What is it all about?
After the intelligence in `Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye', Dibakar Banerjee in association with India's soap queen Ekta Kapoor tries to get real and `shaky' in this attempt to push the envelope titled `Love Sex Aur Dhokha' which uses its low-budget effects and spoofy mockumentary methods to some good result which demands applause for its concept, style and presentation where bad behavior tends to worsen when you train a camera on it. This genre spins on the improvised performances, gradual escalation of gore and of course the concept but it comes with a warning and to tell you the truth, the viewer gets bored and frustrated after the initial hook up provided by the terminally jerky hand-held camera. Ironically in this `real' attempt, Ekta's shift from the bulk buyer of glycerin bottles in small screen to a innovative open mind producer becomes more noticeable as the somewhat `fakey' helming of Dibakar widens the distance between regular audience who got so well connected and got himself identified in a better way in his previous `Khosla Ka Ghosla' and clapped for the intelligence in `Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye'.
The Story...of course
LSD is written episodically and twins the three stories at one place where the stories run independently on their own.
Story I: In a film institute in North India, a student gears up for his diploma film. With an amateur small-town cast, Rahul starts filming a love story and eventually falls in love with his heroine Shruti. They elope, get married and dream of a blissful future.
Story II: Adarsh installs security cameras in a small, upcoming 24-hour department store. In desperate need of cash to clear off his debts, Adarsh hits upon the idea of making a porn clip through the security cameras in the shop. The victim? Rashmi, who works in the store.
Story III: Prabhat - a sting journalist - attempts a series of failed suicides. He meets Naina, who is also trying to commit suicide. She had been promised a music video by Loki Local, a Hip Hop pop star. She slept with him for the same, but the video finally went to a Russian blonde. Prabhat and Naina decide to do a sting operation.
What to look out for?
Most of the film concentrates on setting the scene using camera as a prop, actor, villain, hero.
Shot in a style which is a mix of mockumentary and reality shows, the camera captures everything.
The scenes are short, the images are occasionally out of focus. It's an interesting experiment.
Lens man Nikos Andritsakis does a splendid job by giving us the feel that the movie is shot on a handycam, security cameras placed in shops, underwater cameras and spy cameras; Editing by Namrata Rao is sharp is sharp. Production values are perfect.
The title track is catchy and this innovative attempt introduces talented new faces to the tinsel town Anshuman Jha Rahul, Shruti as Shruti, Raj Kumar Yadav as Adarsh, Neha Chauhan as Rashmi, Amit Sial as as Prabhat, Arya Devdutta as Naina] and Herry Tangri as Loki Local all are bundles of talent.
What not?
It's an attempt not an achievement for the following reasons:
First of all if wanna be real then be real - you are not suppose to make a spoof to get your film making diploma. A spoof should not be stretched it should tickle you and leave but in the first story the spoof goes on and on and on.
Why is the camera always on? And even when it's on, it doesn't show proper reading. (the point is after some time the viewer starts looking here and there as the proceedings fail to hold interest of all)
The MMS clip turns out to be a big joke and the reason and the timing of the arousal and the act (which is hardly there and you start murmuring - guys do something yaar come on) is unconvincing.
A pop star will never have a coffee in a local departmental store.
The helmer and the writer ignore these `real' facts in their `reality' mockumenatry and ends this innovation only as an experiment and attempt to break the genre or write a graffiti on the walls of Bollywood.
Conclusion: Love Sex Aur Dhokha is rich in concept, style, acting and techniques but poor in substance, go only for the experiment.
Rating: **
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