On Wednesday, Netflix unveiled the trailer of the third instalment of its anthology film franchise Lust Stories. Starring Radhika Apte, Konkona Sen Sharma, Ali Fazal, Aditi Rao Hydari, Siddharth, and Vijay Varma among others, Lust Stories 3 will premiere on September 18.
Also featuring Radhika Madan, Sana Thampi, Abhishek Banerjee, and Gurfateh Pirzada in the lead cast, Lust Stories 3 promises to be more lighthearted and fun, as it still lives up to its promise of exploring love, lust, desire and every form of chaos that ensues in pursuit of the same. In one of these stories, Konkona and Radhika play two middle-class professionals who might or might not be contemplating the concept of ‘swinging couples.’ In another, two young people, hailing from different cultures and social strata, fall in love but struggle to complement each other in terms of desire.
In another story, set in Hyderabad, a spunky professor (Aditi Rao Hydari), sexually unfulfilled in her marriage, finds a release in the stories she writes, fantasasing about a partner often found only in fiction.
The most intense of the four short films seems to be one with Ali Fazal and Radhika Madan, where the two actors play a couple dealing with a rocky marriage where problems arise out of unfilled expectations.
The first two instalments of Lust Stories premiered in 2018 and 2023.
The anthology film also brings together acclaimed filmmakers like Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, Shakun Batra and Vishal Bhardwaj.
Talking about being a part of the anthology, Vikramaditya Motwane said, “What happens when the comfort of everyday life begins to rub up against the desire for something unexpected? This story allowed me to explore that space with warmth, humour and a little bit of unpredictability.”
Talking about her short, Kiran Rao stated, "What interested me about this story was how the first sparks of an attraction can quickly become something far more complicated. I was interested in what happens when those choices begin to have unexpected consequences. The anthology format allowed me to play with intimacy and humour.”
Shakun Batra, whose last feature film Gehraiyaan too dealt with similar themes, added, ‘’For me, the most interesting relationships are the ones where people don’t quite know what they’re feeling, or how to make sense of it. I wanted to explore that emotional ambiguity with honesty, without judging the characters or trying to give them easy answers.’’
Meanwhile, Vishal Bhardwaj shared, "What fascinates me about desire is how deeply it is connected to imagination - to the stories we tell ourselves, and sometimes the stories we are afraid to tell out loud. I was drawn to the idea of exploring that space through a character finding her own voice and discovering what happens when that voice reaches beyond her. There’s humour, mischief and emotion in that journey, but also questions about identity, expression and who gets to tell stories about desire."