Avinash Arun is co-writer and director of the 2023 Indian Hindi-language drama film Three of Us.
Shefali Shah plays the dementia-stricken Shailaja Desai in the film. Jaideep Ahlawat portrays her childhood sweetheart, while Swanand Kirkire plays her husband.
Shefali Shah's film Three of Us, which follows Shailaja on her moving journey, examines fading memories. Swanand Kirkire and Jaideep Ahlawat are added, and the narrative moves from the chaotic streets of Mumbai to the tranquil Konkan shore. Shailaja, a retired woman with a dementia diagnosis, places a great value on her memories and emphasises the necessity of self-care.
Shailaja's visit to Vengurla in Three of Us is motivated by the eerie recollection of losing her sister Venu in a game when she was younger. Because of the painful experience, Shailaja fears that Venu may vanish from her memory. With the assistance of a mediator, she pays her last respects in her childhood home and deals with the issues she has carried with her all of her life.
On their last day in Vengurla, Shailaja, Dipankar, Pradeep, and his daughter went to a local fair. With no ill will towards Pradeep, Dipankar invited him to his Dadar home and the two maintained a friendly rapport. Envy was not warranted given the love and affection both men felt for Shailaja. Her past was in one, and her present was in the other. And both contributed to Shailaja's development in one way or another.
When Pradeep learns of Shailaja's dementia in the epilogue of Three of Us, he is grateful that she has returned to explore her early years. While riding a ferris wheel, Pradeep remembers a friendship that was left unfinished from their childhood, while Shailaja suffers with memories of the past. Pradeep is suddenly filled with delight upon Shailaja's homecoming after twenty-seven years, seeing the importance of creating memories despite her illness.
It's important to observe Pradeep and Sarika's relationship. They prioritised their personal pleasure over material possessions since they knew it would improve the life they had created together. In order to express his gratitude, Pradeep sewed his wife a stole for hours every night. The laborious stitching work revealed that not every relationship can be stated in words; rather a part of it might be expressed via labour. Sarika had once grumbled about Pradeep for not composing poems for her.
It was time for Shailaja and Dipankar to part ways with Vengurla, having made new memories there. The possibility of not remembering her son frightened her, but she had come to terms with the fact that Pradeep would eventually fade into a hazy memory and that she may wake up one day forgetting who she was. She was terrified that she wouldn't recognise her family, and Dipankar couldn't offer her any consoling words. Shailaja had to come to terms with it, but more than anything, Dipankar and his son Bharat had to face this horrifying fact. Even while things won't get any easier for them, Dipankar will always have the memories of a content Shailaja at her childhood home.
On November 24, 2022,
Three of Us had its debut at the International Film Festival of India. It debuted on November 3, 2023, in Indian theatres, over a year later.
