Anthology films are always a mixed bag, aren’t they? One short leaves you deeply moved, while another makes you check your phone halfway through. Netflix’s Lust Stories 3 is no different.
This time around, four top-tier directors- Kiran Rao, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vishal Bhardwaj, and Shakun Batra take over the reins. Instead of relying on cheap shock value, the third installment digs into what happens when intimacy dries up, when loneliness creeps in, and how messy relationships can truly get.
If you’ve watched it and wondered what those final scenes actually meant, or if you’re deciding which short to start with, here is our ranking of all four segments from worst to best, along with clear breakdowns of how each one ends.
Lust Stories 3: All 4 Ranked
4. Kiran Rao’s Story: Fast Hustle, Stashed Cash & Broken Trust
- Starring: Gurfateh Pirzada and Sana Thampi
What Happens:
Set in the crowded bylanes of Mumbai, a food delivery boy and courier (Gurfateh Pirzada) falls for a confident salon nail artist, Lisa (Sana Thampi). What starts as an electric spark between two ambitious, working-class youngsters quickly derails into a crime caper involving duplicate keys, hidden contraband, and a stash of illicit cash tucked away in a closet.
Why It Lands at #4:
Kiran Rao gets the look and feel of Mumbai’s cramped spaces right, but the story switches gears too abruptly. The transition from genuine romantic curiosity to a crime thriller feels jarring. Lust gets pushed into the backseat by logistical drama and predictable twists, making this feel more like an unfinished crime pilot than a meaningful look at relationships.
Ending Explained:
Lisa plays the long game and outsmarts everyone. Realizing she is being used as an expendable pawn to hide illegal loot, she quietly pockets the money for her own future and skips town. The delivery boy and his brother are left empty-handed with dangerous underworld figures closing in, forced to pack up and flee the city with their mother. The ending delivers a cynical truth: in a cutthroat city, attraction is often just a tool for survival, and Lisa walks away with the prize.
3. Vikramaditya Motwane’s Story: Awkward Desires & a Wild Weekend Swap
- Starring: Konkona Sen Sharma, Radhika Apte, Vijay Varma, and Abhishek Banerjee
What Happens:
In suburban Kandivali, longtime best friends Shonali (Konkona Sen Sharma) and Padma (Radhika Apte) find themselves stuck in sexless, dull marriages. Between binging late-night K-dramas and complaining about their husbands, an audacious idea is born: why not swap partners for a weekend trip to Khandala to see if it reignites the spark.
Why It Lands at #3:
Konkona and Radhika have sparkling comedic chemistry. Their nervous giggles, guilty eye rolls, and awkward negotiations feel like an honest peek into middle-class domestic life. But right when the stakes should peak, the story takes the safe, slapstick route. It shies away from exploring the true messiness of marital boredom, settling instead for a breezy punchline.
Ending Explained:
The Khandala experiment turns into an awkward disaster before it even starts. For Padma and her husband Hemant (Abhishek Banerjee), the shock of almost crossing that boundary acts as a wake-up call. Following a minor vehicle mishap, the two end up rekindling their intimacy inside an ambulance. It shows that their marriage just needed an adrenaline jolt to survive. Shonali, however, realizes her marriage to Debu (Vijay Varma) is hollow beyond repair. Her segment ends on an open, independent note as she shares a flirtatious dance with a hotel employee named David Lobo, deciding to seek joy on her own terms.
2. Vishal Bhardwaj’s Story: Secret Erotica & a Woman’s Right to Pleasure
- Starring: Aditi Rao Hydari, Siddharth, and Gajraj Rao
What Happens:
Set in nostalgic 1980s Hyderabad, the story follows Saira (Aditi Rao Hydari), a soft-spoken schoolteacher married to a predictable doctor named Badru (Siddharth). Badru treats bedroom intimacy like a rushed chore, leaving Saira completely unfulfilled. Instead of resigning herself to boredom, Saira begins secretly penning sensational pulp erotica under the pen name Raseeli Jaan.
Why It Lands at #2:
Vishal Bhardwaj delivers a poetic and playful short that treats female pleasure with wit and beauty. Aditi Rao Hydari gives a wonderfully expressive performance, capturing the contrast between a demure wife and a bold, imaginative writer. Her clever comparison, contrasting men’s hasty ways with the slow burn of a candle that needs warmth rather than an instant switch. It is easily one of the sharpest lines in the whole film.
