Love Sex Aur Dhokha Movie Review


March 20, 2010 11:07:02 AM IST
By Martin D'Souza, Bollywood Trade News Network






t'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. He can make you laugh as well as cringe in your seat with the hideous reality on screen. 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.

Banerjee has depicted his story in three slots with three pair of actors. First up is Love. A final year student Rahul (Anshuman Jha) is wrapping up his project, a short film. He falls in love with his heroine Shruti. All seems hunky-dory as the two elope because her father has already arranged her marriage. They get married and she musters courage to inform her father, a hotheaded businessman with an equally hotheaded son. Father coaxes them to return saying it's okay. The young lovers, oblivious of the world and the wickedness around them have something deadly in store for them. Dhoka! 

Next follows Sex. A young, tech-savvy camera agency executive Adarsh (Raj Kumar Yadav) has installed spy cams in an upcoming mall. He has taken a loan he cannot repay. His friend encourages him to woo a salesgirl Rashmi (Neha Chauhan) he does not fancy, but who he thinks will be easy prey, catch the 'action' on camera and sell it for Rs 40,000. The entire process is like a reality show with Adarsh displaying all the tackiness of an uncultured youth and Rashmi falling for his 'concern'. The end here is deeply disturbing.

Final act, Dhoka. A young starlet Naina (Arya Devdutta) wants to make it to the music video of reigning pop artiste Loki Local (Herry Tangri). Loki promises her the role of a lifetime for a 'bout on the couch'. She succumbs; he decides to cast a Russian instead. Cheated, she attempts suicide where a 'sting journalist' who too has survived a series of suicide attempts saves her. Prabhat (Amit Sial) hits on the idea of catching Local on camera doing the 'act' and please his ever-demanding boss, as well as help Naina gets even.

What is very smart is the way Banerjee weaves the lives of all three couples to make it one smart movie. At first, it appears as three separate issues but the end surprises. Intelligent cinema.

It real and it's scary. Very scary. LSD is not for the faint-hearted.

Rating - 4/5