Woman 1 (Tina) fighting an emotional battle against her gay husband engages in a passionate smooch with a whore. Woman 2 (Rituparna) wallows in wild sex with multiple partners in a single night, participating in kinky acts with an elderly man tied to a chair. Woman 3 (Mallika), a typical gharoa Bangali meye, discusses her sad love life with a cabbie.

Shocking, erotic and compelling, Bishh lives up to its tagline — ekta kada (hard-hitting) Bangla cinema. And we won’t recommend it to the chicken-hearted.

Director Q’s (for Qaushik) take on urban female sexuality is audacious, with no room for conventional niceties.

It’s a one night’s tale that begins in a coffee shop where three college friends — Bee, Anushka and Soumi — meet and dissect their lives. And their men, who have let them down and left them unhappy, confused and angry. So, Bee (Rituparna) the boldest plots and plans with her friends to “f... them!”. Yes, the whole male species, with the mission to make money. What follows is a nightlong rendezvous with strangers, in bedrooms and on the streets.

Of the three, Rituparna is least coy about expressing her sexuality, through what she wears and what she says. Sari, skirts or simply a towel, she carries it off with candour.

Tina looks casual yet chic, switching from a serious bespectacled look to the more outgoing in a short black dress. Mallika’s Soumi, the conservative and sombre sort, sticks to her salwar kurta — her bold act is confined to a cab, through words and suggestions.

The dark story is told through dark and gritty visuals. The montage of stark images — splashes of red against a black background, empty streets, headless mannequins, tiny flags stuck on overheard wires — make Bishh a stylish presentation.

Q also peppers the mundane moments with music. Classical symphonies and strains drenched in rock and blues lend the film a certain polish.

But Bishh falters in the weave of the plot. Q could have spent some more time exploring the mind and soul, and not just the body.

Do you think Bishh and Trishna will set the trend for sex films in Tollywood? Tell t2@abpmail.com