Netflix is bringing back its bold anthology with ‘Lust Stories 3’, featuring four new films by acclaimed directors and a powerful ensemble cast. Here’s a quick recap of the earlier seasons and everything we know so far about the upcoming chapter.
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Lust Stories Season 3: Netflix just turned up the heat again. And no, it’s not the weather. The streamer has quietly dropped the first look of Lust Stories 3, and suddenly Bollywood gossip circles are buzzing, film Twitter is wide awake, and group chats are back to arguing about “art versus boldness.”
The International Emmy-nominated anthology is officially returning for a third round, and this time, it’s bringing some serious heavyweight names along for the ride.
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From award-winning directors to a cast stacked with familiar and exciting faces, Lust Stories 3 promises to dig into love, longing, secrets, and messy human emotions again. But before we jump into what’s new, let’s rewind a little.
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Because if Lust Stories has taught us anything, it’s that no story exists in isolation.
Netflix has confirmed that Lust Stories 3 is in the works, and the first look is already out. The anthology format remains the same. Four short films, four different directors, and four very different takes on intimacy and relationships.
This time, the directors are Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, Vishal Bhardwaj, Shakun Batra.
The cast includes Radhika Apte, Konkona Sen Sharma, Vijay Varma, Abhishek Banerjee, Gurfateh Pirzada, Sana Thampi, Ali Fazal, Radhika Madan, Aditi Rao Hydari, and Siddharth.
Netflix’s official synopsis says the new season will explore lust, love, relationships, and repressed desire through “emotionally resonant” stories. Translation? Expect conversations, not comfort. Expect grey areas. And, expect characters who feel uncomfortably real.
The release date hasn’t been announced yet.
Motwane’s film stars Radhika Apte and Konkona Sen Sharma. Shakun Batra teams up Ali Fazal with Radhika Madan. Kiran Rao brings together Gurfateh Pirzada and newcomer Sana Thampi. Aditi Rao Hydari leads Vishal Bhardwaj’s film.
Behind every bold story is a team of writers who make it work. Lust Stories 3 has a long list of writers, including Kiran Rao, Tanaji Dasgupta, Avinash Sampath, Sumukhi Suresh, Shakun Batra, Sameeha Sabnis, Ashwathi Namboodiri, Nitesh Bhatia, Utkarshini Vashishtha, and Vishal Bhardwaj.
When Lust Stories first dropped in 2018, it wasn’t just another Netflix release. It became a cultural moment. People argued about it at dinner tables, on social media, and in opinion columns. Some praised it. Some hated it. Many couldn’t stop talking about it.
And maybe that’s the point.
Season 1 featured four directors: Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, and Karan Johar. Each story tackled desire from a very different angle.
In Kashyap’s segment, Kalindi, played by Radhika Apte, is a young college professor married to an older man who lives abroad. Encouraged by her husband to explore her sexuality, Kalindi steps into a world she’s never experienced before. What starts as curiosity slowly turns into emotional manipulation. She gets involved with a student, a colleague, and plays with boundaries without fully considering the damage left behind.
Zoya Akhtar’s segment follows Sudha, a house help who also shares a physical relationship with her employer, Ajit. To Ajit, it’s casual. To Sudha, it means something more. When marriage talks begin for Ajit, Sudha watches quietly as her place in his life disappears.
In Dibakar Banerjee’s story, Manisha Koirala plays Reena, a woman stuck in an unhappy marriage and a secret affair with her husband’s friend. When the truth threatens to come out, Reena faces a painful choice. Love doesn’t win. Fear does. The story shows how society, children, and expectations often trap people into staying where they’re miserable.
In Karan Johar’s story, let’s be honest, this is the segment that became internet history. Megha, played by Kiara Advani, is married to a kind but sexually unaware husband. Pressured to have children, ignored emotionally, Megha discovers her own pleasure. The infamous living-room scene shocked audiences, but beneath the shock was a simple message that women’s desires exist, and ignoring them has consequences.
Released in 2023, Lust Stories 2 took things even further. The tone was darker. The stories more unsettling.
In ‘Made for Each Other’, a progressive grandmother believes couples should be sexually compatible before marriage. Neena Gupta’s performance was standout.
In ‘The Mirror’, story explored voyeurism, class, power. A woman secretly watches her maid and the maid’s husband blurring lines of consent and control. It was disturbing, thought-provoking, impossible to forget.
In ‘Sex With the Ex’, this one took thriller turn. Vijay Varma played a man haunted by his past choices, literally. Desire, guilt, crime collided in a story that ended on a chilling note.
In ‘Tilchatta’, perhaps the darkest of them all set in rural Rajasthan, the story showed abuse, revenge, and moral horror. It forced viewers to confront how power protects predators and how desperation can lead to terrifying decisions.
Now let us all wait for Lust Stories 3.
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