Dibakar Banerjee’s LSD 2: Love, Sex, and Dhoka 2 intends to make your stomach churn, and it leaves you feeling uncomfortable. The narrative has a Black Mirror-ish vibe to it, and it critiques the world we are living in. Personally, it left me thinking about where we are headed as a generation. We have all watched reality shows; we have all witnessed influencers doing anything and everything to get those views on their videos, but when you view them from the perspective of Banerjee, you realize the absurdity behind everything. LSD 2 consists of three shorts and in between, you start questioning the kind of world you are living in and if the advent of AI, the internet, and other technologies can prove to be so fatal for mankind in general. It is essential to say here that not everything on the internet is evil or that not all influencers are megalomaniacs or mad about views, but it could be said that Dibakar presented the dark side of the online world. When it comes to reality shows, I felt that it was a pretty apt description of how things happen there, though the director did go a bit extreme at some places, maybe to clearly justify his point of view. Dibakar, very smartly, I must say, tells us how the current generation is, how the human psyche gets affected, or what humans are capable of doing when under the influence of the so-called online culture and the evolving technology. So, let’s find out what happened in the three films and what Dibakar, Shubham, and Prateek Vats wanted to tell us through them.
Spoiler Alert
Story 1: Why did Noor slap her mother in the reality show?
Noor, a transwoman, is a part of the very famous reality show “Truth Ya Naach.” It was a weird show that had strange rules, meant only to sensationalize the lives of the contestants and make as much TRP as they could in the process. A contestant had to decide if they chose to reveal some aspect of their life in front of the public or if they chose to dance. Noor told the audience that her mother hadn’t talked to her since the time she started experiencing gender dysphoria. The writers don’t leave any stone unturned, and they show how these reality shows commodify each and every human being that decides to be a part of it. Noor takes the challenge to kiss her fellow contestant while the cameras are on, and she even audaciously slaps her mother on national television. The judges create a fuss about it, and eventually, she is thrown out of the show. At the end, the paparazzi catch her at the airport, where her mother sings the same song she performed in the show. The film questions human relationships, our ethics, morals, code of conduct, and everything that forms the core of our being. How low can anybody stoop to gain TRP? Well, we don’t have to look around that far, as various examples are present in the contemporary world. I personally do not hate or consider any profession to be less than another. My entire criteria for judging a show is based on the motive behind why it was created in the first place. If we want to peep inside somebody’s house and watch them in their intimate moments, and we like it when they put their guard down and do something obscene or vulgar, then there is something seriously wrong with us. I will not tarnish the image of reality shows as a whole, as there have been many reality shows that have actually been good, but in recent times, I have not found any. I don’t know if it’s because the sensibilities of the creators and producers of such reality shows are to be blamed or if they, too, are bound by the demands of the audience. But whatever it is, it doesn’t appeal to your intellect, and it is very, very cringeworthy.
Story 2: What happened to Kullu Vishwakarma?
Kullu was sexually abused by multiple men, and the entire city was shocked after the media covered the story. Kullu’s boss Lovina Singh, who was a high-ranking official in the Ojaswi metro project, went to meet her in the hospital. After the lab reports came, it became evident that multiple men had abused her that night, and Lovina realized that Kullu was working as a prostitute. The metro employees were not paid that much, and to support her livelihood, Kullu had to do things that she wasn’t proud of. She had no qualms about it, and in fact, she went and told Lovina that she didn’t even want a formal inquiry as things like that happened in her profession. The way she confronted her boss and said those words so casually makes your soul shudder, and you just cannot help but loathe the kind of society we live in. This film evokes many thoughts, and you do not understand in which direction the director and the writers want to head. It is a hard-hitting film, no doubt, but I felt like the thought process could have been more streamlined. At the end the film leaves things up to the viewers’ discretion. Maybe that’s what the team intended. Coming back to the plot, Kullu asked Lovina to take back the case, as she needed to keep her job, and she didn’t want any kind of justice to be served because, at the end of the day, she needed money and nothing else. Lovina’s partner, Ajmal, is taken into custody after the authorities learn that she is working as a prostitute, and that’s when Kullu loses her mind. She breaks the property of the company, and disciplinary action is taken against her. In the end, she is probably fired by the management, who get an easy way out after Kullu gets captured on the CCTV camera, breaking the property and causing damage.
Story 3: Why did Rohan go into the metaverse?
Shubham ran a gaming YouTube channel, and his channel was on the verge of entering the prestigious club of 10 million views. One fine day, Shubham’s private video and pictures got leaked online, and though at first, he was angry and ashamed, slowly, he realized that it worked in his favor. I believe this culture, or whatever you might call it, of gaining followers and popularity by posting something vulgar or private on the public platform started back in 2004, when a video of Paris Hilton’s “1 Night in Paris” got leaked online. The trade gurus believed that it garnered her more fame than her work ever could. It opened a window of opportunity, and then all those who were desperate for fame followed in her footsteps. People who didn’t have a conscience found a shortcut, and they realized that one could become famous by doing absolutely nothing. Shubham’s name came up on the list of prime suspects when a young boy from his school named Rohan was bludgeoned to death. The incident shook Shubham, and it’s possible that when he was doing the act, he didn’t feel that it could have such grave consequences. Shubham decided to go into hiding, and it created a wave in the media when they got to know that one could meet him only in the metaverse. A premier news channel took his interview with the use of augmented reality glasses, and Shubham’s name was also mentioned in the top 20 influencers in the world list. The news channel said that it was a moment of pride for the country, though it was difficult to understand what there was to feel proud about. But this is the harsh reality today. There are influencers out there who get fame and popularity and earn millions of dollars, but if you look at their content, you do not understand what’s so great about it. It’s a weird culture where people reacting to videos get millions of followers, and for someone who has seen the evolution of the internet in real time, it is difficult to understand the dynamics of the online culture.
