LSD: Love, Sex Aur Dhokha

India has never been as innocent as it consistently claims to be. If you are, however, one of those naïve citizens sitting behind a veil of ridiculous reasons who actually believes this, then I couldn't feel sorrier for you. In fact, if you pay closer attention to reality, you might never look at our beloved nation the same way again. One simple Google search and you will find an alarming amount of voyeuristic material of folks in brazenly compromising positions peppered all over the Internet. And no – it isn't just those light headed, dizzy for that fifteen seconds of fame teens or fellers in their early 20s who are churning out these clips either – no. A good amount of it comes from middle aged, aging, and even ancient crisis-ridden junta who are desperate for some sort of thrill in their otherwise mundane and excruciatingly cliché-laden lives that contains nothing more than mindless work.

With that preface done with – let us now focus on Dibakar Banerjee's latest offering 'Love, Sex aur Dhoka' (LSD). I am sure enough spice has already been generated thanks to the extremely obvious hint in the title itself of a dozen saucily executed romp scenes just waiting to tease your aphrodisiacal senses. And yes – this will also take a good amount of our sex-starved nation's goggle-eyed wannabes to go see the flick too. But that's when the fine line between those who went into the cinema expecting a popularized version of a badly edited B-grade mallu movie type sleaze-fest and the ones who walked in expecting a new way of storytelling becomes quite apparent. A divide, I am hoping, will have more fans in the latter category.

After watching the 1 hour 40 something minute dish called LSD, one thing is certain. Dibakar is one of those refreshingly cocky bunch of film makers who are quite unperturbed by what the mass populace has to say as long as their distinct tone of message is sent across without fear. It is in this essence of movie making, that Dibakar scores points in my book. Come what may, he seems to say, I will show you my vision the way I want you to see it. It is in this raw, unedited, low-light/night-shot array of frames that the much needed breaking of stereotypical shackles Indian cinema is bound with can be heard – loud and clear. If only, of course, you are willing to listen. If only, of course, you are willing to acknowledge.

LSD is completely shot via hand-held digital cameras, security cameras installed in public places and hidden spy cams tucked away in not-so- obvious spots. The tale unwraps with three distinct stories of Love, Sex and Dhokha – as is obvious in the title. What is not so obvious is the way Dibakar stitches the characters in each of them so craftily that the moments where their connections become apparent are truly memorable. The minimalist usage of background music layered with the brave attempts at showcasing emotions in their true and blue nature emanating from nameless faces is truly a new attempt in Bollywood. Actually it is quite new to Indian cinema too.

My take on the execution part of LSD is more to do with technique and philosophy rather than the stories themselves. Sure, the plots have their moments but they aren't anything we haven't already heard of or seen. Some of the scenes are overdone and there are even characters that let you down by actually 'acting'. So, in my humble opinion, walking into LSD to expect it to sweep you off the feet with the narrative could be a tad misleading. What I would hope you pay special attention to is how the fine line between fiction and reality gets blurred without you even realizing it. There came a point in the film when my wife turned to me and said 'This is nonsense! It just seems like they have stitched together some clips from YouTube!'

Notwithstanding her disapproving conclusion on the film, I must say, that is exactly what Dibakar was trying to achieve. Fading out that line where you forget these people are actors and that they do realize there is a camera somewhere recording their actions.

My suspicion with this theme then is the following. LSD will have two clear opinions. One - folks who loved the piece and understood the intentions with which Dibakar shot the flick and narrated the tale the way he did. And two, a majority from what I can tell, who absolutely hated the movie and found it annoyingly ambitious and contrived in its bizarre Hollywood-style-pretentiousness like approach executed in a rather disturbing and amateurish fashion. Either way, LSD will evoke a reaction in you that will stay long with you after having long left the cinema.

My recommendation then? Go watch it. Not just to love it immensely or hate it profusely, but to be part of a threshold that has never been tapped on before. To be witness to a milestone in Indian film making where the director is absent from the scenes. To be an audience to a movie where the camera is calling the shots. Just for this, LSD to me will be a unique movie watching experience. And yes – do also watch it before a dozen more remakes flood the market claiming to be better than the original.

The intriguing part of the film is its found footage genre. One rarely sees experiment in Bollywood. And that's why the film should be watched once. The film does not have any big star and involves new actors due to which the film gives a feeling of reality. The film is divided into three stories justifying the title. All three stories are awesome and the way that they are linked is more amazing. This is another masterpiece from Dibakar Banerjee.

PROS:

The screenplay is good so no matter what, you are bound to sit once you have started the film. The acting by all is satisfactory. All three stories have been given full attention and full development. The found footage shooting was good. Dibakar is one promising director currently.

MESSAGE: "You got to be sharp and smart or you become victim."

VERDICT: "A must watch Bollywood film."

