Lust Stories

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 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.

Lust Stories
Official release poster
Directed by	Anurag Kashyap Zoya Akhtar Dibakar Banerjee Karan Johar
Produced by	Ronnie Screwvala Ashi Dua
Starring	Radhika Apte Bhumi Pednekar Neil Bhoopalam Manisha Koirala Kiara Advani Vicky Kaushal Akash Thosar Neha Dhupia
Cinematography	Sylvester Fonseca Álvaro Gutiérrez K. U. Mohanan Mitesh Mirchandani
Edited by	Nitesh Bhatia Namrata Rao Pooja Ladha Surti Utsav Bhagat Nitin Baid
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	15 June 2018 (2018-06-15) (India)
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. 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

A married college professor, Kalindi, is on a journey to explore herself sexually. She sleeps with a male student, Tejas, who becomes infatuated with her. Kalindi asks Tejas to forget about the encounter, then starts a 'monogamous' relationship with colleague Neeraj. Neeraj is awkward in bed, so Kalindi seeks Tejas back, but he has moved on with a classmate, Natasha. Kalindi becomes emotionally unstable and starts stalking Tejas. She attempts to confide in her husband, Mihir, who lives abroad, but receives no comfort from him. Finally, she breaks into Tejas' apartment to catch him with Natasha. Finding him alone there, she breaks down. Tejas confesses he will get back with Kalindi if she is looking for a committed relationship, but Kalindi loses interest in him again. She tells him she's married and walks out, leaving Tejas bewildered.

Zoya Akhtar

Sudha is a housemaid, who has a sexual relationship with one of her customers, Ajit. Ajit lives by himself and the two hook up when Sudha comes to clean the house. Despite their backgrounds, Sudha entertains the idea of having a future with Ajit. Her dreams are shattered when Ajit's parents come to stay with him. Ajit acts distant in front of them. A few days later, Ajit's parents are visited by another family, with a marriage proposal for him and their daughter. As the families talk in the living room, Ajit hangs out with his future bride in his bedroom. They sit close, and Sudha sees Ajit caressing his future bride's face. Realising her own relationship with him is over, Sudha quietly finishes her chores. On her way out, Ajit's mother passes out sweets for her son's engagement. Forlorn, Sudha takes one as well as she leaves the apartment.

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 have sex 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 is a school teacher, who marries an office worker, Paras. Paras is a doting husband, but does not please Megha in bed, leaving her frequently dissatisfied. In addition, Megha feels pressure from Paras' family, who insist the couple have children soon. Megha's colleague, Rekha, is single, and uses a vibrator to pleasure herself. Megha brings one home too, and begins using it on herself. She is forced out into the living room by a commotion, leaving the vibrator inside her. Paras' grandmother finds the vibrator remote, and unaware of what it truly is, starts pressing some buttons. Megha gets a jolt as the vibrator has increased in intensity. She starts climaxing in the living room in front of Paras' family. When she is finished, the family is left scandalised and Paras's mother demands a divorce. One month later, Paras and Megha are living separately, but meet secretly in a cafe. Neither wants a divorce, but Megha needs Paras to work on fulfilling her needs. Paras agrees, and the couple share an ice cream together.

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.

Release

The international distribution rights for Lust Stories were acquired by Netflix. The film was released on Netflix on 15 June 2018.

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 Tanishk-Vayu, Sameer Uddin Amit Trivedi & Prateek Kuhad
Released	15 June 2018 (2018-06-15) (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

Track-List

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.

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. 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. Kiara Advani's masturbation scene in the film, using a vibrator, was praised for its frank portrayal of women's sexuality.

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". Others were also appreciative of the "glorious women [who] stubbornly and strikingly hold the reins" and the "sometimes not likeable, but definitely relatable women who usually elude our screens". 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", how they were wielded "to tell stories from a uniquely different perspective" 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.

Sequel

Main article: Lust Stories 2

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.

Main article: Lust Stories 3

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.

External links

• Lust Stories at AlloCiné (in French)
• Lust Stories at IMDb 
• Lust Stories at Metacritic
• Lust Stories at Rotten Tomatoes