Lust Stories 2

Lust stories 2 is a romantic drama anthology film directed by several directors.

Made for each other by R Balki:-One of the very few surface level, passable films by balki. The subject matter of sex education and its importance in married life is on point, but the treatment is very meh type. It works well as a comic short, but never soars to an exceptional height. Mrunal thakur performed very weak in this short. There was no x-factor.

The mirror by konkana sen sharma:-This is the excellent one of the four stories by miles. Tilottama shome and amruta subhash give two epic performances. The subject matter of voyeurism is very well portrayed. This short makes sex look pleasurable and enjoyable. It also makes a very sharp remark on human ego and class and economic differences. There is one shot, where the camera shifts from a fingering tilottama touching herself watching the two of them have sex, to them having sex and then to a calendar and back to tilottama through amruta. That shot itself elevates this shot head and shoulders above the rest.

Sex with ex by sujoy ghosh:-one of the most childish and amatuerish works by sujoy ghosh. First of all, the jarring visuals stick out as a sore thumb. I mean, who can suggest such poor sets for a film. The illogical twists are of no use, they are there just for the sake. The performances are nothing in front of what we have seen from vijay and tamannah maybe. Only positive is that the sex and romance is good, they manage to bring their real life magic onto the screen.

Tilchatta by amit ravindernath sharma:-this is another fine short by amit sharma. The screenplay builds up the tension and suspense on what is going to happen next. The performances by kumud mishra, kajol excite the narrative. The ending twist within the twist is unprecedented as well. It really catches you offguard. The saying 'when you plan to take revenge, you have to dig two graves, one for the person, and one for yourself' is the gist of the short. This was a great short film.

Konkana segment-8.5 : layered/ great use of visuals and sound/ true to the theme Last segment -6/10 : Nothing unusual. Soapy melodramatic dialogues but the ending made sense to me.

Balki segment - 1.5/10 : preachy cliched and overacted. I legit sided with the trad parents on this one.

Sujoy Ghosh segment - 2/10 : adding cleavage and sex scenes does not make it a lust story. Not sure what the choice of shooting in a studio setting was meant to convey. Some ode to bollywood bcoz the protagonist was named Vijay Chauhan i guess. Not sure if his choices were dictated by greed or lust. Overall confused bit.

Thoughts summed up: Lust Stories 2 is a subpar anthology that'll only be remembered for Konkona Sen Sharma's standout segment. The rest are largely forgettable, leaving little in the way of impact.

Made for Each Other (R Balki): An ad-level concept stretched and squeezed all the way but nothing really stands out here. Neena Gupta's granny role sounded interesting at first, but quickly gets preachy and intolerable after a point (rockstar, my foot!). The ending is.. well, just an ending.

The Mirror (Konkona Sen Sharma): Stunner! Not only is the voyeur concept refreshingly presented, this segment also has the best payoff. Both Tillotama Shome and Amrutha Subhash are excellent in their respective roles. The scenes where the ladies lose their cool and their eventual reconciliation were remarkably directed.

Sex with Ex (Sujoy Ghosh): Apart from Tamannaah's unfiltered beauty, there isn't much to relish here. The story is a mess, the CGI countryside is an even bigger mess, and the climactic twist was seen coming 72 miles away.

Tilchatta (Amit Ravindernath Sharma): The plot is as old as it gets. Did this segment really need someone the calibre of Kajol? The twist at the end was fascinating (yet sad), and I think this should have swapped positions with Konkona's segment.

People who are saying this movie is worse than the last may not remember the first one probably. In first edition, there was 2 good segments, 1 mediocre segment and 1 terrible segment. This movie exactly has the same.

First story is too much spoon-feeding for audience. Similar to what R Balki generally keep on doing. Storyline is boring and gets irritating by the time it ends. They believed they could deliver like 'Badhai ho' but failed miserably.

Story 2 was mediocre but actingwise very much satisfied. Amrutha Subhash and Tillotama are masters. Direction from Koko di is perfect. No wonder.. it is in her genes.

Story 3 was straight out of Aeshop fables. And indeed there was a fairy. Tamannah is just drop 'dead' gorgeous (pun intended). But Vijay is getting stereotyped by doing same 'innocent face but evil intention' roles. Sad for him.

Story 4 was good but predictable. Kumud Mishra was best. Kajol just continued her role from 'Salaam Venky'. Nothing fancy to deliver considering her calibre.

"Generally, anthologies provide a bittersweet experience, but this one has fewer variations than the others, making it possibly better than them. The best one I have watched will still be "Wild Tales." However, despite being sluggish in a few areas, Lust Stories 2 will be a god watch directed by multiple directors, revolves around the central theme of 'Sex.' One story focuses on a happy ending is the weakest among the stories as a veteran like Neena fails to pull it off because of the cheesy lines she has been given. Very poorly written script and dialogues I must say.

Two stories are horror and thriller are the average ones , they try to give you shocking climax but fail because of the weak script again.

However, one is a delicately crafted psychological story. The best among the four, in my opinion, is Konkona's segment "The mirror", where you can feel a woman telling a woman's story.

All in all a watchable attempt. The actresses featured in the anthology are renowned, such as Kajol, Tamanna, and Mrunal, ensuring a good viewing experience.