Prathyush Parasuraman
Lust Stories 2, a Netflix anthology of four films, follows the formula we have gotten comfortable with — one film that will push past the rest, in an embarrassing, effortless thrust. The rest will leave us wondering what went wrong, or given how the negatives are stacked against them, what went right.
With R. Balki, Konkona Sen Sharma, Sujoy Ghosh, and Amit Ravindernath Sharma at the helm of their respective stories of lust — many are actually stories on lust, not of lust, preferring to discourse about it than show it
Sen Sharma breezes past the rest, with her vision of lust as unstable, indignified, indispensable, but above all else, pleasurable. She gets desire — or its SEO friendly equivalent, lust.
This film wants a pat on its back for being willing to have this conversation. You can feel it shimmying its shoulders towards you for that thump — and not just because PC Sreeram’s dated cinematography is, literally, quaking.
However, the real conversation — the difficult conversation, the one that knocks over one’s sense of self — is the one Mrunal’s character is supposed to have with Angad’s, explaining how she hasn’t orgasmed with him, yet.
That conversation is entirely off screen, and towards the end, the couple come to give daadi the good news that they are in love. Or that they have finally orgasmed. This film chooses not to make that distinction clear. Because of what use is lust, if not aiding love? Of what use is the distinction between lust and love?