Shemaroo may produce some content, but sees controlled spending on content and platform maintenance as a key difference between its planned app and Netflix.
Netflix is now the most highly valued media company but market value is a function of stock price, and in this case that price is based more on investors’ hopes than concrete financials.
Considering the behemoths that Alphabet Inc, Facebook, Netflix, Amazon and Snap Inc are today, it may be imprudent to expect the repeal of net neutrality to be a smooth sail.
PM Modi started in right earnest, attacking the ‘revdi’ politics. That could have been his legacy. However, he opted for survival and started outmatching his Opposition.
Recommendations appear in Niti Aayog’s Tax Policy Working Paper Series–II. It says there is a need to shift away from fear-based enforcement to trust-based governance.
In service with the British military since 2019, it is also known as the Martlet missile. Ukrainians have also deployed these missiles against Russian troops.
Education, reservations, govt jobs are meant to bring equality and dignity. That we are a long way from that is evident in the shoe thrown at the CJI and the suicide of Haryana IPS officer. The film Homebound has a lesson too.
It took me three sittings to go through the four Lust Stories, currently making waves – to the extent anything can make waves in the restless and expanding ocean of social media. It is an anthology that aims at opening the portals of discussion on women sexuality. The reason I took time to warm up to it was this – to me the first two stories appeared not so much about lust (noun ‘strong sexual desire’) but instead about rejection and convenience.
In the first story (by Anurag Kashyap) a teacher’s licentious equation with her student is no more than an occasional one-night-stand. It takes a turn and grows into a searing obsession, though this does not appear to be fuelled by physicality alone but by his growing attention to a girl of his own age. Increasingly, it is the element of perceived rejection that feeds the bitter anger, even borderline madness. Is there an element of lust in all this? Perhaps. But it is buried under a growing mound of hurt at being sidelined, a pure shadow-play of ego.
The second story (by Zoya Akhtar) of a man’s dalliance with his maid is even more linear. This is a relationship that appears born out of convenience for the man’s lust and her reciprocation. It is a detour from their ‘normal’ lives and one would be forgiven to conclude that there is an unspoken but tacit understanding that matters are ephemeral and destined to peter out. Yet, there is a rippling disappointment for the woman is completely understandable on a human plane. But measured against the backdrop of their lust, it is not convincingly explicable. I dug for a deeper meaning and drew a blank.
The third story (by Dibakar Banerjee) of a man’s affair with his close friend’s wife is more nuanced. It is a sensitively treated story and Manisha Koirala brings to it a realism that can shake up and scare. But it must say something about our middle-class mores and Bollywood-fed cultural diet, that in this day and age, the theme of ‘woman too has desires’ still needs to be showcased. We really haven’t evolved all that much, have we?
When I came to the fourth story (by Karan Johar) I was expecting no evolution at all. Indeed, as the segment began, Karan Johar did not disappoint me; it appeared a watered down version of his soapy-syrupy movies, complete with half-clever dialogues and lilting songs. There was also the dramatic background music that transported me to the last North India baraat I had endured. But after I had checked all the usual boxes of disappointment, a bit of magic reared its head. Of the four stories, this turned out to be the most direct treatment of lust. To coax issue of women’s sexuality out of shadows and into plain sight, Karan Johar wove a story around lack of sexual satisfaction and use of sex toys. It surprised me that the maker of Dilwale-talk had now turned to dildo-talk. Congratulations on your graduation, Karan!
And congratulations to all of us for this incipient conversation.
Why can’t sex just be sex.. or just be.. why does it have to be an education or a comment on morals etc…
These stories allow sex to just be… It is part of our lives.. most people just wish to make it the devil’s tool… or make it a tool for procreation… It is a lot more than that…
This is an attempt at taking judgement out of sex…. It is an attempt at showing it as it is…
Giving a platform for people to have conversations around it.. in ways healthier than porn viewing amongst friends…. And Rupleena has tried to explain what the stories are about….
Kudos!!! Thanks to these movies – Finally women of India are being sexually liberated. After economic, social and political empowerment the women now have sexually empowerment – this is being reflected in the movies now. Patriarchy and outdated concepts of family, sex, chastity, husband-wife dynamics won’t survive for long in the 21st century.
watching movies of the Prostitutes directors actually who want to sell condoms and vibrators to public. their really creative otherwise lies in making movies out of stolen ideas and remakes from south cinemas
the hoe who says i am married woman actually wants pre maritial sex and if not satisfied after marriage will find multiple partners. JOKE is THIS DRAMA SUITS ONLY ON TV
You add more value to sex, more brownie points, more eroticism to it, when it is a result of the verbal consent of one, and silent acknowledgement of the other. But one should be careful to understand the note of the other, and be witty about it. If that happens, sex is spontaneous and more passionately driven. I think Ms. Rupleena was trying to say this, but I might be wrong.
