Showing posts with label Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2. Show all posts
15 Years of Love Sex Aur Dhokha: Rajkummar Rao butt-naked scene was cut by the Censor Board
9:16 AM
As Rajkummar Rao and Nushrratt Bharuccha’s debut film Love Sex Aur Dhokha (LSD) clocks 15 years, here’s some interesting trivia around the film
Compiled by Akash Bhatnagar (HINDUSTAN TIMES; March 20, 2025)
WHEN RAJ WENT BUTT-NAKED
While he has set boundaries on screen over the years, Rajkummar did bare it all in his first film. “In LSD, I was butt naked in a scene. Of course, it wasn’t cleared by the censor board; it was blurred, but I was scared to do it,” he told India Today, adding, “I also knew that it was my first film and big break, and I couldn’t turn around and say that I’m not comfortable doing it. I didn’t know when I’d get my first film again.”
He was also glad about his parents’ reaction to it: “My mum said, ‘You’re an actor. If your role demands it, then go ahead and do it.’”
NO PAY FOR NUSHRRATT
While Rajkummar was paid Rs. 11,000 for LSD, Nushrratt didn’t get any money for it. “I always wanted to work with (director) Dibakar Banerjee. When I watched Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008), I said that I would work for free with Dibakar and that’s what happened. I didn’t get paid for the film, not a single penny,” she told Zee News in an interview.
THE BEGINNING OF RAJKUMMAR RAO
LSD marked the entry of many new faces in Bollywood, including Rajkummar Rao. “For my first audition, I wore atrangi clothes, as per the brief. I was asked, ‘What are you wearing? Do you have anything else?’ I said, ‘No’. I was like, ‘S***, I’m gone, he doesn’t like it’,” the actor recalled on the podcast with Raj Shamani.
However, he got a call back and was asked to shed weight from his face. “In one week, I lost a lot of weight. I ran a lot,” he said. While his performance was loved, it left his now wife, actor Patralekhaa “creeped out”. After seeing LSD, she refused to do a music video with him.
EKTAA WAS ‘SHOCKED’
Director Dibakar Banerjee had revealed that producer Ektaa R Kapoor was shocked after seeing the film for the first time. And interestingly, it wasn’t because of the content on voyeurism and free-for-all invasion of privacy, but due to the treatment and format of it. The film was shot in a digital format with a hand-held camera, and thus Ektaa asked Dibakar why the camera was shaking so much? She even doubted who will watch the film. Reportedly, the director shared that his producer initially didn’t believe that such an unusual and shocking film would be viable. She also got so paranoid after watching the film that after coming out of the theatre after watching the movie, she was looking for bugs and cameras everywhere around her.
THE SEQUEL THAT BEGAN ON BIGG BOSS
A sequel to the film, LSD 2, was released last year, but it’s journey started on Bigg Boss 16. Ektaa went to the house to cast the female lead, actor Nimrit Kaur Ahluwalia. But, she didn’t do the film. Dibakar had said during LSD 2 promotions that the casting on Bigg Boss was just a “PR stunt”.
Tees is a film that is suppressed; it's like my Khosla Ka Ghosla experience being repeated-Dibakar Banerjee
8:46 AM
Even as he is developing three projects, director Dibakar Banerjee on how his 2022 film Tees has been shelved by Netflix and his struggle to find another producer for its release
Priyanka Sharma (MID-DAY; February 18, 2025)
One thing to know about Dibakar Banerjee is that his mind is always ticking, he is always pursuing his next story. That’s exactly what the director has been doing in the 10 months since his last release, Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2 (2024). He is currently co-writing three scripts and testing new waters with each.
“The need to start from zero is very important. Otherwise I’ll become a senior filmmaker. I don’t want that. My hair is falling, but my brain is still young. I want to start from zero. I have never done the kind of films that [I’m developing] now,” he says.
The new projects, however, share one aspect with the acclaimed movies that Banerjee has made in his 18-year career so far—dark humour. It has been a constant in his stories, be it Oye Lucky Lucky Oye (2008) or Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar (2021). “I’m not making a funny film. But all my films have humour. I can’t tell stories without it,” he says.
Through each movie, the two-time National Award-winning filmmaker will explore the country’s different eras. “They are set in India— contemporary India, India of the past, and of the future.”
