Movie Meltdown: Nothing But The Usual (3)

It's the kind of film that can easily be mistaken for a Selvaraghavan-directed flick. For such is the I'm-a-psychopath-so-feel-sorry-for-me genre that 3 (Moonu; I love how everyone tries to anglicize the film by saying 'three' everytime they mention it) probably begs to be classified under. In fact, those emotions - the dark crevices of Dhanush's subconscious, how he grapples with them, his psycho-suicidal tendencies - scream "Selvaraghavan!" so much, that you would perhaps be forgiven if you forgot that it was actually Aishwarya Dhanush who directed the film. So intense are these emotions (and full credit to Dhanush for brilliant acting) that the film even quashes any perceptions that it is about 3 stages of one's life, making it seem like it's all about the darker side of Ram (Dhanush)'s mind. Such is the pride of place that these emotions occupy.

Those of you who've watched Mayakkam Enna are bound to draw similarities between these films, be it Dhanush's psychotic urges or his agony-filled wife who painstakingly bears the torment. He even has the same pal in both films - Sunder Ramu (who plays Sunder in Mayakkam Enna and Senthil in 3).

The film is all about Ram and Janani (Shruti). It begins with a funeral (presumably that of Ram's) and the plot that ensues is a flashback from Janani's perspective. It relates how the two meet in their teenage, fall in love, convince their folks and get married. An interruption (where the plot jumps back to the present) shows Shruti learning to deal with Ram's sudden demise, which the audience now learns has a story to it. And that, is the story of his bipolar disorder, and is largely what 3 is about.

That dark plot aside, the film has a few things going for it. Dhanush manages to pull off playing a schoolkid with as much ease as a knife slicing through butter, as does Shruti Haasan - who is comfortable in the skin of her character: the stereotypical awkward-schoolgirl-who-doesn't-talk-much-to-boys. The first few sequences, where the two fall in love in school, have been shot so brilliantly that you could easily mistake Dhanush for being that spoiled schoolkid next door, who drives around on daddy's bike and likes to be the rebel! Needless to say, those who didn't know his real age would believe that he was really 17. Sivakarthikeyan (who plays Kumaran) without a doubt, shows traces of being a promising comedian in his part as Ram's partner in crime.

The problem with 3 is the fact that, that is just where the movie's positives end. Haven't we seen enough disturbed-psycho roles from Dhanush already? Doesn't the man believe he can play roles that don't necessarily involve psychotic rages and the urge to kill? Shruti Haasan's good performance as a schoolgirl end right there, for her acting after that initial bit, is most certainly contrived. Although it may not occur to everyone, this reviewer even felt like the plot didn't give him enough time to digest the chemistry between the protagonists for it all moves too fast and before you know it, it's all over.

In her maiden offering, Aishwarya Dhanush may have scored in terms of getting Dhanush to essay a familiar role with ease, and being right on target with the comic timing in the initial bits of the film. However, it she does intend on making wannabe-dark-thrillers like 3, she might want to think again for the last thing this industry needs, is another Selvaraghavan.