Infidelity, pleasure, a class divide and the forbidden: the Netflix anthology film Lust Stories will explore lust and love through four narratives.

Directed by Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and Anurag Kashyap, the upcoming anthology film has unique and varied visions, the filmmakers said at a press event in Mumbai on Friday.

The four directors had previously collaborated on the 2013 anthology film Bombay Talkies, which celebrated 100 years of Indian cinema. Lust Stories stars Radhika Apte, Bhumi Pednekar, Manisha Koirala, Kiara Advani, Vicky Kaushal, Jaideep Ahlawat and Sanjay Kapoor. It will be out on the streaming platform from June 15. The film has been bankrolled by Ashi Dua and Ronnie Screwvala’s RSVP.

“Four shorts with different visions and the same theme is such a unique concept,” Screwvala said at the event. “From the time we spoke about themes, it bordered around women, love and lust. It has a meaning of contemporariness. And that was the overpowering theme that we went with.”

Karan Johar, who will be directing Kaushal and Advani in his segment, said that his short centered on women seeking pleasure. “Invariably when you are given the choice of love and lust, more sensible people will choose lust,” Johar said at the event. “It is infinitely more exciting than love and the more popular four-letter word to live your life by. My film is about seeking pleasure. It’s also about a woman’s right to pleasure and not just the man’s.”

Akhtar’s film will explore attraction in the context of the class system in India. Banerjee’s contribution will focus on wanting the unattainable. “The reason why we are here is because the last time Ashi [Dua] brought us together, we had fun,” Banerjee said. “My story is about infidelity and lying, but wanting to tell the truth and not being able to. It’s being hopelessly attracted to someone whom we aren’t allowed to.”

The filmmakers and the cast acknowledged that the digital platform had more scope to explore such themes, compared to the movies. “I’m constantly looking for newer feelings to feel and boundaries to break,” Pednekar, who plays a housemaid in Akhtar’s episode, said. “As actors we want our stories to reach as many people we want. People on the internet are braver and want newer things.”

But freedom does not translate into mindless provocative content, the filmmakers noted. “Just because it is called Lust Stories doesn’t mean it has got an overdose of sex,” Johar said. “It is very emotional. You will find a beating heart within all the lust. That is the USP of all our narratives. Hate Story [Vivek Agnihotri’s 2012 erotic thriller] has more sex than Lust Stories. We haven’t chosen Netflix just to show provocative content. We have chosen it because of its versatility and global reach.”

Lust has been looked at through a callous prism in Indian films, Johar added. “The feeling of lust has been used in a bad way in various platforms without any sensitivity,” Johar said. “Not many have shown lust sensitively in films. If we depict it sensitively enough, love and lust can coexist. Lust cannot be always gazed with negativity.”

Akhtar argued that love and, by default, lust, have been in the syntax of Hindi cinema for ages. “Different cultures goes to the cinemas for different reasons,” she said. “One of the biggest reasons our audience goes to the cinema is escapism, aspiration and fantasy. Love is something that is still taboo in our culture, sadly, because families still decide who you should spend your life with. So love stories will always be big in our culture. In terms of lust, some people have depicted it beautifully and some people are crass. Lust has always been in our films, but it’s mostly very elegant that you hardly notice it.”

Filmmaker Karan Johar has unveiled the first look of his short film for the upcoming Netflix original Lust Stories and we haven’t seen a more jovial Neha Dhupia, Vicky Kaushal or Kiara Advani.

Sharing the pictures, Karan wrote on Instagram, “#luststories 4 Director’s! @zoieakhtar @anuragkashyap10 #dibaker and myself! Here’s a look at my short with @vickykaushal09 @kiaraaliaadvani and @nehadhupia produced by #ronniescrewvala and @ashidua on @netflix_in in June!!! WAtch this space!” Vicky and Kiara are seen in wedding attire in the pictures – while Vicky dons a cream-coloured sherwani, Kiara wears a red and green lehenga. In another picture, Neha and Kiara are seen sharing a fun moment in plain cotton sarees.

Filmmaker Karan Johar is all set to helm a short film in Lust Stories, Netflix’s collection of four short films directed by Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap, and Dibakar Banerjee apart from Johar. Today, Johar shared his excitement, “Supremely excited about #luststories on @NetflixIndia ! The company of prolific filmmaker’s and the interpretation of lust made this experience so satisfying for me! My film has @vickykaushal09 @Advani_Kiara @NehaDhupia ! Thanks @RonnieScrewvala @ashidua_fue.”

He also later shared the first look of his own short film that stars Vicky Kaushal (who also starred in Love Per Square Foot, the Netflix film that released in February), Kirana Advani and Neha Dhupia. Ronnie Screwvala is producing the film under his banner RSVP in association with Ashi Dua of Flying Unicorn Entertainment.

Earlier, Karan Johar had said in a statement, “A theme of lust….a new age and dynamic platform…the company of prolific filmmakers…the vision of Ashi Dua and Ronnie Screwvala made this experience immensely sexy and satisfying! (no pun intended)…Lust Stories breaks ground and even tears the envelope at times! This one is worth the price of a subscription!”