Is having sex outside the marriage u call women empowerment or talking about their affair make India forward in sex education. Sex education or talking about sex is totally at differrent level please dont compare it with rubbish stories.
Lust Stories (on Netflix)
It took me three sittings to go through the four Lust Stories, currently making waves – to the extent anything can make waves in the restless and expanding ocean of social media. It is an anthology that aims at opening the portals of discussion on women sexuality. The reason I took time to warm up to it was this – to me the first two stories appeared not so much about lust (noun ‘strong sexual desire’) but instead about rejection and convenience.
In the first story (by Anurag Kashyap) a teacher’s licentious equation with her student is no more than an occasional one-night-stand. It takes a turn and grows into a searing obsession, though this does not appear to be fuelled by physicality alone but by his growing attention to a girl of his own age. Increasingly, it is the element of perceived rejection that feeds the bitter anger, even borderline madness. Is there an element of lust in all this? Perhaps. But it is buried under a growing mound of hurt at being sidelined, a pure shadow-play of ego.
The second story (by Zoya Akhtar) of a man’s dalliance with his maid is even more linear. This is a relationship that appears born out of convenience for the man’s lust and her reciprocation. It is a detour from their ‘normal’ lives and one would be forgiven to conclude that there is an unspoken but tacit understanding that matters are ephemeral and destined to peter out. Yet, there is a rippling disappointment for the woman is completely understandable on a human plane. But measured against the backdrop of their lust, it is not convincingly explicable. I dug for a deeper meaning and drew a blank.
The third story (by Dibakar Banerjee) of a man’s affair with his close friend’s wife is more nuanced. It is a sensitively treated story and Manisha Koirala brings to it a realism that can shake up and scare. But it must say something about our middle-class mores and Bollywood-fed cultural diet, that in this day and age, the theme of ‘woman too has desires’ still needs to be showcased. We really haven’t evolved all that much, have we?
When I came to the fourth story (by Karan Johar) I was expecting no evolution at all. Indeed, as the segment began, Karan Johar did not disappoint me; it appeared a watered down version of his soapy-syrupy movies, complete with half-clever dialogues and lilting songs. There was also the dramatic background music that transported me to the last North India baraat I had endured. But after I had checked all the usual boxes of disappointment, a bit of magic reared its head. Of the four stories, this turned out to be the most direct treatment of lust. To coax issue of women’s sexuality out of shadows and into plain sight, Karan Johar wove a story around lack of sexual satisfaction and use of sex toys. It surprised me that the maker of Dilwale-talk had now turned to dildo-talk. Congratulations on your graduation, Karan!
And congratulations to all of us for this incipient conversation.
Why can’t sex just be sex.. or just be.. why does it have to be an education or a comment on morals etc…
These stories allow sex to just be… It is part of our lives.. most people just wish to make it the devil’s tool… or make it a tool for procreation… It is a lot more than that…
This is an attempt at taking judgement out of sex…. It is an attempt at showing it as it is…
Giving a platform for people to have conversations around it.. in ways healthier than porn viewing amongst friends…. And Rupleena has tried to explain what the stories are about….
Kudos!!! Thanks to these movies – Finally women of India are being sexually liberated. After economic, social and political empowerment the women now have sexually empowerment – this is being reflected in the movies now. Patriarchy and outdated concepts of family, sex, chastity, husband-wife dynamics won’t survive for long in the 21st century.
watching movies of the Prostitutes directors actually who want to sell condoms and vibrators to public. their really creative otherwise lies in making movies out of stolen ideas and remakes from south cinemas
the hoe who says i am married woman actually wants pre maritial sex and if not satisfied after marriage will find multiple partners. JOKE is THIS DRAMA SUITS ONLY ON TV
You add more value to sex, more brownie points, more eroticism to it, when it is a result of the verbal consent of one, and silent acknowledgement of the other. But one should be careful to understand the note of the other, and be witty about it. If that happens, sex is spontaneous and more passionately driven. I think Ms. Rupleena was trying to say this, but I might be wrong.
Is having sex outside the marriage u call women empowerment or talking about their affair make India forward in sex education. Sex education or talking about sex is totally at differrent level please dont compare it with rubbish stories.
Sex is fragrance of life not conflict , pls clarify
Sex is sexier when it comes as a recipe of the said and the unsaid, I didn’t understand this, can you please explain ?