Love, Sex Aur Dhokha (or LSD), directed by Dibakar Banerjee, was a one-of-a-kind thriller movie that explored the three elements mentioned in the title of the film and describes how these stories were connected. This movie was shot in a peculiar manner, which elevated the storytelling and the direction. One story was conveyed through the lens of an aspiring filmmaker and the camera he kept on his person to chronicle his love for the actress in his short film. The second story was conveyed through store CCTV, which chronicled the love story of two store employees. The third story was about a young woman, along with a journalist, trying to find dirt on a famous music artist through a spy camera. Dibakar Banerjee broke all the boundaries of filmmaking with the first film.
The second film in the franchise, LSD 2, also covers the reality of people around us in the age of smartphones, which capture and hear practically everything we say. The advent of reality television, which divulges everything and anything people have to share, including intimate details, as well as life on social media and its repercussions on life outside the digital world—all of this and more—is explored by Dibakar Banerjee through the second installment of the film.
Spoilers Ahead
Love/Like
This segment of the movie is set in a “Black mirror/Bigg Boss/random-dance-show” kind of setup. The mix of these three shows gives a fair idea to the viewers about what this part of the movie would be about. Noor, a transwoman dancer, is the lead who happens to be on the verge of becoming the next winner of Truth or Naach. She is surrounded by the audience, judges, other contestants, and family members who are watching her talk about her struggles dealing with the transition.
The rules of the show are not clearly defined, but it is understood that this segment was a satire on all the reality shows people watch and are addicted to. Noor needed better support from the family audience, and to improve that, the reality show invited over her mother, whom Noor had not met for years. This was an indication of the kind of drama that goes on on reality television under the guise of being non-scripted when it is completely the opposite. The contestant had the choice to go off-camera, but that would affect their scores. To improve her points, Noor challenged her boyfriend to kiss her on camera, and after a lot of reluctance, the boy did that because it would eventually benefit him once the show was over. The kiss improved Noor’s standing on the show, and they won the hearts of the judges as well.
There was a lot of drama happening between the mother and daughter, and the producer complained that it should be broadcast to gather more publicity for Noor. They ended up staging Noor slapping her mother for implying that Noor’s transition into a woman was the reason her father died. The audience and the judges had an issue with this because they were emotional and believed Noor had to be respectful of her parent figure. Noor’s and the judges’ reactions were completely manipulative. While Noor wanted to stay in the show, she publicly apologized to her mother. This was a subtle take on how the showmakers are aware of the pulse of their audience and how easy it is to suck them into their world.
The first story of LSD 2 ended with Noor getting eliminated. It was believed a story of a young schoolboy being killed on a school campus killed the TRP of Noor’s apology episode. LSD 2‘s first story was a replica of every reality show out there. The mother was somehow okay with the fact her child slapped her in front of the camera, which indicated that her mother’s abhorrent reality television was only a façade, and she also had a lot to gain from the stunt. Noor hopes to be called back onto the show and win it eventually. The money would allow her to go through a complete transition and fund the surgeries.
Sex/Subscribe
The second story of LSD 2 begins with a transwoman worker employed by the Delhi Metro who was found raped with multiple injuries. She was hired by an organization that worked for women and the transgender communities, and Lovina Singh was the coordinator who hired Kulu. Kulu’s postmortem report revealed the presence of five semen samples in her body, along with signs of rape and assault on her. It was soon understood that Kulu and her boyfriend Ajmal live together, and they had made an appearance in ‘Truth or Naach’ as a couple supporting Noor. It was soon understood that Kulu was a sex worker as well, which was in violation of the contract she had signed with the company that provided her with a job. To calm the situation, Kulu was forced to inform the police about the gang rape to save her employers embarrassment.
Kulu claimed she had to pay a lot to maintain the house and buy groceries and clothes for herself, which was the reason she resorted to prostitution. Lovina’s son’s friend, a mere 10-year-old boy, was killed at school campus and this could be connected to the story that affected the TRP of the reality show. Lovina was in shock, and so was her son Nimish, who hadn’t spoken since the incident.
