Director: Avinash Arun Dhaware
Cast: Shefali Shah, Jaideep Ahlawat, Swanand Kirkire, and Kadambari Kadam
Where to watch: Theatres
Rating: 4 stars
Shailaja Desai (Shefali Shah) is a middle-aged woman suffering from dementia, working in the divorce division in a family court, and living with her husband Dipankar Desai (Swanand Kirkire) in Mumbai. Before her memories fade away, Shailaja decides to revisit her childhood and takes on a trip to Vengurla, a town in the Konkan region where she spent the most memorable time of her early years.
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This trip to her past is actually her last chance to rekindle her childhood love with Pradeep Kamat (Jaideep Ahlawat) before she forgets him. As Shailaja and Pradeep revisit their old memories, with Dipankar tagging along with them, we see some tender and beautiful moments being played out between the three protagonists throughout the film's duration. The beautiful locales of Vengurla are a bonus to the simple yet highly effective writing.
Three of Us is a poignant and moving film, powered by Shefali and Jaideep's masterful performances. The two emote majorly through their eyes and silences. Varun Grover's thoughtful dialogues help immensely. There's no doubt that Shah and Ahlawat are two of the most incredible actors in India at the moment, and an Avinash Arun film is the perfect playground for them.
Avinash Arun is one of the most exciting names in Indian cinema for me as he is not just a brilliant director, but an excellent cinematographer too. He made his directorial debut with the Marathi coming-of-age drama Killa in 2014, which is one of the most acclaimed films in Indian cinema in the past decade. Three of Us is only Avinash's second feature film directorial in the last nine years, but in the meantime, he has helmed two web series, the 2020 crime thriller Paatal Lok (along with Prosit Roy) and the 2023 mystery drama School of Lies. While the former has been the best Indian OTT series for me, the latter is definitely the most underrated one this year.
Avinash knows exactly how to capture the buried, hidden emotions of an individual on his camera lens. He has shown the same in not just his directorial ventures, but also in the movies that he has shot including Masaan, Karwaan, Hichki, and Drishyam. The scenes in his projects linger on for a moment, even after the dialogue has ended and that helps the viewer to fully absorb and immerse themselves in the characters and their motives. The same happens in Three of Us, where each scene has its own meaning and adds another layer to Shefali and Jaideep's characters.
The major complaint I had with this film is that after the end credits roll in, we don't know much about the third character in Three of Us - Dipankar. Just like his lyrics, Swanand's presence in the film is delightul but his character felt the most unexplored one, and when the film is titled after its three protagonists, it would have made more sense to show more about him.
Three of Us is a small, little gem of a film that needs to be experienced on the big screen. Shefali Shah and Jaideep Ahlawat's perormances could easily end up as the best leading acts of the year. The Avinash Arun directorial has had a limited release, but if it's playing in your city, don't give this a miss.
