Netflix’s Lust Stories returns with its second installation, comprising of four short films directed by four different directors. As the name suggests, lust is the driving factor in the four stories. Running a little over thirty minutes, Amit Ravindranath Sharma delivers a story of debauchery with a shocking twist in the end. Starring Kajol as the lead protagonist, Chanda, Tilchatta is visually rich but predictable. From the moment Chanda traps a cockroach she was initially afraid of approaching, we already know where the story is heading. The twist in the climax was shocking but not completely unexpected. The ending also makes you wonder about a few logical loopholes. Overall, Sharma delivers an interesting, albeit predictable, take on lust. Kajol was brilliant in portraying Chanda, a docile wife but a fierce mother. Kumud Mishra is thoroughly convincing as the intolerable patriarch, Suraj Singh. He is successful in evoking a sense of hatred and disgust. The performance and set design, along with the revelation in the end, make Amit Ravindranath Sharma’s short film worth a watch.
Spoilers Alert
‘Lust Stories 2’ “Tilchatta” Plot Summary
Born into a royal family in Bijokpur Rajwada, Suraj Singh continues to take pride in his family heritage and demands respect from the commoners in modern times. The world changed, and the importance and wealth of the royal family faded away, but ‘Marasa’ ’s ways remained the same. The world that was once meant to dance to his whims and wishes now refused to give him business, yet he could not do much about it. The driver, too, taunted him for not paying for the rides that he assumed were free for him. It was only the ‘haveli’ that reminded him that he was born into royalty, and he was not ready to give that away at any cost. Recently, hotel business owners had started showing interest in converting the ‘haveli’ into a luxury resort, but Singh was strictly against it. With his degrading status, Suraj resorted to sexually harassing and abusing women to exert his power and masculinity. Every night, after getting drunk beyond his wit’s end, he abused his wife, Chanda. At times, he targeted women working at the Haveli, taking advantage of their helpless condition. Every morning, Chanda dabbed makeup on her face to conceal the injuries inflicted on her at night. Chanda’s only hope was her son. She wanted him to study abroad, and in a way, his leaving Haveli meant that she, too, could fly out of the country someday. But convincing her husband about Ankur’s overseas education was the challenge, yet Chanda was determined to make it work somehow. Amit Ravindranath Sharma’s Tilchatta is about the extent to which Chanda was willing to go to make things work her way for the first time in her life.
Tilchatta Ending Explained: Who Was In The Room With Rekha?
Suraj noticed the new woman working at the Haveli. His eyes were fixated on Rekha’s youthful body. His days were spent secretly chasing her and watching her from a distance. Chanda was not bothered by his behavior as long as she was not the one suffering at his hands. Her son, Ankur, watched his father indulge in debauchery, and he was all the more determined to study hard and leave for England. Singh was not ready to send his son abroad. An astrologer once predicted that he would die in the Haveli alone, and after learning that Ankur intended to travel to England with his mother, he feared that the prediction was right. Living at the palace was nothing short of a dream for Rekha, and she was not averse to the idea of shedding clothes for the Marasa. She knew that to keep her job and to live in the palace, it was important to keep the owner of the property satisfied.
The collector rejected his tender, and Suraj was furious. He tried to drink away his failure and was completely sloshed by the time he returned home. Chanda pretended to sleep when he entered the room, and he walked away disappointed. She heard the door to the adjacent room unlock. There was a smile on Chanda’s face as she heard lustful screams from the next room. She had successfully trapped her husband, just like she did the cockroach at the very beginning of Tilchatta.
At the end of Tilchatta, Chanda stands in front of the room, and the truth behind her smile is revealed through a voiceover. Chanda was a sex worker before she got married to Suraj Singh. She may have experienced Singh’s abusive nature before she got married, but the thought of becoming the queen and living in a palace was enticing. She contacted her brothel-keeper to check in on her and found out that there was a deadly disease (STD) widely spreading and that one of the girls in the brothel had contracted it. As young as she was, the girl barely had much time left due to the disease. We find out that the girl is Rekha, and Chanda employs her to make sure that her husband dies of the same disease. When Rekha stood in front of the room, she experienced a sense of joy and relief. The torture, the pain, and the suffering were all about to be over soon. But to her horror, she suddenly heard Suraj grunt as he struggled to get up from the ground. As it turns out, her husband did not enter Rekha’s room; he had collapsed on the floor after drinking heavily all night.
So, who was in the room? Well, it is quite obvious that her son, Ankur, was sleeping with Rekha. The shift in Chanda’s expression is suggestive that it was Ankur in the room. That morning, Ankur had seen his father getting drunk and making suggestive remarks to Rekha. We can assume that he took an interest in Rekha from that moment on. Suraj left his drink unattended after seeing Ankur at the door. Perhaps he had consumed alcohol, and that helped him turn bolder than he was. After seeing how Rekha enjoyed his father’s company, maybe he, too, wanted to become as authoritative as Suraj. What remains strange is that the last interaction Chanda had with her son was when he promised to study hard and travel to England, yet within a few hours, he was (assumably) drunk and in the maid’s room. I guess when it comes to lust, there is no right time or place.
Rekha’s perspective is absent in Tilchatta. We get to know her only through the other characters. Chanda paid her to work at the palace, but did Rekha know about Chanda’s ulterior motive? Was she not curious to know why she was employed even though she was dying as a result of an STD? Was she trying to impress Suraj to spend her dying days in the palace? If the entire point of employing Rekha was to use her disease against her husband, wouldn’t Chanda disclose her plan to Rekha? After all, she had employed her for that purpose alone. If we consider that Rekha knew about Chanda’s plan, then what made her sleep with Ankur? Someone would do it purely out of malice, but Rekha did not seem to have any discontent (so maybe she did not know about Chanda’s plan?). All we can say is that Rekha did not care about the harm she was causing as long as she was living her dream in the Haveli. In the end, Chanda’s dream of leaving the palace will remain unfulfilled. With her son contracting an STD, Chanda’s only hope was destroyed. Maybe the guilt of ruining her son’s life by bringing Rekha into the Haveli will overwhelm Chanda and push her to the edge. Perhaps the astrologer’s prediction was right, and the Marasa would die alone in the palace.