While Banerjee is looking forward to his future projects, the past is also on his mind. The director’s Tees, a Kashmiri family’s saga exploring India’s “personal, ideological, and sexual history,” was initially set for a 2022 Netflix première. However, the streamer held off the release of the Naseeruddin Shah and Manisha Koirala-starrer. Banerjee, who was reportedly told that it wasn’t the right time to release the film, has been since searching for a producer, who can buy it off the streamer. It has reminded him of the struggle he faced with Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006), which wasn’t finding takers as it was an unconventional film for the time.
“Tees is a film that is suppressed. I considered it my best before LSD 2. It’s made for the audience of Khosla Ka Ghosla, the same audience that started my journey. We are trying desperately [to find a producer]. It’s almost like my Khosla Ka Ghosla experience being repeated. We went around showing that film to every distributor for two years and everyone would say, ‘What a film!’ But nobody would buy it. It took Ronnie [Screwvala], UTV and Sid [Siddharth Roy Kapur] to release it.”
Fenil's Bollywood Talk # 827
7:34 PM
HORRIBLE TIMES FOR THE INDUSTRY CONTINUE
The month of April 2024 has turned out to be one of the worst ever for Bollywood. Of course, business came to a standstill during Covid times. But right now, the Covid effect is zero. Yet, there’s a lack of exciting films up for release.
It all began with the twin debacles of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan on Eid. A lot was expected from these movies. Bade Miyan Chote Miyan is a masala action film but it never generated excitement. Yet, there were hopes that the Akshay Kumar-Tiger Shroff starrer would at least collect Rs. 100 or Rs. 150 crores. Unfortunately, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan didn’t open well and crashed soon after. At present, it is struggling to reach the Rs. 60 crore mark.
Maidaan, meanwhile, is steady at low levels. But it opened at Rs. 4 crores and has appealed only to the elite audience. It might eventually collect around Rs. 40 crores. And that’s too low for a film with terrific word of mouth and super-high costs.
Last week’s releases also didn’t work. Do Aur Do Pyaar, starring Vidya Balan, Pratik Gandhi, Ileana Dcruz and Sendhil Ramamurthy, seemed like a great romcom. But the excitement was limited. It opened at just Rs. 50 lakhs and had a weekend of just Rs. 2 crores. It dropped sharply from Monday and its lifetime collections will be around Rs. 5-6 crores.
As for Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2, the collections are embarrassing to say the least. There was zero buzz for the film and its trailer ruined all chances. The reports of the film were negative, with many viewers leaving the film midway. It opened at just Rs. 15 lakhs and managed to collect Rs. 50 lakhs in three days. It now remains to be seen if it can collect Rs. 1 crore in its lifetime.
Tomorrow, Ruslaan will be released, starring Aayush Sharma. The film looks cool but the actor is not very popular. Hence, a healthy opening is ruled out. The hope is that it turns out to be a kickass action film so that the audience will flock to the cinemas from Saturday.
The month of April 2024 has turned out to be one of the worst ever for Bollywood. Of course, business came to a standstill during Covid times. But right now, the Covid effect is zero. Yet, there’s a lack of exciting films up for release.
It all began with the twin debacles of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan on Eid. A lot was expected from these movies. Bade Miyan Chote Miyan is a masala action film but it never generated excitement. Yet, there were hopes that the Akshay Kumar-Tiger Shroff starrer would at least collect Rs. 100 or Rs. 150 crores. Unfortunately, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan didn’t open well and crashed soon after. At present, it is struggling to reach the Rs. 60 crore mark.
Maidaan, meanwhile, is steady at low levels. But it opened at Rs. 4 crores and has appealed only to the elite audience. It might eventually collect around Rs. 40 crores. And that’s too low for a film with terrific word of mouth and super-high costs.
Last week’s releases also didn’t work. Do Aur Do Pyaar, starring Vidya Balan, Pratik Gandhi, Ileana Dcruz and Sendhil Ramamurthy, seemed like a great romcom. But the excitement was limited. It opened at just Rs. 50 lakhs and had a weekend of just Rs. 2 crores. It dropped sharply from Monday and its lifetime collections will be around Rs. 5-6 crores.
As for Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2, the collections are embarrassing to say the least. There was zero buzz for the film and its trailer ruined all chances. The reports of the film were negative, with many viewers leaving the film midway. It opened at just Rs. 15 lakhs and managed to collect Rs. 50 lakhs in three days. It now remains to be seen if it can collect Rs. 1 crore in its lifetime.
Tomorrow, Ruslaan will be released, starring Aayush Sharma. The film looks cool but the actor is not very popular. Hence, a healthy opening is ruled out. The hope is that it turns out to be a kickass action film so that the audience will flock to the cinemas from Saturday.
