The teaser of Telugu anthology film Pitta Kathalu, the Telugu edition of Lust Stories with fresh short films, was released by Netflix on Wednesday. The anthology is directed by Tharun Bhascker, BV Nandini Reddy, Nag Ashwin and Sankalp Reddy.
The teaser features actors Shruti Haasan, Amala Paul, Eesha Rebba, Saanve Megghana, Lakshmi Manchu, Jagapathi Babu, and Satyadev among others.
The film will be released on the Over-the-Top platform on February 19.
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Lust Stories, a Netflix original made in Hindi, had the broad theme of love, sex and relationships. Critics dubbed the film as progressive and feminist as it centred around women. The anthology was directed by filmmakers Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar. This was their second association after Bombay Talkies.
The film included actors Radhika Apte, Bhumi Pednekar, Kiara Advani, Manisha Koirala, Vicky Kaushal, Neil Bhoopalam, Neha Dhupia, Sanjay Kapoor, Jaideep Ahlawat, and Akash Thosar.
Earlier, it was reported that directors Krish, Shiva Nirvana and Ajay Bhupathi were also part of the project. However, these filmmakers are busy with their own films and are not involved in Pitta Kathalu. Krish is currently working with Vaishnav Tej and Rakul Preet Singh in a yet-to-be-titled film. Shiva Nirvana is busy with Nani’s Tuck Jagadish while Ajay Bhupathi is working on his upcoming Telugu-Tamil bilingual Maha Samudram, which stars actors Siddharth, Sharwanand, Aditi Rao Hydari and Anu Emmanuel.
Netflix India had recently released its Tamil original anthology Paava Kadhaigal, directed by Sudha Kongara, Gautham Menon, Vetrimaaran and Vignesh Shivn. The film, dealing with the sensitive issue of 'honour' killings in the context of caste and gender, received mixed reviews from critics and the audience. Its depiction of gender based violence, in particular, came under criticism. The segment directed by Sudha Kongara, received a lot of flak from the LGBTQI+ community for casting Kalidas, a cis man, to play the role of a trans woman. The other films, too, were criticised for how they dealt with and represented the issue.