Vishal Bhardwaj says Karan Johar ‘made his career’s best film’ in Lust Stories with Kiara Advani and Vicky Kaushal

Karan Johar’s segment in Lust, Stories, featuring Kiara Advani and Vicky Kaushal, is praised by Vishal Bhardwaj as his best work.

From Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham to Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and My Name Is Khan, Karan Johar has explored love, family, relationships and human emotions across genres. While several of his films became iconic, filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj believes one of Karan’s shorter works stands out as his strongest directorial effort. Vishal has singled out Karan’s segment from the 2018 anthology Lust Stories as the filmmaker’s career-best work, while also praising the performances of Kiara Advani and Vicky Kaushal.

Vishal Bhardwaj praises Karan Johar's segment from Lust Stories.

In a recent interview with Screen, Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, Shakun Batra and Vishal Bhardwaj, who have directed the four segments of Lust Stories 3, spoke about their favourite stories from the first two editions. While Shakun and Vishal picked Karan’s segment from the first edition, Kiran and Vikramaditya chose Konkona Sen Sharma’s The Mirror from Lust Stories 2.

Vishal Bhardwaj says Karan Johar’s segment in Lust Stories was his career-best film

Vishal said, "Karan Johar made his career’s best film in Lust Stories. I really loved Kiara Advani’s performance. And Vicky (Kushal) is so good! But directorially, it’s a very strong film."

All about Karan Johar’s segment in Lust Stories

Karan’s segment in Lust Stories (2018), titled Anuradha, stars Kiara and Vicky. The story follows Megha, a young woman whose seemingly perfect marriage is affected by her dissatisfaction with her sex life. The segment explores female desire, sexual dissatisfaction and the lack of communication around intimacy within a marriage.

Kiara’s character struggles to communicate her desires, while her husband remains largely unaware of what she needs. One of the most memorable moments in the segment sees her character use a vibrator to reach orgasm, while the title track of Karan’s 2001 blockbuster family drama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham plays in the background, creating an unexpected contrast.

Kiran Rao also praised Konkona’s segment, saying, "I actually loved Koko’s film. It was so beautifully done. It was funny and uncomfortable. Not just lust, but there were so many other things like class woven in. It was so complex for a short film, and so touching. The end was so perfect. I really loved it.”

Vikramaditya further described Konkona’s segment, The Mirror, as phenomenal and said she raised the bar of the anthology.

About Lust Stories 3

Lust Stories 3 brings together four stories centred on love, relationships and desire. The anthology features Radhika Apte, Konkona Sen Sharma, Aditi Rao Hydari, Radhika Madan, Sana Thampi, Vijay Varma, Abhishek Banerjee, Siddharth, Ali Fazal and Gurfateh Pirzada. Their characters navigate relationships, love, lust and, most importantly, desire.

Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, Shakun Batra, Kiran Rao and Vishal Bhardwaj, Lust Stories 3 premieres on September 18 on Netflix.