The third instalment of the Lust Stories franchise brings together four filmmakers with distinct storytelling styles. Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, Shakun Batra and Vishal Bhardwaj have each directed a segment in the latest anthology, exploring different facets of relationships, intimacy and desire.

Producer Ashi Dua recently spoke to Bollywood Hungama about the making of Lust Stories 3 and opened up about the creative process behind the four stories. From Motwane considering multiple ideas before settling on his segment to the back-and-forth involved in collaborating with veteran filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, Ashi offered insight into how each director approached the anthology.
Ashi Dua on Vikramaditya Motwane’s “very unlike” idea
Ashi described Vikramaditya Motwane as one of the finest filmmakers in the country and revealed that the director initially had several ideas for his segment before arriving at the story that eventually became part of Lust Stories 3.

“He is one of the finest filmmakers that we have, and of course we were very excited to go to him, and he did have a couple of other ideas that he wanted to do before the story finally happened. And we were pushing for something easier and fun. Then he came up with this idea, and then we all immediately fell in love, and we thought it was very fun and very easy and very unlike Vikram,” she said.

Ashi also praised Motwane’s casting choices, particularly his decision to bring Konkona Sen Sharma and Radhika Apte together.

“And then when he had the casting idea that he had with Konkona Sen and Radhika Apte, it was just great. Like you had two of the best actresses and it just worked out with him. It was a process. There were two other films, two stories that he had in mind, and by the time we arrived at the story it was a process, but I’m glad we stuck to this one,” she added.

Kiran Rao’s first idea impressed the team
According to Ashi, Kiran Rao was the only filmmaker among the four whose very first idea was immediately embraced by the entire team. She revealed that the team had expected Rao to come up with something more serious, but were pleasantly surprised by the mainstream and thriller elements in her story.

“Kiran was the only one out of the four whose first idea we all loved. Really, this was the first story she came up with, and we all loved it,” Ashi said.

She added, “And the thing is, we also thought Kiran is going to come up with something a little more serious, but then this was like, oh, this is like really mainstream and commercial and really fun and had a thrill element to it, which people will watch.”

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Ashi credited Rao and producer-writer Tanaji Dasgupta for presenting the story in a way that immediately connected with the team.

“And instantly when she narrated, she and her producer, Tanaji Dasgupta, who’s written the story, narrated it to us and all of us loved it,” she added.
Ashi Dua recalls the challenge of collaborating with Vishal Bhardwaj
Working with Vishal Bhardwaj presented a different kind of experience for the team, particularly because of his extensive body of work and stature as a filmmaker. Ashi admitted that the creative process involved considerable back-and-forth, but said Bhardwaj remained open to feedback throughout.

“The minute it becomes somebody as senior as Vishal, doing back and forth becomes really hard because we’ve literally watched his movies when we were in school, and look at his body of work, like it’s great,” Ashi said.

She continued, “It was very hard, but even with him there was a lot of back and forth on story ideas, and he’s such a sport, and he’s so amazing, and he surrounds himself with a lot of young people, all his ads and his everybody’s, his writers and he’s very open.”

Ashi also praised Bhardwaj for being receptive to feedback despite his experience. “If he tells you something and you tell him, Vishal ji, we don’t understand it, so he’s like, oh okay. So he’s very open to listening to people, and he was very open to our feedback and has been a complete trooper on this one,” she said.

Describing the filmmaker’s segment, Ashi added, “And he’s done something really fun too.”
Shakun Batra brings a relationship drama to Lust Stories 3
Ashi also spoke warmly about Shakun Batra, revealing that he had developed two scripts before the team ultimately settled on the story featured in the anthology.

“He also came up with two scripts which were really fab too. Then we all stuck with this one,” she said.

Ashi described Batra as a filmmaker from her generation and praised his earlier work, particularly Kapoor & Sons. She said she was excited when he chose to explore a relationship drama for Lust Stories 3.

“Shakun is more our generation of a filmmaker and his previous, like Kapoor and Sons, has been one of, I think, one of my favourite films. In the last one, it’ll have to be in the top five films of the last 10 years,” Ashi said.

She further praised his approach to characters and relationships, adding, “I was very excited when he decided to do this relationship drama that he’s done for Lust Stories and just Shakun is so sensitive with his storytelling, with his characters, with the relationships that it’s just really beautiful.”

According to Ashi, the final version of Batra’s story went beyond what the team initially read in the script. “When we finally arrived at the story, from what we read to what is finally on screen, I think he’s elevated it even more than that, and we’re very happy with that story too,” she concluded.

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Lust Stories producer Ashi Dua hints at a more “intertwined” fourth installment of Netflix anthology; recalls casting for first part “was very hard”