Ending Explained:
Her erotic stories turn into an underground sensation and eventually land right on her husband’s desk. As Badru reads the vivid advice on foreplay, patience, and romantic care, he takes the lessons to heart. For that, he ironically using his wife’s own written tips to woo her properly in bed. The twist is that Saira never reveals her secret identity. She keeps Raseeli Jaan as her personal triumph, transforming her husband’s clumsy habits while holding onto her secret creative freedom.
1. Shakun Batra’s Story: Break-Up Sex, Divorce & Bitter Truths
- Starring: Ali Fazal and Radhikka Madan
What Happens:
Varun (Ali Fazal) and Sailee (Radhikka Madan) are five years into a fractured marriage and currently serving their mandatory legal cooling-off period before a divorce. Even though every single conversation quickly turns into bitter arguments and passive-aggressive digs, they find themselves trapped in a compulsive cycle of break-up intimacy whenever they meet.
Why It Takes the #1 Spot:
Shakun Batra once again proves he understands modern relationship friction better than almost anyone else in the industry. The writing is honest, raw, and uncomfortably real. Lust here isn’t glamorous, it is an emotional painkiller used to avoid talking about real trauma, in-law boundary disputes, and broken promises. Ali Fazal’s quiet exhaustion paired with Radhikka Madan’s guarded defense creates an intense drama that easily stands out as the best piece of the anthology.
Ending Explained:
During an emotionally bruising confrontation, the two finally stop using physical closeness as a distraction and confront their core wound: an unplanned early pregnancy and abortion that rushed them into an incompatible marriage before they were ready. Acknowledging that they were running on emotional survival rather than true companionship, the heavy tension lifts. Six months later, they walk into the family court together not as lovers reconciling, but as two mature people holding hands to sign their divorce peacefully. They finally give each other the respect they couldn’t find inside their marriage.
More About Lust Stories 3
At the end of the day, Lust Stories 3 review shows that desire is rarely just about what happens under the sheets. It is about the longing to be validated, the loneliness of silent dining tables, and the messy ways we cope when love doesn’t go according to plan.
While Kiran Rao’s heist-heavy segment feels rushed and Vikramaditya Motwane’s suburban caper chooses safety over depth, Vishal Bhardwaj’s lyrical wit and Shakun Batra’s heartbreaking honesty make the anthology well worth a stream. If you’re short on time, skipping straight to Batra’s and Bhardwaj’s shorts will give you the very best of what this collection has to offer.
FAQs
Q: Which is the best story to watch in ‘Lust Stories 3’?
A: Most critics and audiences agree that Shakun Batra’s segment, starring Ali Fazal and Radhikka Madan, is the standout short. It offers an emotionally raw, realistic look at marital breakdown and the confusion of post-divorce intimacy. If you prefer lighthearted poetry and vintage charm, Vishal Bhardwaj’s segment with Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth is a close second.
Q: What happens at the end of Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth’s story?
A: At the end of Vishal Bhardwaj’s short, Siddharth’s character reads the famous Raseeli Jaan stories without knowing his wife wrote them. He uses those very lessons on romance and foreplay to satisfy her in bed. Aditi’s character Saira keeps her writing identity a secret, celebrating a private victory over her marital happiness.
Q: Do Varun and Sailee get back together in Shakun Batra’s film?
A: No, they don’t get back together. While they share a deep physical connection throughout the film, their final conversation helps them realize that passion alone cannot fix a fundamentally mismatched marriage. They sign their divorce papers amicably and part ways with mutual respect.
Q: Do I need to watch ‘Lust Stories’ (2018) and ‘Lust Stories 2’ (2023) first?
A: Not at all, Lust Stories 3 is a completely standalone anthology. Each installment has its own unique cast, characters, directors, and self-contained short stories, so you can jump straight into Part 3 without missing any context.
Q: Why did Lisa take the money in Kiran Rao’s segment?
A: Lisa (Sana Thampi) takes the hidden cash because she realizes that the affection she was being shown was tied up in a dangerous, illegal scheme. Rather than being used as an innocent shield for someone else’s contraband, she chooses her own financial independence and flees the city.
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