Konkona Sen Sharma on Lust Stories 2: ‘We worked towards depicting a woman owning her desire’

Konkona Sen Sharma, Tillotama Shome and Amruta Subhash on exploring class and desire in their segment of the upcoming Netflix anthology.

Konkona Sensharma directed a segment in Netflix anthology Lust Stories 2. (Photo: Gourab Ganguli)

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When Konkona Sen Sharma was approached to direct one segment of the upcoming Netflix anthology, Lust Stories 2, she was initially sceptical. “Lust, in my mind, is associated with something forbidden. (So) the idea was to bring forward something lustful that ideally has a deeper resonance,” she says. While Sen Sharma was exploring story ideas, a friend shared her account of walking in when two others were engaged in an act of copulation. “From thereon, of course, it is completely different how we have developed the story,” says the actor-director, who wanted to showcase “the juxtaposition of class and desire” in her story. “It is interesting when ‘lust’ is combined with other emotions. We worked towards depicting a woman owning her desire. We rarely see that, especially among older women,” she says.

Apart from Sen Sharma, Lust Stories 2, which releases on June 29, also features shorts by directors R Balki, Sujoy Ghosh and Amit Ravindernath Sharma. Sen Sharma’s segment features Isheeta (Tillotama Shome) returning home earlier than usual from work one afternoon because of a migraine attack only to find her house help Seema (Amruta Subhash) making love to a man – on her bed. Isheeta realises that this is routine, but instead of confronting Seema, she finds herself drawn to the voyeuristic pleasure of watching them.

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Sen Sharma, who has co-written this story with Pooja Tolani, finished writing in January and the film was shot in April. “Ideally, I like to have the entire story set before looking up casting. By then, the characters I am writing about become very clear,” says Sen Sharma, who approached Subhash and Shome soon after the script was ready. “I couldn’t have asked for a better cast than Amruta and Tillotama, who worked so in sync with each other,” she says.

Konkona Sensharma poses for a portrait. (Photo: Gourab Ganguli)

Shome collaborated with Sen Sharma for the first time for the latter’s directorial debut, A Death in the Gunj (2017). “Working with Koko (Sen Sharma) is special. She gave me a character that no one else had (in A Death in the Gunj). Because of her, other directors saw me differently, too. It also comes from her being an actor and feeling boxed by the way people perceive you and how you get stuck with it. She has taken me out of that claustrophobia,” says Shome, who is known for her compelling performance in Qissa (2013), Sir (2018) and Delhi Crime Season 2 (2022).

Tillotama Shome in a scene from Lust Stories 2. (Photo: Netflix)

For Subhash, working with Sen Sharma and Shome for the first time was incentive enough for signing the project even before she heard the story. Sen Sharma, however, insisted on giving a narration. “It was a narration over Zoom since Koko was in Kolkata at that time. Being a fine actor, she was an amazing narrator too. That was an experience in itself,” says Subhash, who was impressed with the arc of her character’s journey in the film.

Initially, however, Subhash didn’t understand Seema. “Sometimes it is best not to understand your characters fully. Only then can you expand as a person,” says the actor, who has won accolades for her performance in Astu (2013), Killa (2014) and Bombay Begum (2021). The fact that her character is having fun stands for “a free space” that women should enjoy. The actor says: “Even if you are saying the line — mujhe mazaa aa rahaa ha — while essaying a character, it frees the actor too. That’s the kind of feeling I had.”

Prior to the shoot, Shome and Subhash developed a charming rapport. “One day, I received a voice note from Amruta asking me ‘Didi, kaunsa bhaaji laoon (Didi, what vegetables should I get?)’. I was shooting something else then. I sent her a disinterested, casual voice note, as one often does to one’s help. It was nice that she put me in that space even before we went on set,” recalls Shome. She believes Sen Sharma’s gaze towards Seema and Isheeta was crucial because it came without judgement. “It allowed me to play a character who is morally on the wrong side of things… Being a Peeping Tom comes with a great sense of shame,” says Shome.