OF LUST AND LOST LOVE
Five years after Bombay Talkies hit Indian cinemas, Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and Karan Johar return with an anthology of shorts inspired by desire. Released on Netflix, their varied interpretations cross socioeconomic and demographic boundaries, defy conventional notions and leave viewers with plenty to take away from the films.
In Bombay Talkies, Banerjee’s Star, featuring Nawazuddin Siddiqui, stole the show. This time Zoya Akhtar, too, makes her mark with a mature film about a maid (Bhoomi Pednekar) involved in a secret relationship with her employer. Though it offers a refreshing critique of the hypocrisy of the urban middle class, the film fails to evoke a deeper understanding of the emotional dynamics at play.
Banerjee has the best ensemble—Manisha Koirala, Sanjay Kapoor and Jaideep Ahlawat—and presents a harmonious blend of drama and humour. Here too, lust comes in the form of an illicit relationship—a disgruntled wife is having an affair with her husband’s friend. In a cheeky move, the friend is shown to be a heart surgeon with commitment
issues. Banerjee stages the perfect showdown with the entry of the husband and then has the wife call the shots on how the night unfolds.
Guilt doesn’t consume the leading lady of Karan Johar’s gimmicky and laboured film, either. In this one, a young wife seeks an alternative means of pleasure after her dim but doting husband (a delightful Vicky Kaushal) doesn’t live up to expectations. Actions are more effective than words in this film, too, but the story is not as potent as Akhtar’s or Banerjee’s.
Words and words are all Kalindi (Radhika Apte) has to justify her rendezvous with her student (Akash Thosar of Sairat fame) and her take on love and marriage in Kashyap’s film. Reminiscent of The Graduate’s Mrs Robinson, she seduces the student to combat her own insecurity when a younger woman enters the picture. Credited as a co-writer, Apte is thrilling to behold in these rambling monologues, spoken directly to the camera. Kalindi’s obliviousness to her flaws and the pain she inflicts make her fascinating. If there’s any character in the anthology who deserves a lengthier feature, it’s her.