Love Sex Aur Dhokha Movie Reviews

And so in an industry where our output is mostly infantile, Dibakar Banerjee has taken that much-nudged envelope, ripped it apart, and mailed out a magnificently tawdry postcard. He's made a film which lets Hindi cinema sit back, take a deep glug of adulthood, and wipe Haywards 5000 foam from its 'stache as it leers at the girl in stockings. Bollywood has just grown up the only way it could, with Love, Sex and Dhokha.

More importantly, when you walk out of the theatre, despite all the stark moments in the film, you walk out with a smile, with the super-sizzling title track ringing in your ears. And Dibakar has managed all of this with an all-new cast the best ensemble cast of the year. Even minor characters like the bigmouth salesgirl and the opportunist editor are perfect in their roles that's Dibakar's detailing. LSD has all the makings of a contemporary cult classic this season's best film. It's a must-watch.

Don't expect the expected from Dibakar Banerjee. LOVE SEX AUR DHOKHA, helmed by the director of KHOSLA KA GHOSLA and OYE LUCKY! LUCKY OYE!, is a complete departure from what we have witnessed so far. It talks of voyeurism [it has been divided into three stories, each focussing on different plots pertaining to voyeurism]. It is brave. It is scandalous. Most importantly, it is path-breaking. You will either love it or loathe it.

It's dark, distressing and deeply disturbing. But it's also the reality of the times we are living in. Dibakar Banerjee is no director with a penchant for candy floss cinema. His cinema is hard, riveting and deeply compelling. Bannerjee does not believe in pulling his punches. The characters portrayed are all real; people you meet everyday. Kudos to the actors for pulling off such stunning performances, all of them. His execution of the film is path breaking. He has taken a risk and it has worked. Hand-held camera, jerky movements, low light indicated on the far left corner of the handy cam... it has it own charm.

At the outset if you are expecting sex and skin from this film, be prepared for a dhokha (betrayal). Don’t let the theme of voyeurism mislead you into believing that Dibakar Bannerjee’s Love Sex and Dhokha is a cheap gimmickry to titillate your senses. The film is bold, bare, intense, stark and dark but Bannerjee’s storytelling is so superlative that it stimulates your senses without having to resort to tawdry elements.

In a line then: If it wasn’t for the gimmicky camera work and smart dialogues, LSD would have been a mediocre film. A round of applause for director Dibakar Banerjee’s hatrick. Let’s just say it’s clever and cheap marketing. If I were to rate in order of merit, I’d say dialogues, cast, music and lyrics are up there. Then camera work and the story. And in order of acting excellence, two thumbs up to Anshuman Jha, girl’s father, Loki, the guard and the morning shift girl. Rest fall in the “good work, guys” category.

Were it not for titles behind the director’s name (Khosla Ka Ghosla, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye), and a rather brave, unlikely producer (Ekta Kapoor), this film wouldn’t have entered theatres with the sort of splash it has. It’s a sort of flick you ideally discover without burdens of expectation: a caveat you must bear in mind, in case you were planning on rushing off to cinemas right away. Where any Bollywood movie without a gyrating, lip-synching hero perceives itself as ‘different’, this one, from an audience’s point of view, is truly an experiment.

You want something new. Go watch Love Sex aur Dhokha. It ain't anything like you've seen before on the desi screen. But be forewarned. Dibakar Banerjee's film is meant to be seen -- and savoured -- by shedding all your moth-balled beliefs about how commercial cinema must or must not be. Like the 3-D glasses which gave you a whole new kick out of James Cameron's Avatar, here too, you need a new vision to understand how a breed

Love, Sex aur Dhokha is, as far as I know, the country’s first film to feature the word sex in its title. But that’s not the only thing that makes director Dibakar Banerjee’s third feature so provocative. The film, with three inter-connected stories on love, sex and betrayal, is a grim, deeply unsettling and yet compelling portrait of urban India. Love Sex aur Dhokha is ostensibly constructed from found footage, which was shot with security cameras and spy cameras

"Love Sex Aur Dhokha" has one factor which completely works for it - its genre which is unconventional, unprecedented and unheard of. This is a kind of film where a filmmaker can afford to play around without worrying much about universal acceptance. That's exactly the route that "Love Sex Aur Dhokha" takes as it is made for a very niche audience that wants something non-Bollywood.