"3" - This masterpiece will haunt me forever in life!

I just finished watching “3” and it is 3.30 a.m IST.

I have watched the movie after more than a year the movie released in theatres in India.

I had gotten mixed reviews for the movie from my friends. While some had totally written the movie down stating it was illogical, dark, and pointless, a few of my friends had described it as a masterpiece with brilliant performances.

I have through time mastered the art of watching movies with an open mind without expectations even after the hype and hoopla surrounding a movie and even after reading several reviews.

And that is exactly what I did while I started watching “3” too.

The movie opens with the scene of a coffin with garlands surrounded my mourning people, and a visibly shattered Janani ( Shruti Hassan).
The credits start rolling as the coffin is taken away and as Janani sits in her empty apartment, she hears the distinct voice of her husband calling out her name – “Janani” and that’s when Aishwarya Dhanush chooses to reveal the movie’s name – “3”!

Just with this opening scene giving me Goosebumps and a chill down my spine, I was assured that this movie is going to be an experience that I will remember forever.

The entire narrative of the movie is split into three parts and hence the title. The first part shows the school days of Janani and Ram ( Dhanush), how their love blossoms and grows. You would be pleasantly surprised by how well Dhanush and Shruti register in your hearts as the high school Ram and Janani in just a single shot. They both look like high school kids every bit and this is by far the most happily enjoyable part of the movie. Sivakarthikeyan as Dhanush’s friend Kumaran and Badava Gopi as the tuition teacher provide excellent humor.

Special mention must be made to Gabriella as Shruti’s deaf and dumb younger sister who steals our hearts in just the few scenes that she appears.

From the beginning, Aishwarya keeps us on the edge of our seats making us keep guessing how Ram would have died and what would have caused his death. And, along with this, she gradually builds the love story of Ram and Janani that proceeds to the tying of the nuptial knot in a pub in the second part of the narrative.

After this, once the police inspector reveals the findings of the postmortem of Ram, Janani is shocked to her core and goes around speaking to Ram’s father and in search of Ram’s closest confidant senthil ( played outstandingly by Sundar Raman). The facts that Senthil reveals about Ram forms the most important and pivotal part of the movie- the final part of the narrative.

Yes, the movie is dark. Yes, the movie is not all about falling-in-love-getting-married-living-happily-ever-after. But, it deals with a very sensitive and a very important subject and we should all take a bow to Aishwarya for making such a bold attempt with her debut movie.
It is quite evident in many scenes that Aishwarya has worked with Selvaraghavan. But that just goes to tell us what beautiful masterpieces Selva has made and how we are able to recognize his stamps.

Dhanush, who has become a seasoned actor over the last decade, has given one of his career best lifetime performances. The man made me cry at many places just by his looks and expressions. This is yet another feather in his hat to mark the point that he has carved a niche for himself in Indian cinema and deserves many accolades and recognition in the world of cinema.

Shruti has done complete justice to her role and makes us feel all the right emotions for all that she brings out of her on the screen. She has been negatively criticized for her crying scenes, but I personally felt she has done a great job in all scenes.

Sundar Raman, as Dhanush’s close friend who has to deal with Ram’s secret and help his friend has etched a wonderful performance.

Anirudh’s “kolaveri” went on to become a viral hit all over the world much before the movie. But the young man has given some wonderful songs and background score throughout. All the songs have a underlying sadness to them keeping in line with the central theme of the movie.

Prabhu, Bhanupriya and Rohini have done their parts to perfection proving the fact that they are veterans. The cinematography and editing of the movie sustain the thrill, darkness and the feel of the movie throughout.

“3” is a brilliant and bold work about a very serious issue and will leave an impression on you that one can never forget. The movie will stay with you long after you have watched it and will haunt you forever. Yes, it is dark but it will not disappoint you.

If you are looking for cheesy romance, corny songs, one-liners, a happy ending or if you are too weak and not strong enough to watch some serious, dark themed movie, then I’d suggest not watching it.

But, I would strongly recommend “3” for those of you who like to watch a meaningful masterpiece with brilliant and extremely memorable performances.

Doesn't your heart go out for Shruti Ghosh/Sengupta in BARFI!?

It has been almost a year since BARFI! was officially released in theatres worldwide and by now there have been so many reviews, opinions and posts about the movie in all aspects and how it was undoubtedly the best choice as an entry from India in the category of Best Foreign language film! Well, this is no way a review or post about the movie, although i would love to pen down a lot about the movie, which i may do some other time! So for those who have not watched the movie, i request to kindly not continue reading as there are extremely important spoilers that would hamper your experience of watching BARFI!

Having just watched the movie the second time on Zee Cinema, almost a year after i watched the movie in the theatre last year with a close friend, an immense itching to write about one of the characters from the movie that affected me a lot! - Shruti Ghosh who later becomes Shruti Sengupta in the movie played flawlessly by Ileana D'Cruz!

