Lustfully distasteful

Title: Lust Stories 3

Directors: Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, Shakun Batra and Vishal Bhardwaj

Cast: Konkona Sen Sharma, Radhika Apte, Vijay Varma, Aditi Rao Hydari, Siddharth, Ali Fazal and others

Where: Netflix

Rating: H

Noorulain Sayed :

It’s back! The latest season of the Lust Stories franchise promised us visuals of fresh stories served on a silver platter of erotica splashed with nuanced performances. Alas! If only this were true. Two women frustrated because of lack of intimacy in their marriage plan to swap husbands, twin brothers with a secret stash of cash have a passionate affair with a nail artist, a couple going through divorce can’t seem to stop the action between the sheets and in 1987 a married part time teacher discovers her erotic writing abilities. These are the four short stories in Lust Stories 3. Each one is more atrocious than the other. The premise of all four attempts was promising yet each one falls flat like the expectations of its women.

Actors’ performances

Out of the mammoth cast, Konkona shines as usual, Ali Fazal is excellent, Vijay Varma impresses, Gurfatheh Pirzada (in a double role) is wooden, Sana Thampi (Lisa) is unbearable, Radhikka Madan is annoying. However, the biggest disappointments are Aditi Rao Hydari, Siddharth and Radhika Apte. There is absolutely zero chemistry between Aditi and Siddharth (given that they are married in real life). Abhishek Banerjee is barely there. Everyone lacks chemistry.

Direction

Shakun Batra, Kiran Rao, Vishal Bhardwaj and Vikramaditya Motwane fail to bring a sense of balance to the chaos. Every main character (except in Kiran’s film) is sexually frustrated. There is a “four” theme that runs throughout the 2 hours 44 minutes runtime. ‘Four days ago’, ‘four weeks ago’ and lastly ‘four decades ago’. Apart from the four decades ago mention, none of the other “fours” make any sense. The biggest problem is the lack of depth in characters. Never ending conversations (especially in Shakun’s film) slow down the pace even more. Frankly, all four directorial efforts are dull and one wonders why such silly stories were chosen by them.

FPJ verdict

Many of the intimate scenes feel too choreographed and artificial and that kills the purpose of all four films’ core theme of lust. 

However it won’t be surprising if this joke of an “anthology” will top the OTT platform’s chart for the next few days (because you know why). Mentions of “bedroom ke phatakes”, Manto and “addiction to one another” are not sufficient to bring soul to stories. So, even if you have absolutely nothing meaningful to do, avoid Lust Stories 3. Hopefully, the makers will do better if they plan a fourth season.