# Three of Us (film)
**Three of Us** is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Avinash Arun, starring [Shefali Shah](https://www.edgepedia.org/shefali-shah), Jaideep Ahlawat, and Swanand Kirkire. It follows Shailaja, a Mumbai woman diagnosed with early-stage dementia, who travels with her husband to the coastal town where she spent childhood years and encounters a friend from that past.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23804378/) • [2](https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/art-and-culture/three-of-us-review-shefali-shah-swanand-kirkire-jaideep-ahlawat-avinash-arun-111699035010469.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and cinematographer | Avinash Arun (Avinash Arun Dhaware), who also shares story and screenplay credit[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23804378/fullcredits/) |
| Principal cast | Shefali Shah as Shailaja Desai, Jaideep Ahlawat as Pradeep Kamat, Swanand Kirkire as Dipankar Desai, Kadambari Kadam as Sarika Kamat[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23804378/fullcredits/) |
| Writers | Story and screenplay by Avinash Arun, Omkar Achyut Barve, and Arpita Chatterjee; dialogues by Varun Grover and Shoaib Nazeer[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23804378/fullcredits/) |
| Setting | Vengurla, a coastal town in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district, with framing scenes in Mumbai[2](https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/art-and-culture/three-of-us-review-shefali-shah-swanand-kirkire-jaideep-ahlawat-avinash-arun-111699035010469.html) • [4](https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/three-of-us-movie-review-shefali-shah-jaideep-ahlawat-swanand-kirkire-avinash-arun-101699281714057.html) |
| Release | Released in Indian theaters on 24 November 2022; classified by the BBFC on 27 December 2023 for a Netflix streaming release dated 28 December 2023[5](https://marathi.abplive.com/movie-review/entertainment/movie-review-three-of-us-movie-review-shefali-shah-jaideep-ahlawat-and-swanand-kirkire-movie-review-by-vinit-vaidya-1242714) • [6](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/three-of-us-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmde4nti5) |
| Reception | IMDb rating 7.5/10 from about 5,700 votes; Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 90% from 10 reviews[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23804378/ratings/) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/three_of_us) |
| Production | Matchbox Shots and Allu Entertainment; producers Sarita Patil, Sanjay Routray, and Bunny Vas; score by Alokananda Dasgupta; edited by Sanyukta Kaza[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/three_of_us) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23804378/fullcredits/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and characters
The film centers on three people: the long-married, Mumbai-based couple Shailaja and Dipankar Patankar, and Pradeep Kamat, the wife's childhood friend who might have been more than a friend.[9](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/three-of-us-movie-review-an-evocative-moving-ode-to-memory-and-remembrance-9011867/) Shailaja has been diagnosed with early-stage dementia and, facing progressive memory loss, asks her husband Dipankar to accompany her to Vengurla, the sleepy coastal hamlet where she spent formative childhood years.[2](https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/art-and-culture/three-of-us-review-shefali-shah-swanand-kirkire-jaideep-ahlawat-avinash-arun-111699035010469.html) • [4](https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/three-of-us-movie-review-shefali-shah-jaideep-ahlawat-swanand-kirkire-avinash-arun-101699281714057.html) There she reunites with Pradeep, and buried memories and a former love shape her path through the past.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/three_of_us)
The film treats love, loss, grief, reconciliation, and resolution through this reunion. A short exchange between Shailaja and Pradeep's wife Sarika underlines why the characters around Shailaja behave with generosity and patience.[2](https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/art-and-culture/three-of-us-review-shefali-shah-swanand-kirkire-jaideep-ahlawat-avinash-arun-111699035010469.html) • [4](https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/three-of-us-movie-review-shefali-shah-jaideep-ahlawat-swanand-kirkire-avinash-arun-101699281714057.html) Reviewers noted that the film leaves deliberately unclear whether Pradeep is merely indulging Shailaja or whether an old feeling has genuinely returned.[10](https://scroll.in/reel/1058495/three-of-us-review-a-stilted-drama-about-a-womans-quest-for-closure)
## Production
Avinash Arun Dhaware directed the film and also served as its cinematographer. He is best known for co-directing the series *Paatal Lok* and for his debut Marathi feature *Killa* (2015), which was likewise set in a coastal town in [Maharashtra](https://www.edgepedia.org/maharashtra).[2](https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/art-and-culture/three-of-us-review-shefali-shah-swanand-kirkire-jaideep-ahlawat-avinash-arun-111699035010469.html) The screenplay is credited to Arun, Omkar Achyut Barve, and Arpita Chatterjee, with dialogues by Varun Grover and Shoaib Nazeer; Grover also receives a "poetry by" credit in the music department.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23804378/fullcredits/) Alokananda Dasgupta composed the original score, and Sanyukta Kaza edited the film.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23804378/fullcredits/)
The producers are Sarita Patil, Sanjay Routray, and Bunny Vas, under the banners Matchbox Shots and Allu Entertainment.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/three_of_us) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23804378/fullcredits/)
