Tag Archives: Three of Us

Best Bollywood Movies of 2023

3 Replies

It’s time to bid adieu to 2023 with my Best Bollywood Movies of the year list!

First up is one of a few smaller family dramas that made my 2023 Top 10 Hindi films: Manoj Bajpayee’s Gulmohar. Filmmaker Rahul V. Chittella’s screenplay deftly introduces all of the story’s major points of conflict within the first five minutes, and the story treats LGBTQ issues with sensitivity.

Two big-budget, star-studded romances are next: Shraddha Kapoor & Ranbir Kapoor’s Tu Jhoothi Main Makkar and Alia Bhatt & Ranveer Singh’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. I love a good spectacle with lavish dance numbers, and both films delivered.

Given how many of my negative reviews include variations of the phrase, “This could have been shorter,” it’s no surprise that I enjoyed the anthology Lust Stories 2. Four short stories in 2 hours and 12 minutes? Sold! (Especially when Sujoy Ghosh and Konkona Sen Sharma are directing two of those stories.)

The biopic Tarla is another of the smaller family dramas that made the cut for its thoughtful portrayal of a couple navigating gender roles in 1970s India.

Though it looks like a war movie on the surface, Pippa is a family film of sorts as well. Ishaan Khattar, Mrunal Thakur, and Priyanshu Painyuli portray siblings who all play a role in their nation’s war efforts. The real tanks used in Pippa are very cool, as is the choreography in the song “Main Parwaana.”

I really enjoyed writer-director Arjun Varain Singh’s digital-age romance Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, which featured its own trio of standout young performers: Ananya Panday, Adarsh Gourav, and Siddhant Chaturvedi.

Of all of 2023’s blockbuster action flicks, Shak Rukh Khan’s Jawan was the wildest and most fun.

My favorite of the smaller relationship dramas is Three of Us — a gorgeously-shot gem about fading memories. Shefali Shah is pitch-perfect as a woman with early-onset dementia, and she’s supported with great performances from Swanand Kirkire and Jaideep Ahlawat.

2023 was Jaideep Ahlawat’s year, not just because of his role in Three of Us, but also for his performance in my favorite movie of the year: Jaane Jaan. Sujoy Ghosh directed my very favorite Hindi film, 2012’s Kahaani, so I was predisposed to like Jaane Jaan (and his Lust Stories 2 short “Sex with Ex”). But Jaane Jaan is Ghosh at his best. Like Kahaani, Jaane Jaan is another thriller about a woman with a problem that’s set in an evocative locale. This time, Kareena Kapoor Khan is the woman in trouble in a gloomy hill town, and Ahlawat plays her unlikely helper. The film is tense and exciting, and the performances totally sell it. Jaane Jaan is why I like movies.

Kathy’s Best Bollywood Movies of 2023

  1. Jaane Jaan — stream on Netflix
  2. Three of Us — stream on Netflix
  3. Jawan — stream on Netflix
  4. Kho Gaye Hum Kahan — stream on Netflix
  5. Pippa — stream on Amazon Prime
  6. Tarla — stream on Zee5
  7. Lust Stories 2 — stream on Netflix
  8. Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani — stream on Amazon Prime
  9. Tu Jhoothi Main Makkar — stream on Netflix
  10. Gulmohar — stream on Hulu

Previous Best Movies Lists

[Disclaimer: my Amazon links include an affiliate tag, and I may earn a commission on purchases made via those links. Thanks for helping to support this website!]

Movie Review: Three of Us (2023)

1 Reply

4 Stars (out of 4)

A woman diagnosed with early-onset dementia returns to an important place from her youth in the quiet, thoughtful drama Three of Us. It’s a gorgeous film that gives its characters all the time they need.

Shefali Shah plays the woman in question, Shailaja. She’s married to Dipankar (Swanand Kirkire), and their son is away at college. Shailaja’s increasing forgetfulness necessitates an early retirement from her government job processing paperwork for divorcing couples.

She asks Dipankar to take her to visit Vengurla, a small town on the Konkan coast where she attended school from fifth through eighth grade. It’s not a place she’s ever mentioned before, so he’s surprised by the request but obliges with a week-long trip.

Old classmates and teachers recognize Shailaja immediately, even though she’s been gone almost thirty years. Most importantly, her childhood sweetheart Pradeep (Jaideep Ahlawat) is still in town. He’s happy to see her and takes off work to guide the couple around the area.

Elements like Shailaja’s past reluctance to talk about Vengurla or the boy she left behind could easily be the setup for a thriller or romantic drama, but Three of Us isn’t that kind of movie. Pradeep introduces Shailaja and Dipankar to his wife and kids right away. Shailaja has her reasons for not dwelling on her time in Vengurla until it becomes clear that, someday, she won’t be able to remember those days at all.

Everyone in Three of Us is nice. The story is packed with emotion even though no one yells, deceives, or fights. The conflict is with a force that can’t be fought, as Shailaja’s memories slip away and as she and the people she love ready themselves for the changes that will bring.

Shah plays Shailaja with subtlety. When she loses her place or gets overwhelmed, she clams up and quietly retreats. If we didn’t know about her diagnosis, she might just seem shy. Ahlawat’s Pradeep is a steadying presence, which might have been why Shailaja liked him in the first place. Kirkire is the workmanlike hero of the film, playing Dibankar exactly like a guy who’s hanging around with his wife’s old classmates and feeling a bit like a third wheel should be played.

Throughout all, director Avinash Arun — who also co-wrote and served as director of photography on the film — resists rushing the characters, letting us observe them as they just exist. It’s soothing.

Arun made his name in the industry as a cinematographer, so it’s no surprise that Three of Us is stunning to look at. He knows how to perfectly frame shots, position the characters in space, and follow their movements. The natural scenery around Vengurla is breathtaking, but the built environment of a small town slowly decaying is melancholy and evocative as well.

As if this weren’t enough beauty, Arun includes a scene where Shailaja returns to the dance studio where she learned Bharatnatyam. The school’s current star pupil Manjiri (Payal Jadhav, the film’s choreographer) gives a jaw-droppingly beautiful performance that alone would make Three of Us worth watching. Add that to the sweet story and pitch-perfect performances, and you’ve got yourself a really charming little film.

Links