Love Sex Aur Dhokha

Plot

The movie begins in the style of Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, with an over-the-top parody of a quasi-news program which promises to bring you three exciting "stories", which are the inter-connected episodes of the film, namely, love, sex and deceit (dhokha).

Love (Titled Superhit Pyaar)

Rahul, a 20-something youngster infatuated with the candy-gloss of Bollywood romances, is an amateur director who decides to shoot a small budget film, in order to enter a contest hoping to meet his idol, Bollywood director Aditya Chopra. During auditions, he falls in love with the young woman he picks to be the leading actress, Shruti. She belongs to an orthodox, nouveau riche New Delhi family, and her father is a real estate magnate who is lampooned for his philistinism. The two bond, become closer, and define their relationship by confessing their love for each other. However, Shruti's overprotective and aggressive brother overhears their telephone conversation and attacks the movie set to find out the identity of the guy who loves Shruti to no avail. Shruti and Rahul elope. From their honeymoon suite, they call Shruti's family for their love and acceptance. Shruti's father and brother are initially furious but then approve and tell them they will be sending a car to pick them up from the hotel. During the car ride, the couple are ambushed by Shruti's brother and his hired goons, who beat them up in a graphic scene with hockey sticks, and then brutally cut their bodies using an axe, burying the dismembered parts under a railway culvert. The episode ends with the murderers casually sharing booze and joking with the accomplice saddled with the task of digging.

Sex (Titled Paap ki Dukkaan)

Shruti's friend Rashmi is a quiet girl who works night shifts in a local supermarket to support her family. Adarsh is a 20-something supermarket supervisor who has obtained the job due to his family connections with the store's owner, and has outstanding debts to settle with the local loan sharks. He makes a pact with one of his friends to make a sex tape with one of the employees to sell for a large amount of money to the media. Adarsh sets his sights on Rashmi, ultimately resulting in him developing genuine feelings for her. He decides to back out of the plan, but his feelings for Rashmi are suppressed by his greed. Rashmi receives news regarding Shruti and Rahul's horrible death and is deeply saddened. Taking advantage of her vulnerability, he has sex with her and captures it on the shop's security camera. Having sold the footage, Adarsh is able to pay off his debts. It is later revealed that Rashmi was fired from the supermarket and shunned by her community and family, while Adarsh got married and moved away.

Dhokha (Titled Badnaam Shohorat)

Prabhat, an investigative reporter who uses spy cams to establish the sting operations is in desperate need of a groundbreaking story to get a bonus from the news company which employs him. He saves Naina (short for Mrignaina), an aspiring dancer, from drowning when she jumps from a bridge. Naina, who is initially furious at Prabhat, plans a sting operation with him to exact revenge on Loki Local, a music producer and singer who asked her to trade sex for the position of leading dancer in his upcoming music video. The duo bring the sting footage to the media, who provoke them to plan another sting: Naina will supposedly blackmail Loki by threatening to reveal the initial footage in an attempt to catch him red-handed as he tries to bribe her — to render any false accusations by Loki of fabrication of footage. Naina meets Loki in the supermarket where Rashmi works to carry out the sting, while Prabhat watches closely. The plan goes awry when Loki tries to steal the camera and shoots Prabhat, who is immediately admitted into the hospital. Naina comes to meet Prabhat to hand over the footage so that he can get the bonus, but he decides to protect Naina's dignity and refuses to give his superiors the footage and resigns. However, it is revealed that Naina has betrayed Prabhat by accepting the role as lead dancer in Loki's new music video, "Love, Sex Aur Dhokha," which is a parody on the events of the sting operation.

The end titles roll over the supposed music video footage.

Cast

Critical reception

The film opened to critical acclaim. Critics applauded the unique filming style, acting, realistic story and superb editing and received an aggregate rating of 7.5/10 at ReviewGang. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama reviewed positively saying, "On the whole, Love Sex aur Dhokha is original, innovative and ground-breaking cinema, which will shock and provoke you. The film is definitely not for the faint-hearted or those who swear by stereotypical fares, but for those who yearn for a change," and rated it 4 out of 5 stars. Rajeev Masand of CNN IBN rated it 4 out of 5, stating "Dibakar Banerjee's Love, Sex aur Dhoka is the most riveting Hindi film in recent memory. [...] You will be shocked, you will be startled, but walking out of the theatre, you know you have just seen what is possibly the most important Hindi film since Satya and Dil Chahta Hai. Not only does it redefine the concept of "realistic cinema", it opens a world of possibilities in terms of how you can shoot films now."

Subhash Jha of Bollywood Hungama commented on it, stating, "The film never belittles or sentimentalizes the characters' lack of choices. While inventing a unique format of cinematic expression Dibakar Banerjee has not emotionally emasculated the characters. [...] In terms of technique this film gets as rough and jolting as any film can. The actors look like reality-show-rejects making a last-bid attempt to prove their worth." Martin D'Souza of glamsham.com rated it 4 out of 5 and said, "What is very smart is the way Banerjee weaves the lives of all three couples to make it one smart movie. At first, it appears as three separate issues but the end surprises. Intelligent cinema. It's real and it's scary." Sarita Tanwar of Mid Day, gives it a 4-1/2 out of 5 and stated, "LSD has all the makings of a contemporary cult classic, this season's best film. It's a must-watch."

Gaurav Malani of India Times gives it a four out of five and stated, "At several levels, Love Sex aur Dhokha is at par with some of the best titles in world cinema in terms of its treatment." Nikhat Kazmi of Times of India gave a three-and-a-half to the film and stated, "Don't expect time-pass entertainment. Think beyond run-of-the-mill and see how Ekta Kapoor re-invents herself as the producer of contemporary Indian cinema's first full-blown experimental film." Raja Sen of Rediff.com gave it a perfect five and stated "It's bleak, bittersweet, funny and markedly unglamorous, and yet you come out humming the theme tune, your head blown clear off your shoulders." Mayank Shekhar of Hindustan Times gave a three-and-a-half and stated it as "truly an experiment" in Bollywood.

Commercial reception

The film was produced at a budget of ₹45 million. It grossed ₹97.8 million, making it a profitable venture.

Controversies

Love Sex Aur Dhokha has been censored: A seven-minute bare-back love-making scene was shortened and blurred.

A reference to caste in the love story between a low-caste boy and a high-caste girl has been excised, as in the movie the boy is referred to a "special case" (SC) which is an allusion to a candidate of reservations. Originally, in place of "special case" was an explicit statement of caste which was subsequently censored.

The lyrics of the track "Tu Nangi Achi Lagti Hai" were changed to "Tu Gandi Achi Lagti Hai" in the film. Love Sex Aur Dhokha received an A certificate by the Film Censor Board of India.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Sneha Khanwalkar. The album has most of the songs sung by Kailash Kher.

Awards