Love, Sex aur Dhokha (LSD) is the 3rd movie directed by Dibakar Banerjee after the hit comedy Khosla ka Ghosla & the entertaining Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!. All the actors were newcomers. The movie is produced by Ekta Kapoor ((who, if you are an Indian you would know, is responsible for the daily psychological torture of millions of Indians (mostly males)).

The movie has 3 stories each representing a part of the title. All the 3 stories are shot in a voyeuristic manner. The first story deals with a richgirl-poorboy love story & is shot from the perspective of a hand-held amateur video camera. Most of the humour in LSD is in the first story. The base for the second story is MMS sex clips & is shot from a CCTV camera angle. The third one is about the casting couch & is filmed mainly through the view point of a sting/hidden camera. Although the 3 stories are independent of each other, the characters in the 3 stories are connected. The film itself is non linear in nature as the three stories are running simultaneously.

I generally like innovative opening credits & LSD starts with interesting title sequence. So I advise not to miss the opening. All the actors have done very good job especially considering that this is their debut. Another good thing about LSD is that it has no songs save for one along the end credits. Background score, although not spectacular, isn't bad either. As mentioned earlier traditional camera isn't used here. So the movie is a little grainy at parts & may take a few minutes to get used to.

The end to the 2nd story is a bit forced. Some clarity & development was necessary for the motives of Rashmi for what she does at the end. Also the third story appears a little contrived at parts. Apart from these minor glitches the movie was very well written.

Dibaker Banerjee has tackled a very dangerous & taboo subject in a superb manner. Full marks to him. Bollywood is lucky to have directors like him, Anurag Kashyap & Vishal Bhardwaj.

LSD is a very disturbing movie to say the least. The director has ventured into a risky territory but the movie is definitely worth the risk. Most of the people are not wired to acknowledge the perils of the society that they live in. Generally people tend to ignore & forget the evil or loathsome deeds that they see or hear as soon as possible. They tend to live in their own fantasy lands forcing themselves that all is well. In fact yesterday the front page headline of Times of India is about a 12 year old girl who was repeatedly raped for the past year by not only her cousin but also by another 7-8 people (including a 65 year old man) in her locality. For every couple of weeks there is a news report about an honour killing in Haryana. For every official report there are numerous unofficial ones. But very few people remember these things for this pollutes the general feel good factor that they have towards society (read themselves). It is safe to assume that most of the people will forget the above mentioned headline in a very short time. To tackle such realistic subjects needs a lot of courage. The whole team of LSD should be applauded for their effort.

To remove any apprehensions regarding the word sex in the title, there are no explicit sexual scenes in the movie. A special note regarding the back drop of first story. Actually the love story in it was supposed to have a caste based divide. But the great Indian Censor Board (which doesn't even have a working website & which probably has a rating system from the Ashoka era) has objected to this & forced to change the caste divide into rich-poor divide. A double thumbs-down to the Indian Censor Board. With the caste background the first story would have been more gritty & genuine.

This is the kind of movie where a viewer doesn't have any midway opinion after watching. You either like it immensely or abhor it. I for one am in the former category. Irrespective of what your peers say, I strongly recommend you to watch Love, Sex aur Dhokha at least once.

Welcome Mr. Dibaker Lucky Khosla back on screen, representing the new age Bollywood Cinema of the current times from the front. With a completely unexpected, novel and experimental kind of project, the director returns with a bang, walking on his own invented path, breaking all the pre-existing molds of film-making in India. His latest may or may not get instant appreciation from the common man, but will undoubtedly be remembered as an important breakthrough in Indian Cinema and its thought process on the medium.

First of all, don't go for this movie, simply expecting many over the top, sexual sequences showing the skin, as suggested by its title. As a matter of fact, if you are just there in the theater, to watch a sex-movie then you are going to be disappointed a lot. Because this is not merely a sensational piece of work, trying to cash on its title and sex scenes. On the contrary LSD is a thought provoking film, which forces you to think about whether there still exists any private life in this fast progressing technical world around us? The movie basically showcases three distinct youthful stories, which have the important ingredients of love, passion, greed and lust in different dosages. All the three, are related to each other in a peculiar way, quite similar to the movies of the world renowned director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu of Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel fame. However, Dibaker shows the interconnection between the 3, only towards their respective ends which actually provides another surprise element into the narration and works to a great extent. As far as camera-work is concerned, he also seems to be inspired from the recent Hit project shot on handy cam called "Paranormal Activity".

Content wise, once again the director indicates his immense liking towards subjects inspired from the real life incidents. The movie is full of cases which you may have heard or seen on the net in the recent past. There are clear references of real life episodes such as Miss Merrut's sting operation, MMS clips of a newly-wed, Sex clips of a young couple in a store and a Hip-Hop singer speaking Punjabi and getting involved in the case of casting couch. In fact Dibaker Bannerjee has got an unmatchable skill of using the real life news clips in his projects. And this is a proved fact, taking into account, both his previous movies which were highly inspired from real life facts and characters. However, his films might not always be a pleasant experience to watch with the entire family due to his overuse of abusive language and inclusion of highly suggestive sexual scenes in the scripts.

