A collection of lust stories could tell us something about how desire plays out in life. Lust Stories S2 is too listless for that. But it does reveal something of how Indian men think about sex. Going by the three films by men in this quartet, they seem deeply absorbed in the solo pleasure of their own bhashanbazi, fixated more on climax than the cinematic sensualities that build up to it, posture as edgy while hiding behind pulp references rather than risk creating their own pulp.

In R Balki’s story, Neena Gupta is supposed to be a cool dadi, who scandalises the family by insisting her grand-daughter and fiancée test drive their sex life before marriage to ensure Mount Fuji erupts. It should be fun, but it feels grating and synthetic. By the 20th repeat utterance, you start feeling you are trapped in a hell made up of sex-positive Instagram Reels, their platitudes about model sexual existence all the film is made of. Despite Neena Gupta’s valiant efforts, dadi talking about sex instead of sanyas does not make this any less of a pravachan.