Lust Stories 3 Movie Review Rating:
Star Cast: Konkona Sen Sharma, Radhika Apte, Radhika Madan, Aditi Rao Hydari, Abhishek Banerjee, Vijay Verma, Gurfateh Pirzada, Sana Thampi, Ali Fazal, Siddharth & Gajrao Rao
Director: Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, Shakun Batra & Vishal Bharadwaj
What’s Good: Two segments – Vishal Bhardwaj and Shakun Batra’s stories that bring the passion, desire, fantasy, and madness in the lust without making it sleazy!
What’s Bad: Motwane’s segment wastes a stacked cast on a premise that never deepens. Kiran Rao’s segment feels like a short film’s first draft!
Loo Break: Anytime you want!
Watch or Not?: Watch it for a full four-course meal – they’re worth the runtime by themselves.
Language: Hindi
Available On: Netflix
Runtime: 2 hours and 40 minutes
User Rating:
A very thin line separates lust from cringe and sleaze, which comes down to how stories are presented. Netflix continues its exploration of this theme with Lust Stories 3. The anthology presents desire as messy, unresolved, and deeply passionate, with Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, Shakun Batra, and Vishal Bharadwaj directing these fiery narratives of physical cravings.
Netflix returns with a distinct four-part exploration of intimacy, obsession, and human vulnerability. Serving as a proper 4-course meal of emotions, the anthology ranges from high-art romantic madness to grounded physical desire, anchored by a stellar ensemble cast.
Sticking to its established blueprint of four directors delivering four distinct stories of passion, the standout for me is Shakun Batra’s segment featuring Ali Fazal and Radhika Madan. It contains all the right ingredients to tell a tale that is equal parts lust, confusion, and emotion.
Lust Stories 3 Movie Review: Script Analysis
The film comprises four short stories, three of which intersect in various ways. Vikramaditya Motwane’s opening tale focuses on two best friends, played by Konkona Sen Sharma and Radhika Apte, who feel unsatisfied in their marriages. Inspired by a Korean drama, they decide to spark intimacy and longing by swinging partners with their respective husbands, played by Abhishek Banerjee and Vijay Varma. The plot explores whether lust can pave the way to love and longing.
In Kiran Rao’s segment, Gurfateh Pirzada plays twin brothers involved with a nail artist portrayed by Sana Thampi. The narrative shifts across its runtime from romantic to criminal to sexual elements, culminating in a twist ending where lust ultimately plays a minor role despite driving the premise.
Shakun Batra pairs Ali Fazal and Radhika Madan as a divorcing couple who continue to engage in intimacy during their encounters. Batra crafts an intriguing relationship study around whether this physical connection helps mend their bond or leads to lost love.
Vishal Bharadwaj shifts the tone to the anthology’s most complex narrative, set decades in the past. Real-life couple Siddharth and Aditi Rao Hydari portray a doctor and his wife, whose relationship is tested as her fascination with erotic literature grows. Bharadwaj effectively examines whether longing, desire, and lust act as antagonists in their marriage until the very end.
Lust Stories 3 Movie Review: Star Performance
Aditi Rao Hydari delivers a magnetic performance as a woman who embraces her transformation as the Chulbuli. Siddharth’s character is chaotic and occasionally over-the-top, but consistently engaging. Radhika Madan is phenomenal as a defensive, fragile woman breaking open into raw vulnerability, with Fazal matching her intensity scene for scene.
On paper, a partner-swapping narrative featuring Konkona Sen Sharma, Radhika Apte, Vijay Varma, and Abhishek Banerjee should have anchored the anthology. While Radhika and Konkona’s Kandivali-versus-Korea class humor draws viewers in, the flat execution limits what the actors can achieve. Similarly, Gurfateh Pirzada’s double role sounds promising, but he ultimately appears as lost as the script itself.
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Lust Stories 3 Movie Review: Direction, Music
Despite boasting an impressive ensemble cast featuring Konkona Sen Sharma, Radhika Apte, Vijay Varma, and Abhishek Banerjee, Vikramaditya Motwane’s partner-swapping plot succeeds only intermittently; he establishes the premise well but fails to make the emotional stakes convincing. Kiran Rao’s crime-thriller drama struggles with over-complication, rendering the core theme of lust secondary to a crooked and uneven plot. Shakun Batra once again demonstrates his mastery over relationship complexities. Vishal Bharadwaj deserves high praise for handling a story that could easily have devolved into vulgarity, shaping it instead into a robust, chatpati narrative. The music remains a highlight of the franchise, with “Ghat Pat” easily standing out as the track of the season, while Shakun Batra’s segment utilizes its score to elevate the drama.
Lust Stories 3 Movie Review: The Last Word
Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth helm the wildest and spiciest segment, driven by Bharadwaj’s unhinged theatrical energy reminiscent of his darker works. The line, “Har aurat ko maloom – duniya ke saare mard aise hi hote bolke. Aaye miyan ghat pat, gaye miyan jhat pat bolke,” serves as the segment’s core thesis—depicting love as chaos and desire as a form of madness. Built on a slow burn, the segment eventually lets the house metaphorically catch fire.
The emotional core of the anthology lies in Radhika Madan and Ali Fazal’s portrayal of an estranged couple who reluctantly discover that bed is the only place they still function together. Batra avoids judging his characters—an approach shared by this reviewer—making his segment a quietly devastating fifteen-minute study of two people communicating through the only language they haven’t forgotten.
Ultimately, this four-course anthology succeeds if you endure the early segments to reach Shakun Batra’s main course and Vishal Bharadwaj’s dessert.
3 stars!
Lust Stories 3 Trailer
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