Besides this, the other exclusive master touch possessed by the director is the way he uses Punjabi language in his dialogues and also names of famous places of Delhi in his sequences. For instance just notice the way, the morning shift store girl (in the second story) speaks her dialogues with a distinctive Delhi Punjabi accent. It clearly shows the strong influence of Delhi and its friendly punjabi life style on Dibaker. Frankly speaking, I can easily vouch that till date the most authentic portrayal of the city Delhi and its life style can easily be found in all the three movies coming from the talented director in the recent years.

Coming to the technical aspects of the movie, Yes, the camera is shaking, the images get blurred and there is a substantial use of night vision. But these all concern you only for a few initial moments and that's it. After the first few scenes, the subject takes you in and you simply forget about all the technical hitches coming on the screen at regular intervals. Especially the opening titles of the movie explain it all and help in building up the right mood for the movie's novel concept and treatment.

Cinematography is simply superb, very realistic and leaves such an impact that at times you don't even remember you are watching a movie in the theater. Particularly the use of Handy cams, security cameras and spy cameras is really commendable. Editing is fast, crisp and very close to the real life movement we all witness in our daily lives. Musically, the title track is very catchy and already popular in the youth. Another song of the movie, which had very vulgar lyrics, could not make it to the screen due to the strict censorship. But strangely, it is openly discussed by the characters in the third story. Also the creative artwork of the movie deserves a special mention as it highly innovative and suggestive. The film consists of all new talents who are able to impress and never ever show the signs of their first project on screen. Everyone just looks like his or her character in the script and their collectively effort is a real treat to watch.

The ruling queen of the small screen, Ekta Kapoor has made a very noticeable debut in the genre of experimental cinema, which will surely bring her both profits and appreciation together. And what to say about the director, Dibaker Bannerjee! He won millions of hearts with his first two movies and now once again delivers a worth watching & path breaking project consistently. Unarguably, he is one of the most talented and innovative directors of our times who can ensure you serious content along with his own stamp of comedy and satire.

In simple words, if you eat, live & drink cinema then you are sure going to love this great piece of art. And for all other friends, who only watch movies as just another form of entertainment, you may or may not like it…..but you will not be able to neglect it.

What seemed like a tiny blip on the radar has by now completely shaken the entire network of film industry spread across the country. Easily a milestone in Indian cinema this path breaking film is arguably better than most blockbusters released this year, or for that matter any year.

The underlying mood of the film being antiestablishmentarianism, LOVE, SEX aur DHOKHA is a raw and uncompromising take on life. Deliciously entertaining, intensely honest and fiery in its mission, LSD is a riveting ride you won't forget. Showcasing the pitiable plight of hopeless underdogs and their frantic attempts to live up against the misfortunes thrown upon them by the establishment, LSD is a running commentary of social satire at its peak. Epitomizing contemporary social scenario, LSD has an intensity that is disturbingly painful and shockingly shameful leaving you with memorable characters of outcasts, misfits, freaks and geeks. A real gem, this cinema is a challenge on the sensibilities of the Indian movie watching crowd to re-discover their sensitive sides.

Showcasing a disruptive chronological order (la strada, memento, pulp fiction) this spellbinding mockumentary, a boon for true film lovers, is not to be missed. The outstanding nonlinear narrative structure with three stories cleverly intertwined is truly refreshing to witness compared to boring social lectures of epic proportions which has become the hallmark of mainstream Indian cinema. Perhaps the most fascinating thing LSD belts out is Life as it is. It serves you a slice of current life on a platter for you to relish. Stand back in awe. This film is the sign of times.

An intense movie about frantic lives, the neoclassic LSD is a dizzying ride from silence that screams from a dead couple, to dreams and desires being annexed and annihilated by the engulfing fire of penury. LSD explores a dystopian world where love, bending knees, gets buried, amid deranged relationships between desperate people. LSD is definitely an entertaining attempt in the guise of black comedy to disembark and expose a self-righteous dysfunctional, hedonistic, dystopian society gone haywire. Go ahead and laugh yourself silly over its dark humor as you're caught glued to every passing frame of this slick horror drama. Ultimately the joke's on you (Read : society) as the superlatively captivating tongue in cheek title song embarks with the credits rolling in the end. What a show.

Delivering a sledgehammer impact with a treatment as furious as the message, Dibakar Banerjee is the man on fire scorching all those who resist him. Bold. Daring. Dangerous. Dibakar is a force to reckon. With dollops of attitude and awards predicted worldwide, this director is here to stay. Open your eyes. The master has arrived. This director has single handedly made the badshahs of this trade redundant with his genius. Uprooting the pundits of this industry as well, with simple plots and unheard actors. This is modern-day cinema at its best.

Having acquired a cult status with a cult following within days of release.. LSD is addictive. For some, it's an obsession. I say it's a belter.