Director: Dibakar Banerjee
Writers: Shubham, Prateek Vats, Dibakar Banerjee
Cast: Paritosh Tiwari, Bonita Rajpurohit, Abhinav Singh, Swastika Mukherjee, Swaroopa Ghosh
Duration: 116 minutes
Available in: Theatres
Technology was the storyteller of Love Sex Aur Dhokha (2010), Dibakar Banerjee’s daring anthology film featuring an honour killing, an MMS scandal and a sting operation. The cleverly shot drama was inspired by the unsettling and evolving role of the digital camera – handycams, hidden cams, security footage, found footage – in modern society. The three stories were loosely ‘connected,’ just like people were. Those were simpler times, back when the cinema of electronics was still limited to visual and narrative implications; back when grainy voyeurism became the backbone of genres. But technology is the story of Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2 (LSD 2), Banerjee’s unforgiving satire on the Indian internet age. It is no longer the hardware – the eyes or ears – of a film; it is the virus-riddled software. It is no longer a film-making experiment; it is the very state of being.
This spiritual sequel presents three snapshots of the social media generation. The mutation begins with the title itself; the “Love,” “Sex” and “Dhokha” segments morph into “Like,” “Share” and “Download”. Like revolves around Noor (Paritosh Tiwari), a transitioning female drumming up controversy on a Bigg-Boss-meets-Jhalak-Dikhla-Jaa reality show called ‘Truth ya Nach’. Noor’s viral stardom is inextricably linked to her gender identity; the arrival of her estranged mother (Swaroopa Ghosh) on the show cements her bridge between self-discovery and selfsploitation. Share revolves around Kulu (Bonita Rajpurohit), a young and spirited trans woman whose sexual assault exposes the armchair idealism of her employer, Lovina Singh (Swastika Mukherjee). The hype of Kulu’s case tests not only Lovina’s solidarity but also the state-sponsored inclusivity scheme that politicises the hiring of others like Kulu. Download explores the unraveling of a Youtuber called ‘Game Paapi’ (Abhinav Singh) – real name Shubham – during his hypermasculine rise to fame. The teenager’s journey to 10 million subscribers is littered with deep fakes, trolls, memes, metaverses, virtual godmen, and an ingrained nod to the Ryan International School murder case.
