'3' MOVIE REVIEW

One of the most eagerly expected film of the year, thanks to the popularity and craze of one particular song ie, "Why This Kolaiveri", '3' has been gaining popularity thanks to marketing techniques of the production team, Wunderbar Films which belongs to Dhanush and Aishwarya R.Dhanush, the director and wife of the protagonist of the film. Anirudh Ravichander,the debuting music director, makes a sensational debut, with a refreshing and soulful album. The relatively young cast, invokes more curiosity around the film. So, did the film live up to all the hype it created ?

The performances of the lead artistes were poignant, soulful and were of heavy duty-material. Dhanush, has been having an extremely good time and with his previous, 'Mayakkam Enna' earning him rave reviews, he continues his form in this film as well. Though the role he played looked like an extension or evolution of the one he essayed in 'Mayakkam Enna', he makes it up with different portrayals of moods and emotions. Its no easy at all, to perform strong emotions, facing the camera single-handedly with no cues for support, Dhanush came up with a brilliant and fantastic performance. His additional advantage is his looks and physique, which enables him to portray different age-periods of his character. Take a bow, Dhanush ! Shruti Haasan, who is into her second film in Tamizh cinema after '7am Arivu', makes a decent outing in the film, with much improved performances. Her dialogue delivery was good but she struggles a little, when it comes to very heavily, emotional sequences. With more experience, the starlet of 'Ulaga Nayagan' can make it up. Sivakarthikeyan and Sunder Ramu provided som funny moments, especially the former, with fantastic comic timing and dialogue delivery (expecting more from him) and the latter continuing what he did previously in 'Mayakkam Enna'. A big suppor to all of them were the veterans, Prabhu, Bhanupriya and Rohini whom, needless to say, were brilliant with very subtly nuanced performances. A special note must be made of the little girl, Gabriella who was splendid as the mute sister of Shruti.

The film boasts of very talented technicians. Resul Pookutty and his associate Amrit Pritam, handled the sound designing portion very well. The subtle and minute sounds were audible, especially during the rain and fight sequences. Chaithanya Rao's costume designing was classy and efficient at the same time, with the characters looking how they should have been portrayed, especially for the different time-periods. Silva's car-park stunt sequence was well choreographed and was natural, though it was picturized in a little dramatic manner. Kola Bhaskar's editing was flawless and crisp, but it could have been smoother during the song sequences. Kiran's art work was a touch of class as well, especially the posh apartment sets and also of those middle-class house setting, which looked very natural. R.Velraj's work is a big asset for the film, because his cinematography work was excellent. His framing and lighting was very apt for the changing nature of the mood of the script. His picturization was crystal-clear, especially for the rain sequences. Not to forget, as usual, he shows his prowess during the darkly-lit sequences, with minimal or no lights. Brilliant work from him !

Anirudh Ravichander, the cousin of the director makes a smashing debut through this film. His musical score was melodious and soul-stirring, which is another vital importance for the film. Almost all of his songs were already super-hits before the release of the film. "Idazhin Oram" was picturized in a montage manner, with many cut-shots and depicted the teenage lives of the lead pair, falling in love with each other. "Kannazhaga" was picturized in a small, and middle-class type apartment in a night sequences, against the lead pair. R.Velraj's close-ups on the lead pair, helps to elevate the mood of the song. "Come on Girls" was shot in a club sequence, with plenty of dancers in a party mood, celebrating the marriage of the lead pair. "Nee Partha" is another song shot in a montage style, depicting the happy and romantic post-marriage period of the lead characters, shot mostly in a posh, apartment setting. "Po Nee Po", is a soul-stirring, emotional and situational song, which is also shot in montages, featuring the emotional travails of the lead pair, late in the second half. The smash-hit song of the album, "Why This Kolaiveri" was surprisingly, disappointingly-shot. The protagonist was shown dancing with dancers in a beach-side hawker vendors' stalls setting. The zing of the audio was not visible in the video, and it's a big letdown from the team, considering the fact, that it was shot only during the ending period of the film's production process ! Anyway's, Anirudh made sure that his background score too gets noticed, and he did not fail in his endeavor. The background score was simple, yet melodious and beautiful. A fantastic work by the young musician. Welcome to Tamizh cinema, Anirudh !

Aishwarya R.Dhanush makes her debut as a director, after assisting her brother-in-law, Selvaraghavan. Not surprisingly, her script and screenplay have the remnants of her mentor's touches. She has good writing skills, which is evident in sensitive, poignant and subtle sequences she has penned in the screenplay. The humor portions and the songs, were well inserted into the screenplay. The dialogues were simple and pretty straight-forward. What pulls down the quality output of the film, is the slow screenplay and also Aishwarya R.Dhanush's decision in depicting her script in a non-chronological order, which takes the impact of the suspense element out from the film, in the beginning moments, itself ! Also, few questions can be raised, regarding the proceedings of the screenplay, which are quite implausible and inadvertently, leaves some loopholes in the script. However, she should be appreciated for sketching strong and in-depth characters, whom looks original and believable. 

'3' actually did not live up exactly, to the expectations it evoked, but this is a very good effort from Aishwarya R.Dhanush on behalf of her husband's home production team. If the flaws are overlooked, this film is a good-watch.

Ratings: 3/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL