entertainment, the film has an ensemble cast including Tamannaah Bhatia, Kajol, Mrunal Thakur, Amruta Subhash, Angad Bedi, Kumud Mishra, Neena Gupta, Tillotama Shome, Vijay Varma and others.[17][18]
Lust Stories 3 is an upcoming Indian Hindi-language anthology film, third installment of Lust Stories, consisting of four short film segments directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, Shakun Batra and Vishal Bhardwaj. Co-produced by Ronnie Screwvala of RSVP and Ashi Dua of Flying Unicorn Entertainment, the film has an ensemble cast including Radhika Apte, Konkona Sen Sharma, Vijay Varma, Abhishek Banerjee, Gurfateh Pirzada, Sana Thampi, Ali Fazal, Radhika Madan, Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth and others.[19]
