Netflix anthology Lust Stories 3 unites four directors exploring desire and modern relationships, with Vishal Bhardwaj's segment starring real-life couple Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth drawing the most attention.
Lust Stories, Netflix’s anthology series, made its comeback with the third edition on September 18, with contributions from filmmakers Vishal Bhardwaj, Kiran Rao, Shakun Batra and Vikramaditya Motwane, each presenting his own story on the themes of intimacy and modern relationships. This series, however, stands apart from its predecessors in that it is more subtle, dealing with couples sharing a bed but very little else.
The setting of Bhardwaj's episode is in Hyderabad, in 1987, where Saira, a professor of Urdu literature, relies on poetry to communicate things to her husband, who is a homeopathic physician, which she could not otherwise say. As Bhardwaj mentioned, he got the idea of the character from the writings of Anais Nin, who used to write erotica for a dollar per page whenever she needed money, and from a couplet of Bashir Badr, saying how lust disguised as poetry passes off as love. This is not his first try at the franchise too; previously, he had tried but scrapped two other screenplays.
This particular segment features the real-life couple Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth, who have been working with each other for the first time in a movie since the Telugu movie released in 2021 titled Maha Samudram. One of the most interesting parts of the segment is the seduction sequence that has been created based on a song. The sequence, according to Siddharth, was born out of a dream that he had and shared with Bhardwaj on the set. Hydari claims that she did not have any expectations from the sequence and whatever she showed on the set was spontaneous.
Most of the hype surrounding the release has been about Siddharth and not his female co-stars, as people shared their views about his look in the trailer, featuring moustache, curly hair, and sunglasses. Analysts noted that the franchise usually focuses on men looking at women, but in this instance, the other way around, which is a rare feature of Hindi cinema. In addition to Siddharth, the movie stars Radhika Apte, Konkona Sen Sharma, Radhika Madan, Vijay Varma, Abhishek Banerjee, Ali Fazal, and Gurfateh Pirzada. Analysts claim that the film displays less shock value in presenting its four stories and is more focused on the way physical proximity helps to conceal emotional distance of people.
Also read- UPI Fees Under Discussion as Government, Payment Firms Seek Solutions
Explore our upcoming features, author interviews, and deep-dives into new policy reforms.