Lust Stories: Exposing India’s Relationship Culture
Lust Stories is a recently released anthology of short films on Netflix and is one of the only Indian originals on the platform. Reading the description, the viewer is told that the anthology is composed of four stories of “love, lust, sex and desires” but what intrigued me most was the four women portrayed in the thumbnail of the show. Sex is often never portrayed in Indian cinema and media and sex from the point of view as a woman is often shrouded in shame in Indian culture.
Maintaining its patriarchal foundation, the India I have known has always been a place where sex was taboo. As a child, I completely bought into this and regarded any sexual question or conversation as embarrassing. As a young adult today, however, sex is something I’ve come to be much more open about. I’ve realized that repressing thought and conversation about something that is fundamentally natural can be harmful. That is why as soon as I saw Lust Stories pop up on Netflix, I judged the show by its cover and hit play.
Of the four stories, two in particular stood out. The second story (which is the only one in this series directed by a woman, I might add) directed by Zoya Akhtar explores the silent inner struggle of a housemaid Sudha, who is sleeping with the bachelor she works for. Their relationship is shown in the beginning to be purely sexual but her sadness is shown when the bachelor’s parents arrive to set up an arranged marriage for him. She is cast aside (no pun intended) and is entirely ignored by the bachelor simply due to her background. The important aspect of this film is the way Akhtar is able to convey the fact that India is still a country deeply rooted in the class system without having Sudha saying much of anything. Sudha is a strong woman and she is shown to be angry at herself for believing, even a little, that this relationship was real. In the end, we see the cold but subdued acceptance in her eyes as she leaves the house for the day. It is a little heartbreaking because although her acceptance of this situation is just the last scene of this film, it is one I have seen and heard from many women in real-life. I am grateful for the short film because it gave a fairly accurate portrayal of the class struggle that has marred India’s history and continues in present-day.
The second stand-out of the set was the last story, directed by Karan Johar. I didn’t care too much for the direction and the way it played directly into some stereotypes, but I got what he was trying to capture and it’s important. In this story, Megha is set to be engaged to Paras. In their meeting, there is a lot of that arranged marriage awkwardness that is persistent throughout Indian wedding culture, and the awkwardness continues even after they get married. Paras is shown to be the epitome of Indian culture when it comes to sex; he only cares for his satisfaction and leaves Megha silently rolling her eyes every time. Megha comes to the conclusion that a vibrator will be her only recourse after seeing her sexually liberated colleague use one. However, she gets caught by her husband and her mother-in-law. This leads her mother-in-law to call for a divorce, stating that she does not have “good values.” This story plays directly into the virgin-whore dichotomy that is used to fundamentally shame women in India. This short film is a lesson; this dichotomy established by society only continues to have power if we let it. In empowering more women, we set ourselves free.
Ultimately, I would recommend Lust Stories to anyone trying to get a handle on the relationship dynamics of Indian culture. To all the women reading this — keep empowering and living life on your own terms because it is how we change the world.