I am like an auto driver; when you ask him if he will go to Andheri, he says no-Dibakar Banerjee
8:36 AM
LSD 2 director Dibakar as he talks about making his unflinching brand of cinema and why only a few producers will work with him
Priyanka Sharma (MID-DAY; April 20, 2024)
Fourteen years is a long time between a film and its sequel. But Dibakar Banerjee is certain that Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2 (LSD 2) required a decade of experiences and observations. When producer Ektaa R Kapoor called him in 2020 to propose the possibility of LSD 2, the director knew it was time.
“I thought that a decade has passed and everything has changed in this period. So, there is enough masala [to create] a spiritual offspring. If LSD 1 was about the camera serendipitously spying on you, LSD 2 is you living for a thousand cameras,” he says.
Spanning three stories, LSD 2 is a result of Banerjee’s observations of the invasion of social media in people’s lives. It shows how the internet is both a medium of freedom and enslavement. He elaborates, “The internet gives us a certain kind of independence. In the virtual world, we can be whoever we fantasize to be. But when we reinvent our identity and try to sell it, we are caught in it and that’s the exact opposite of freedom.”
Gender was another concept that the filmmaker wanted to examine. The film has transgender actor Bonita Rajpurohit in a lead role, a first for Bollywood. While the team is tom-tomming about it, the director sees it as neither a feat nor a risk.
“The way I see it, if there is a transgender character, a transgender actor has to play it. It’s only when we started promoting the film that we were told to say out loud that this is the first Bollywood film with a transgender actor in the lead. There is another story in the film, which also has a transgender character, but is played by a man because we were told that taking two transgender actors will be too much. So, we all make our compromises.”
Compromise isn’t a word you’d usually associate with Banerjee, and thankfully so. In his 15-year career, his voice remains distinct, political and often searing—be it Oye Lucky Lucky Oye (2009) or Shanghai (2012) or Ghost Stories (2020). His work has not fallen prey to commercial cinema’s trappings.
How has he managed that? “I keep myself cheap,” he laughs. He says by now, producers know that he won’t pander to their demands. “People have stopped asking me if I can make a certain kind of film. I am like an auto driver—when you ask him if he will go to Andheri, he says no. [He’ll go where he wants to go.] Similarly, my producers say, ‘Aapko kaunsi film banani hai, bata do. We’ll see if it’s feasible for us.’”
Does that mean he rejects most projects that come his way? “No, I am not some big blockbuster director, whom everybody is running after. There are only a few producers who want to make interesting projects and hence, look for me. For instance, Ektaa won’t tap me for The Dirty Picture 2. She is smart, and knows what kind of films I’ll do.”
Not toeing the industry’s line comes at a price, of course. It’s not lost on Banerjee. But it’s a price he is willing to pay. “What happens as a result is that I have one less bedroom in my house, or have a smaller car and less money in my bank account. But like a cockroach, I survive by still going ahead with the story that I want to tell.”
(Crisp) Movie Review: LOVE SEX AUR DHOKHA 2 by FENIL SETA
4:08 PM
Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2 tries to follow in the footsteps of its predecessor. The first part was a game-changer as we had never seen something like this in Hindi cinema before. In the second part, the writers and director get it all wrong and how. The first track is akin to watching a show like ‘Bigg Boss’ on the big screen. Thankfully, it ends on an amusing note. The second track culminates with a lot of questions unanswered. The worst, however, is reserved for the last story. It goes completely bouncer and viewers will be left scratching their heads, wondering what exactly is happening. The pluses of the film are camerawork, sound design, the song 'Kamsin Kali', animation and title design. The performances also save the day to some extent. Paritosh Tiwari (Noor) and Bonita Rajpurohit (Kullu Vishwakarma) play difficult roles with ease. Abhinav Singh (Shubham aka Game Paapi) gets into the skin of his character completely. Swastika Mukherjee (Lovinda), as expected, rocks the show. Swaroopa Ghosh and the actors playing Pushpesh Mishra, Ajmal and Nimesh lend able support. Anu Malik (Prem Desi) is very entertaining. Mouni Roy, Tusshar Kapoor and Sophie Choudry are fine in their cameos. All in all, Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2 is a waste of time.
My rating - * ½ out of 5!
My rating - * ½ out of 5!
Fenil's Bollywood Talk # 826
9:47 AM
EID RELEASES BOMB BADLY
A lot was expected from the two big Eid releases – Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan – even though the trailers had not done the trick. Yet, no one expected the collections to be outright disastrous. What saddened the industry was that despite great word of mouth, Maidaan didn’t take off.
