Lust Stories 2 review: Konkona Sen Sharma's short is the best of the lot

When the first anthology Lust Stories came out in 2018 on Netflix, India was still getting used to anthologies in OTT space. Made by the famous quartet,Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar and Dibakar Banerjee,it had different stories that brought myriad complex issues of society to the fore. Five years since there have been multiple anthologies available in OTT space and so to make a sequel of Lust Stories, one must up the ante. Does it succeed though? Only in parts.

Netflix takes on board four directors R Balki, Konkona Sen Sharma, Sujoy Ghosh, and Amit Ravindernath Sharma to create four very distinct stories,with just physical needs and bodily desires as the only common factor running in all the stories. The four stories are of course not at the same level. Some show a lot of potential, and some meander and fizzle out by the end but that's how anthologies work. Some stories shine bright others don't.

In R Balki's short Veda (Mrunal Thakur) and Arjun (Angad Bedi) are almost about to set the date for their wedding when their dreams are punctured by a pertinent question from Veda's grandma (Neena Gupta), "Did you take a test drive first?"

"Before buying a car you take a test drive, then before marriage why not take a test drive?" she argues much to the discomfort of the bride and groom's parents. And while the young couple pay heed to the grandmother's advice, it leads to an uncomfortable discussion between their parents who are left red-faced with the rather unusual brazen demand made by the eldest in the family. But Balki's film limits itself to just that and ends in a predictable way. Interspersed with some sexual innuendoes, where ejaculation is compared to Mount Fuji bursting, the short is more suggestive than how it initially appears to be. Thakur is natural in her role as Veda, who is ready to explore and test drive and is also equally amused by her granny, and scenes between Thakur and Gupta are the brightest. Gupta on the other hand gets the best lines but somehow isn't as impactful. Perhaps we have seen her playing the bold aged woman in far too many films by now to take this as a fresh casting.