## Release and reception
The film opened in Indian theaters on 24 November 2022, around the Diwali period, with a reported running time of 1 hour 40 minutes in a contemporary Marathi-language review.[5](https://marathi.abplive.com/movie-review/entertainment/movie-review-three-of-us-movie-review-shefali-shah-jaideep-ahlawat-and-swanand-kirkire-movie-review-by-vinit-vaidya-1242714) It later reached Netflix: the [British Board of Film Classification](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-board-of-film-classification) classified a 2D version on 27 December 2023, listing a runtime of 99 minutes 6 seconds and [Netflix, Inc.](https://www.edgepedia.org/netflix-inc) as distributor, with a release date of 28 December 2023.[6](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/three-of-us-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmde4nti5) Listed runtimes differ across databases: Rotten Tomatoes gives 1 hour 28 minutes, while IMDb and [JustWatch](https://www.edgepedia.org/justwatch) give 1 hour 39 minutes (99 minutes).[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/three_of_us) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23804378/) • [11](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/three-of-us)
On IMDb the film holds a weighted rating of 7.5/10 from about 5,700 user votes, with an unweighted mean of 7.8 and the most ratings coming from India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Bangladesh, and Canada.[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23804378/ratings/) Rotten Tomatoes records a 90% Tomatometer score from 10 critics' reviews.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/three_of_us)
## Critical response
Reviewers concentrated on the performances and the film's treatment of memory. Shubhra Gupta of *The Indian Express* called it "an evocative, moving ode to memory and remembrance" and rated it 3 out of 5, noting that Shefali Shah treads the balance between underlining her part and managing its delicate touches.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/three_of_us) • [9](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/three-of-us-movie-review-an-evocative-moving-ode-to-memory-and-remembrance-9011867/) Lachmi Deb Roy of *Firstpost* gave 4 out of 5 and highlighted the film's slow intensity.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/three_of_us) Nandini Ramnath of *Scroll.in* counted the gentle pacing among the film's assets while finding an "ungainly void where clarity needed to be"; her review's headline called the drama stilted in its exploration of Shailaja's unfinished business with Pradeep.[10](https://scroll.in/reel/1058495/three-of-us-review-a-stilted-drama-about-a-womans-quest-for-closure) Anuj Kumar of *The Hindu* wrote that Shefali Shah and [Jaideep Ahlawat](https://www.edgepedia.org/jaideep-ahlawat) "paddle this sobering cycle of life to safety."[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/three_of_us)
Commentary on the acting drew contrasts with the leads' better-known roles. Jaideep Ahlawat, whose *Paatal Lok* character is a coiled cop on the edge of violence, plays Pradeep as gauche, awkward, tender, and comforting; Shefali Shah, the determined investigator of *Delhi Crime*, here occupies a middle state of neither being fully present nor fully absent, portraying coherence tinged with melancholy and afflicted by forgetfulness.[12](https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/inner-realms-why-the-film-three-of-us-achieves-highest-artistic-standards-prnt/cid/2155799) The same commentary, by former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India Arvind Subramanian, praised the film's sound design, noting dialogue in Marathi-accented Hindi and Vedic chanting with Tamilian diction in the town temple, and described the frames of the Konkan coast and small-town India as worthy of repeated viewing.[12](https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/inner-realms-why-the-film-three-of-us-achieves-highest-artistic-standards-prnt/cid/2155799)
## References
1. [Three of Us (2022), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23804378/)
2. [Udita Jhunjhunwala, 'Three Of Us' review: Memories to hold on to, Mint Lounge, 4 November 2023](https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/art-and-culture/three-of-us-review-shefali-shah-swanand-kirkire-jaideep-ahlawat-avinash-arun-111699035010469.html)
3. [Three of Us (2022) full cast and crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23804378/fullcredits/)
4. [Three of Us review, Hindustan Times, November 2023](https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/three-of-us-movie-review-shefali-shah-jaideep-ahlawat-swanand-kirkire-avinash-arun-101699281714057.html)
5. [Three Of Us movie review by Vinit Vaidya, ABP Majha (Marathi)](https://marathi.abplive.com/movie-review/entertainment/movie-review-three-of-us-movie-review-shefali-shah-jaideep-ahlawat-and-swanand-kirkire-movie-review-by-vinit-vaidya-1242714)
6. [Three of Us, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/three-of-us-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmde4nti5)
7. [Three of Us (2022) ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23804378/ratings/)
8. [Three of Us, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/three_of_us)
9. [Three Of Us movie review, The Indian Express](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/three-of-us-movie-review-an-evocative-moving-ode-to-memory-and-remembrance-9011867/)
10. [Three of Us review, Scroll.in](https://scroll.in/reel/1058495/three-of-us-review-a-stilted-drama-about-a-womans-quest-for-closure)
11. [Three of Us streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/three-of-us)
12. [Arvind Subramanian, Inner realms: why the film Three of Us achieves highest artistic standards, The Telegraph India](https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/inner-realms-why-the-film-three-of-us-achieves-highest-artistic-standards-prnt/cid/2155799)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Hindi films of the 2020s › Hindi films of 2022*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license