Bade Miyan Chote Miyan was the bigger film and also had commercial elements to pull in the audience. But it opened at Rs. 15 crores, which was way low for such an expensive film. On Friday, April 19, the film dropped 50% to Rs. 7.50 crores and that sealed the fate of the film. There was a slight jump on Saturday (Rs. 8.25 crores) and Sunday (Rs. 8.75 crores). On Monday, it crashed as it collected Rs. 2.15 crores. The first week's collections will be around Rs. 47-48 crores. At this rate, it’ll struggle to even cross the Rs. 60 or 65 crores mark.
Maidaan, on the other hand, opened with paid previews on Wednesday, April 10, and earned Rs. 2 crores. One expected the collections to at least treble on the Eid holiday. However, it collected just Rs. 4 crores. With word of mouth on its side, Friday collections should have been the same or more than Thursday. But on Friday, it accumulated just Rs. 3 crores. On Saturday, the film jumped to Rs. 5.85 crores and Rs. 6.25 crores on Sunday. This gave hope that Monday collections will be as much as Friday. But on Monday, it dropped to Rs. 1.50 crores. Tuesday saw a small jump as it collected Rs. 1.60 crores. The first week's collections will be around Rs. 27-28 crores. If it keeps collecting at low levels, it’ll manage to cross the Rs. 40 crores mark.
Both films are quite expensive and have a cost of more than Rs. 225 crores. Hence, one can imagine the kind of losses that the makers will face. On top of that, there are hardly any exciting releases until June. As a result, the exhibition sector is in a sad state.
This probably explains why multiplexes decided to celebrate Cinema Lovers Day once again on Friday, April 19 when tickets will be sold for just Rs. 99. Even then, the advance booking of new and holdover releases is very poor.
Tomorrow, Do Aur Do Pyaar and Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2 will be released. The latter, directed by Dibakar Banerjee, looks quite niche and will require a great word of mouth to pull in the audience. Do Aur Do Pyaar stars Vidya Balan, Pratik Gandhi, Ileana DCruz and Sendhil Ramamurthy and seems like a decent romcom. The buzz is very limited and if reports are positive, it stands a chance in the urban multiplexes.
A lot was expected from the two big Eid releases – Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan – even though the trailers had not done the trick. Yet, no one expected the collections to be outright disastrous. What saddened the industry was that despite great word of mouth, Maidaan didn’t take off.
Bade Miyan Chote Miyan was the bigger film and also had commercial elements to pull in the audience. But it opened at Rs. 15 crores, which was way low for such an expensive film. On Friday, April 19, the film dropped 50% to Rs. 7.50 crores and that sealed the fate of the film. There was a slight jump on Saturday (Rs. 8.25 crores) and Sunday (Rs. 8.75 crores). On Monday, it crashed as it collected Rs. 2.15 crores. The first week's collections will be around Rs. 47-48 crores. At this rate, it’ll struggle to even cross the Rs. 60 or 65 crores mark.
Maidaan, on the other hand, opened with paid previews on Wednesday, April 10, and earned Rs. 2 crores. One expected the collections to at least treble on the Eid holiday. However, it collected just Rs. 4 crores. With word of mouth on its side, Friday collections should have been the same or more than Thursday. But on Friday, it accumulated just Rs. 3 crores. On Saturday, the film jumped to Rs. 5.85 crores and Rs. 6.25 crores on Sunday. This gave hope that Monday collections will be as much as Friday. But on Monday, it dropped to Rs. 1.50 crores. Tuesday saw a small jump as it collected Rs. 1.60 crores. The first week's collections will be around Rs. 27-28 crores. If it keeps collecting at low levels, it’ll manage to cross the Rs. 40 crores mark.
Both films are quite expensive and have a cost of more than Rs. 225 crores. Hence, one can imagine the kind of losses that the makers will face. On top of that, there are hardly any exciting releases until June. As a result, the exhibition sector is in a sad state.
This probably explains why multiplexes decided to celebrate Cinema Lovers Day once again on Friday, April 19 when tickets will be sold for just Rs. 99. Even then, the advance booking of new and holdover releases is very poor.
Tomorrow, Do Aur Do Pyaar and Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2 will be released. The latter, directed by Dibakar Banerjee, looks quite niche and will require a great word of mouth to pull in the audience. Do Aur Do Pyaar stars Vidya Balan, Pratik Gandhi, Ileana DCruz and Sendhil Ramamurthy and seems like a decent romcom. The buzz is very limited and if reports are positive, it stands a chance in the urban multiplexes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)