Lust Stories 3

Kiran Rao is a talented filmmaker. She is also an incredibly clever storyteller. The latter is evident, and palpably so, in her segment of Lust Stories 3. The second film in Netflix’s latest instalment of its four-in-one anthology — that has looked at relationships, sex and (mostly female) desire through an often cheeky, mostly empathetic and sometimes outlandish lens, over three outings — is the one that gets the memo most accurately. Rao’s film doesn’t have a name. None of the four in Lust Stories 3 does, except being interconnected by certain timelines, which may or may not intersect. They also may or may not make sense.

हमारे समाज में औरतों की सेक्सुअल जरूरतों और इच्छाओं को हमेशा गैरजरूरी और टैबू विषय माना गया है। हालांकि, पिछले कुछ साल में ‘लिपस्टिक अंडर माय बुर्का’, ‘थैंक यू फॉर कमिंग’, और ‘लस्ट स्टोरीज’ जैसी फिल्मों या एंथोलॉजी ने इस विषय को प्रमुखता दी है। इसी सिलसिले को आगे बढ़ाती है, प्यार के रिश्ते की जटिलताओं की पड़ताल करती एंथोलॉजी ‘लस्ट स्टोरीज 3’, जिसमें इंडस्ट्री के चार नामी फिल्मकारों विक्रमादित्य मोटवाने, किरण राव, शकुन बत्रा और विशाल भारद्वाज की साझेदारी से बनी चार शॉर्ट फिल्‍मों की इस माला में दो कहानियों में औरतों की शारीरिक जरूरतों वाले अहम पहलू पर जोर है।

There was a time during the Covid-19 lockdowns when a new anthology of shorts would drop on a streaming platform every second week. While we understood the logistical challenges of producing full-length features, and the urgent need to keep churning out ‘content,’ the anthology fatigue was real. Bad habits crept into both sides. Box-of-chocolates storytelling became competitive film-making. Viewers and critics entered an endless loop of comparing segments; most anthologies were reduced to internal rankings. The format burned itself out and culminated in the release of the utterly forgettable Lust Stories 2 (2023), a limp post-pandemic sequel to a frisky pre-pandemic franchise.

Lust Stories 3 was inevitable. When the first Lust Stories came out, it was a novel attempt to normalise sex and its byproducts as fundamental as any other human emotion in mainstream. Though not quite as refreshing as its predecessor, Lust Stories 2 made an attempt to understand the politics of passion. Packaged in an anthology format, its four filmmakers helming four segments pattern lend the projects a watchability that even inconsistency couldn’t diminish… until its overkill during pandemic. Much water has flowed under the bridge since. The Netflix franchise returns with a reignited libido and exciting new voices sharing their view of treating sex with fun, fizz and frivolity.