Lust Stories 3 will mark Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth’s onscreen reunion after five years, and the first time they share screen space after their dreamy 2024 wedding. They began dating on the sets of their last film together — Ajay Bhupathi’s 2021 Tamil-Telugu action romance Maha Samundram. Now, they’ve teamed up for their first Hindi film together — Vishal Bhardwaj’s short film in Lust Stories 3, which will drop on Netflix on September 18.

Vishal Bhardwaj on casting Aditi Rao Hydari, Siddharth

While Lust Stories 3 reunites Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth on screen, Vishal Bhardwaj had other reasons for casting her. His short film is set in Hyderabad in the early 1980s, a city and period Aditi is familiar with, having spent her childhood there. The filmmaker also felt that having her on board would help him approach the intimate scenes, particularly the objectification of Siddharth, from a woman’s perspective. “I knew it’d be easier for me to picturise those lust scenes and objectify Siddharth from Aditi’s point of view,” Vishal told SCREEN in an exclusive interview.

He also shared that learning the peculiar Hyderabadi accent came quite easily to Siddharth. “His Hindi is very good! He doesn’t sound like a person from the Tamil or Telugu industry. He has a very good ear for language. He didn’t have any problem,” said Vishal, who previously directed the actor in Blood Brothers, another short film that released in 2007.

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Setting a lust story in Hyderabad

Vishal Bhardwaj had been waiting to set one of his films in the old city of Hyderabad, but got that opportunity only with the segment in Lust Stories 3. “I really love to explore languages,” said Vishal, adding, “Earlier, we’d make caricatures of Hyderabadi and Bhopali languages in cinema. They’re beautiful, lovely languages, so sweet! That’s what everyone’s concern was that it doesn’t become too much. I think it’d adding to the storytelling.”

Kiran Rao, who has also directed another segment in Lust Stories 3, also approves of Vishal’s short film, given her connection to Hyderabad. “Aditi is actually a cousin. I’m from Karnataka. But I do have a Hyderabadi connection,” Kiran said in the conversation with SCREEN. For the uninitiated, Aditi and Kiran’s mothers are first cousins. Aditi’s grandmother and Kiran’s grandfather were siblings.

She added, “Actually, if you see, I look a little bit more like her mother. And my mother and her look similar. But her Hyderabad connection is because my grandaunt married Raja J. Rameshwar Rao, who’s from Wanaparthy, but my grandaunt was from Karntaka. So, I’m Kannadiga-Konkani. So, a lot of people think I know Telugu and am from Hyderabad, but I’ve gone there very often. I have family there, so I’ve spent a lot of time there.”

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Kiran Rao also praised Vishal Bhardwaj’s portrayal of Hyderabad in the short. “I love the way it’s come through in the film (Vishal’s short). It’s so charming in a way we don’t often get to see and hear. It’s not a caricature. It’s very sweet,” said Kiran.

Lust Stories 3 also features segments directed by Vikramaditya Motwane and Shakun Batra. It also stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Radhika Apte, Abhishek Banerjee, Vijay Varma, Gurfateh Pirzada, Ali Fazal, Radhika Madan, and Gajraj Rao, among others.