Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj has singled out Karan Johar’s segment from the 2018 anthology ‘Lust Stories’ as the filmmaker’s strongest directorial work, while also praising the performances of Kiara Advani and Vicky Kaushal, writes Hindustan Times.
Karan Johar has built a career around stories of love, family, relationships and human emotions, delivering popular films such as ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’, ‘Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna’ and ‘My Name Is Khan’. However, Bhardwaj believes Johar’s shorter contribution to ‘Lust Stories’ stands above his feature films.
In a recent interview with Screen, the directors of ‘Lust Stories 3’ — Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, Shakun Batra and Bhardwaj — discussed their favourite segments from the first two instalments of the anthology. While Shakun and Bhardwaj chose Johar’s segment from the first film, Rao and Motwane picked Konkona Sen Sharma’s ‘The Mirror’ from ‘Lust Stories 2’.
“Karan Johar made his career’s best film in ‘Lust Stories’. I really loved Kiara Advani’s performance. And Vicky (Kaushal) is so good! But directorially, it’s a very strong film,” Bhardwaj said.
Johar’s segment, titled ‘Anuradha’, stars Kiara and Vicky as a married couple. The story follows Megha, a young woman whose seemingly perfect marriage is strained by her dissatisfaction with her sex life. It explores female desire, sexual dissatisfaction and the difficulty of communicating intimate needs within a relationship.
One of the segment’s most memorable scenes shows Megha using a vibrator to reach orgasm while the title track of Johar’s 2001 family drama ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ plays in the background, creating an unexpected contrast between the film’s glossy family image and the character’s private struggle.
Rao also praised Sen Sharma’s ‘The Mirror’, calling it beautifully made, funny, uncomfortable and complex. She noted that the story explored more than lust, weaving issues of class into its narrative, and praised its ending.
Motwane similarly described ‘The Mirror’ as “phenomenal”, saying Sen Sharma’s segment raised the bar for the anthology.
‘Lust Stories 3’ brings together four stories centred on love, relationships and desire. The anthology features Radhika Apte, Konkona Sen Sharma, Aditi Rao Hydari, Radhika Madan, Sana Thampi, Vijay Varma, Abhishek Banerjee, Siddharth, Ali Fazal and Gurfateh Pirzada.
The four segments are directed by Motwane, Batra, Rao and Bhardwaj. ‘Lust Stories 3’ is set to premiere on Netflix on 18 September.
