Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2 - Review

wogma rating: Add to that never-watched 'To Watch' list (?) quick review: Experimental, it is. But not an experiment that I enjoyed. It could be a me thing, though. The film’s subject matter is stuff that I actively avoid in real life. To top it off, my mind couldn’t keep up with the chaos + frenzied presentation. Streaming Partner: Netflix Review I am actually tired. My brain feels worn out. No, it is not because this is the second film I watched. I quite enjoyed Love Sex Aur Dhokha. So, I was looking forward to this one along with the trepidation of walking into a sequel. But, Love Sex aur Dhokha 2 turned out to be a little too much for me. A little too edgy. A little too shaky. A little too quirky. Yeah, I never thought I’d ever say that. The beginning and end of it could have been the choice of subject. Reality shows and gaming—the first and last ones of the three shorts. The middle one is not that new-age, which is why I might have liked the best. But, then it is more of the same and pretty much a carry forward of the first instalment in 2010. So, I cannot imagine three of such shorts holding my attention.On the other hand, I would just have been bored. Not dizzy. And it is not just the continuously wobbly camerawork. The content itself, the language too, feels alien. And too snappy to keep track of. Especially of the Love Like and the Dhokha Download segments. In that sense, I can’t really blame the makers. They cannot be faulted for my lack of understanding of the gaming or reality show lingo. I didn’t help that some of the storylines were missing continuity. Again, the middle one is less than the other two. Why did the mother sing that song? I also wondered what was making the popularity of the reality show contestants rise and dip. But, I assume one of the points of the story was that no one really knows. Then, where did the content of the augmented reality bit in the end come from? Was it a comment on what our future is likely to be? All boloney?What I can say though is that I enjoyed the rawness for a total of about half an hour through the film. I absolutely appreciate the makers’ hard and whole-hearted attempt at bring to light the issues that the LGBQTIA+ community faces. That is a theme that runs through the three stories. Kudos to the cast too, for pulling it off brilliantly, making it look only as hard as it must be in real life. And this spreads to the actors playing straight characters too. Of all the gorgeous performances, the one that stood out was the woman playing the assistant producer. Her act was so nonchalant, so normal, so much like real-life people that I have seen in those jobs. And she had a screen presence too, for that bit part.I know it sounds like I am grasping at straws here. But, for a less than 2-hour run-time, Love Sex aur Dhokha 2 can be a more enjoyable experience for someone more interested and knowledgeable about the content. On the other hand, is alienating the regular audience what the makers were shooting for? - meeta, a part of the audience Parental Guidance: Violence: Not direct. But rape, bullying is alluded to. People being beat up have been shown. Language: Muted out curse words Nudity & Sexual content: Blurred out Concept: A commentary on social media and its effects in three short stories General Look and Feel: Extremely quirky and shaky Detailed Ratings (out of 5): Direction: 3 Story: 2.5 Lead Actors: 4 Character Artists: 4 Dialogues: 3.5 Screenplay: 2.5 Music Director: 2.5 Lyrics: 2.5 Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2 - Movie Details Official Sites: YouTube IMDB Banner: Balaji Telefilms Ltd, Cult Movies Producer: Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor Director: Dibakar Banerjee Lead Cast: Swastika Mukherjee, Abhinav Singh, Paritosh Tiwari, Swaroopa Ghosh Supporting Cast: Tusshar Kapoor, Anu Kapoor, Sophie Choudry, Mouni Roy, Bonita Rajpurohit, Uorfi Javed Cinematography: Riju Das, Anand Bansal, Priyashanker Ghosh(II) Music Director: Sneha Khanwalkar, Meet Bros Anjjan Lyrics: Kumaar Costume Designer: Nidhi Agrawal, Juilee Borse Running time: 115 minutes Reviewer: meeta Language: Hindi Country: India Genres: Noir, Social

May 4, 2024 - 17:52

wogma rating: Add to that never-watched 'To Watch' list ^(?)

quick review:

Experimental, it is. But not an experiment that I enjoyed. It could be a me thing, though. The film’s subject matter is stuff that I actively avoid in real life. To top it off, my mind couldn’t keep up with the chaos + frenzied presentation.

Streaming Partner: Netflix

[Poster for Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2]

Review

I am actually tired. My brain feels worn out. No, it is not because this is the second film I watched. I quite enjoyed Love Sex Aur Dhokha. So, I was looking forward to this one along with the trepidation of walking into a sequel. But, Love Sex aur Dhokha 2 turned out to be a little too much for me. A little too edgy. A little too shaky. A little too quirky. Yeah, I never thought I’d ever say that.

The beginning and end of it could have been the choice of subject. Reality shows and gaming—the first and last ones of the three shorts. The middle one is not that new-age, which is why I might have liked the best. But, then it is more of the same and pretty much a carry forward of the first instalment in 2010. So, I cannot imagine three of such shorts holding my attention.

On the other hand, I would just have been bored. Not dizzy. And it is not just the continuously wobbly camerawork. The content itself, the language too, feels alien. And too snappy to keep track of. Especially of the Love Like and the Dhokha Download segments. In that sense, I can’t really blame the makers. They cannot be faulted for my lack of understanding of the gaming or reality show lingo.

I didn’t help that some of the storylines were missing continuity. Again, the middle one is less than the other two. Why did the mother sing that song? I also wondered what was making the popularity of the reality show contestants rise and dip. But, I assume one of the points of the story was that no one really knows. Then, where did the content of the augmented reality bit in the end come from? Was it a comment on what our future is likely to be? All boloney?

What I can say though is that I enjoyed the rawness for a total of about half an hour through the film. I absolutely appreciate the makers’ hard and whole-hearted attempt at bring to light the issues that the LGBQTIA+ community faces. That is a theme that runs through the three stories.

Kudos to the cast too, for pulling it off brilliantly, making it look only as hard as it must be in real life. And this spreads to the actors playing straight characters too. Of all the gorgeous performances, the one that stood out was the woman playing the assistant producer. Her act was so nonchalant, so normal, so much like real-life people that I have seen in those jobs. And she had a screen presence too, for that bit part.

I know it sounds like I am grasping at straws here. But, for a less than 2-hour run-time, Love Sex aur Dhokha 2 can be a more enjoyable experience for someone more interested and knowledgeable about the content. On the other hand, is alienating the regular audience what the makers were shooting for?

- meeta, a part of the audience

Parental Guidance:

Violence: Not direct. But rape, bullying is alluded to. People being beat up have been shown.
Language: Muted out curse words
Nudity & Sexual content: Blurred out
Concept: A commentary on social media and its effects in three short stories
General Look and Feel: Extremely quirky and shaky