Mumbai, Acclaimed filmmaker Kiran Rao said she has always focused on creating strong-willed, independent female characters who drive the story forward, a vision she carried into her latest project, the popular anthology series “Lust Stories 3” as well.
Rao’s segment in the Netflix anthology series follows the story of a pizza delivery boy and his twin brother, played by actor Gurfateh Pirzada, who is instantly attracted to a sultry Sana Thampi, a nail stylist, and how their mutual attraction leads them into a series of questionable decisions. “When I went to the audition, I had no idea it was for ‘Lust Stories’. “So, working with her and the team on board, they were all people whose work I had enjoyed before and who I enjoyed interacting with through that process. The anthology is streaming on Netflix.
“I don’t think I could make a film in which a woman is not either well-represented or the protagonist, because that is not what I would enjoy watching myself,” Rao, known for films like “Laapataa Ladies” and “Dhobi Ghat”, told PTI in an interview. Rao said the film gave her the opportunity to approach the theme of lust in a “playful” manner yet featuring women characters in nuanced and assertive way. Thampi said she had followed the “Lust Stories” franchise even before she thought of becoming an actor. The casting director hadn’t told me who the director was or what the project was. It was just a script that I read and I was like, ‘This is fun, I kind of like her’,” she said. I was committed to this script and film,” she said.
