Anupama Chopra reviews Lust Stories 3, the Netflix anthology featuring four films directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, Shakun Batra and Vishal Bhardwaj. Exploring the messy, funny and painful possibilities of desire, the collection moves from two women in affectionate but sexless marriages to a separating couple, a young romance in Mumbai and a marriage in 1980s Hyderabad.
Anupama finds the strongest film in Vikramaditya’s tragicomedy, with superb performances by Radhika Apte and Konkona Sen Sharma, ably supported by Vijay Varma and Abhishek Banerjee. Shakun’s film, starring Radhika Madan and Ali Fazal, mixes raw emotion with humour and builds to a moving final frame. Kiran’s contribution is lighter but remains more on the surface, while Vishal’s visually gorgeous film, starring Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth, is playful yet overstretched. Across its uneven films, the anthology finds humour, tenderness and ache in human longing. The THR Bottomline: lust remains a gift that keeps giving, for filmmakers and viewers alike.