Ajmal, the driver at the school, was arrested, but Kulu felt it was a vendetta against her and her boyfriend to get her to leave the job. LSD 2‘s second story ended with Kulu begging Lovina not to fire her from the job as Ajmal was brutally beaten after the was bailed out. Kulu was thrown out of her current residence, and she had to make herself a makeshift place inside the metro station. Her resorting to soliciting was a result of her financial needs, and somehow, Lovina could not understand or provide her with a solution to the same. They never discussed offering Kulu and other employees’ accommodation and an increase in salary, as they were hell-bent on closing the matter, even though there was a fear of Kulu going to the police and media. It was assumed Ajmal died of the injuries, and out of pure rage, Kulu destroyed the small bunker-like space she had made for herself, which held the equipment required for the metro trains to run. Lovina’s assistant captured the same through CCTV and used the same to finally fire Kulu from her job.
Lovina, just like her superiors, never wanted to draw any unwarranted media attention towards their organization, which was already in trouble for many transwoman employees having resigned from the jobs provided by her organization. Lovina had no other option but to save her job and the face of her company. It ended with the company conveniently moving forward to the next plan of action, conducting a women’s day event and wishing the female members of the team well. Kulu sadly became a victim of the system, which was clearly not made to support her.
Dhokha/Download
LSD 2‘s last story was about a gamer named Shubham who was obsessed with his followers and his social standing, which included his girlfriend, a social media influencer. The entire conversation around him, his best friend, who helps him run the channel, and their peers was only about followers, market trends, reels, popularity, and what their fans and haters think of him and his streaming channel, GamePaapi.
One of the followers began to offer him money and began to drop messages about Shubham’s intimate life and the kind of stuff he had done inside the car. Shubham began to be disturbed by these threats, and to his horror, the said follower leaked the images of him getting intimate with a man while he was live on stream. This was a satirical take on the gamers who were always on cursing sprees who were followed by children as young as 10 or 12. The exposure at a young age and the teenagers becoming mature way before they are supposed to form the premise of this segment.
Shubham, aka GamePaapi, immediately responded to this leak, which went viral, and he was subjected to ridicule everywhere, including at a social media influencer party. Shubham suggested leaking a tape of him making out with his girlfriend to close the embarrassment, but his partner refused as it would affect her following. Both were extremely selfish children who had nothing in their minds beyond the standing they had in the digital world.
Shubham lost his contract with an upcoming game as a result, and this followed him being called up by his school principal. Shubham was irked by two young children ridiculing him in front of the principal as well as on social media platforms. This indicates pre-teen children showed immense interest in things happening in the world of social media and that they might alter their minds as they grow up. One of the kids happens to be Nimish, who was the son of Lovina Singh from the second segment. Things turned for the worse when the young child was beaten and fell to death, and Nimish went radio silent out of shock. Shubham was one of the suspects, and there was CCTV footage of Shubham bullying the kid in the corridor. It was not made clear why this footage was not used against Shubham, who showcased classic signs of a bully, who was carried away by his fame and believed he would remain untouched. Shubham was questioned about the crime and his sexuality, to which the teenager had no answer, and the police quickly picked up Ajmal, the school bus driver and Kulu’s husband. Shubham, aka GamePaapi, was also a victim of physical abuse at the hands of his father, which could be the reason behind his bullying nature.
The end of the last story was too cathartic, as the VR device Shubham used transported him to some good times and some of the worst acts he had committed, which included bullying the young boy in the school bathroom before killing him. Shubham took off his clothes, which was a further indication of the fact that he was bare now and willing to admit his mistakes. Shubham was spiraling out of guilt, and there was nothing that could have stopped him. Out of anguish, he ran out of his room naked and began to wail uncontrollably. Ever since that incident, the boy has disappeared. The epilogue of the last segment had a hyper journalist walking into the meta world where Shubham, aka GamePaapi, lives, to find out what the boy was up to. This was another take on the parallel world created for humans by humans to step away from issues and accountability. The segment talks about over-glorification of the artificial world. The television journalist on the other hand was only keen to improve their channel TRP, as many were glued to the television with utmost wonder.
LSD 2 ended with a video starring Shubham and his girlfriend, which could have been shot either before he disappeared or because the video was his way of making a comeback to the digital world, claiming he was not gay.