When i first read the news that Ileana was the second heroine, or another heroine in BARFI!, i was absolutely sure that the part was going to be something like Kiran in "Yaadein" or Namitha in "Billa", where the actress would have nothing much too, other than swaying her perfect hourglass figure! Well, Ileana has been paid all these years in Telugu movies to do only that and that is exactly what she did in her second tamil movie (after her failed stint a few years back in Kedi with arvind Krishna) "Nanban" released in the beginning of 2012!!

So, i had no hopes for that role! And the trailer also showed Ranbir and Ileana smooching! And i thought, "Waah! there we go again!! Ileana well used in Bollywood too!". And i was only looking forward to watching some A-class acting by the already legends Ranbir and Priyanka who have proved enough that they are by far the best actors in the world at present!

But, boy, was i in a total surprise when Shruti first appears on screen!!

First of all, KUDOS to Anurag, the costume designers and the make-up artistes for bringing out the real beauty in Ileana, which i do not think any South Indian movie has brought on-screen till date! And i somehow feel, She cannot look more dashing and stunning in any other movie hereafter either!

The entire movie is narrated by Shruti, though i am not very sure if it was Ileana who rendered her real voice! But, as a narrator, the character of Shruti just does something to your heart that is completely inexplicable and can only be felt!

Shruti is a typical Bengali girl brought up in  traditional and conservative Bengali family! When her mother takes her to the woods to show the man that she loved when she was a young woman and explains the reality of life to Shruti, the emotions that run inside the young girl's mind are so perfectly portrayed by Ileana! Shruti madly deeply loves Barfi, who is mute and deaf; but on the other hand her parents want her to get married and settled to Ranjit, the typical groom-material that every indian family looks for in an eligible bachelor!

So, eventually, like every other middle class, conservative girl Shruti married Ranjit and lives in Calcutta!She tells the viewers how though Ranjit and she speak that the words they exchange have stopped having meaning and how they are so near and so far!

And when Barfi happens to cross her life the second time, she takes a bold decision! She walks out on her husband and goes to live with Barfi who has lost Jhilmill, his childhood friend and lover!

Dialogue delivery is definitely a very important attribute of a great actor! Of course, the national award committee awards only actors who recorded their own voices in the movies! ( The sole reason our very own Radha did not win an award for her extremely memorable performance in "Muthal Mariyaathai")! But, many actors steal the show more with their expressions and body language and that is exactly what Ileana does in Barfi! from the first frame till the last scene of the movie!

There is an extremely poignant scene in the movie where Barfi goes in search of Jhllmill to the home for autistic people! Barfi and Shruti return after trying to find Jhillmill in vain and that is when Jhillmill opens the window and shouts "Barfi!"!! Barfi, as we know is deaf and keeps walking!! But Shruti stops slows down her steps!! Now she has two choices- she can either keep walking away with Barfi, ignoring Jhillmill's cry and spend her rest of the life with Barfi, who will always love Jhillmill or she can turn around and tell Barfi that he can live happily ever after with Jhillmill!!

Both the character of Shruti and Ileana score a 1000 on 100 in this scene!! Shruti stops in her steps and looks at Barfi! Barfi looks at her quizzically and Shruti smiles through her tears!! Ileana show myriad expressions in her cute face in this scene!! Shruti has a small disappointment that Jhillmill is still alive and is calling out to Barfi, but she is extremely happy that Jhillmil and Barfi are going to live a life that she always dreamt of! And it all shows in Shruti's face and her eyes!! There are no dialogues! But the scene speaks volumes and volumes!

When Jhillmill covers Barfi from her, Shruti smiles in a way to instill confidence in Jhillmill that she is not going to take him away from her!! In the very last scene, we see Shruti unfolding all the pictures of her, Barfi and Jhillmill taken over the years which was initially folded on Jhilmill's part to create a suspense to the audience as to who Barfi ended up with!!

IF only Shruti had been strong about her love when she was younger, she may have lived the life that Jhilmill lived! If only she did not think too much about things and just loved, she would have had everything and that is what she tells in the closing lines of the movie!! "Jhillmill did not think! She just loved!"!

Shruti may regret that she was not stronger the first time! But she does not regret the rest of her life and that is shown by how happy she spends her life in doing what she does and being close with Barfi and Jhilmill!

Her fondness for Barfi and Jhilmill is so evident even in her old-lady make-up on Shruti's face as she looks at their pictures as beautiful memories!

Shruti is an epitome of sacrifice, acceptance, understanding, friendship, love and compassion and i am sure this is one character that would be etched in the hearts of movie lovers worldwide and remain very memorable in the history of world cinema!!

It is really indeed a pity that Ileana was not awarded best supporting actress as this was one THE best supporting performances of 2012! Well, she did win the Best Debut award and i am sure she will go places if she chooses roles like Shruti and keeps her expressions intact!!