‘Lust Stories 3’ arrived on September 18 and quickly won over audiences, continuing the anthology’s popularity. Among its four segments, Shakun Batra’s chapter stood out for its nuanced look at where emotional mismatch meets physical chemistry, with Ali Fazal and Radhikka Madan in the lead roles. Fazal was already riding high on the success of ‘Mirzapur: The Movie’, which makes his turn as the gentle, vulnerable Varun here a striking contrast. The shift hasn’t gone unnoticed online, where fans have crowned him the newest “pookie.” Moving between two such opposite characters with this much ease only underlines his range as an actor.
What Radhikka Madan says about Ali Fazal
Speaking to NDTV, Radhikka Madan opened up about what makes Ali Fazal such a versatile performer, and why he fit so naturally into Shakun Batra’s world. Here’s what she had to say: “I think Ali is a phenomenal actor. He’s a very versatile actor, super talented. And I remember, I didn’t know who the guy was when I was cast, and when I got to know, I was very excited. You always want to work with great actors. He’s very open. He loves to improvise. I love to improvise. He has very nice, bizarre ideas that he comes up with. Very, very creatively satisfying to work with him.”
Ali Fazal’s calmer Guddu in ‘Mirzapur: The Movie’
In ‘Mirzapur: The Movie’, Ali presents a tamer, more composed Guddu than the wild, short-fused man audiences met in the series. He’s now a thoughtful strategist who leads with his head. The pain of being unloved still shadows him, but it no longer dictates his actions; calculated intelligence, not unchecked aggression, calls the shots.
Ali Fazal as the flawed and vulnerable Varun
On the other hand, in ‘Lust Stories 3’, Ali plays a man who is raw, worn out and far from perfect. Caught in a toxic cycle during a court-ordered cooling-off period, he shares a fiery chemistry with the talented Radhikka, which makes this chapter well worth watching. Madan had high praise for her co-star: “And what he did with Varun was fantastic. He played it exactly opposite to his physique at the time. He wanted Varun to be a mama’s boy. When you look at such a huge guy, you’re like, ‘Oh, he’s a mama’s boy,’ and he’s so soft and so vulnerable. The humour also comes from there. And Sailee, despite being physically smaller, is such a patakha. It is quite comical when you just look at them and how they behave. So credit to Shakun for just playing on that, playing on the physicality and the emotionality of both of these characters.”
Film sticks to the franchise’s familiar theme
Just like the earlier films, ‘Lust Stories 3’ is about women’s desire, pleasure, and open talk about sex, a topic many people still find hard to discuss. Not many people were talking about this one before its release. Maybe viewers are used to the theme by now, and the hope is that it still feels fresh and relevant today. The film sticks to its main idea: a world where a woman’s desire comes first.