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Friday, April 19, 2024
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BOLLYWOOD THREE - LOVE, LIES AND BETRAYAL
EDITOR'S PICK
"Three:
Love Lies Betrayal" - yet another infidelity tale (IANS Film Review;
Rating: **)
The Scottish locales shot with tender care by cinematographer Pravin Bhatt in
"Three..." are in one word breathtaking. In two words breathtaking and
eloquent. And if you want a third word - ominous!
Often thrillers about disturbances within the human heart are manifested in
outdoors that mock the deceptive method behind the madness.
That theme is taken to quite a peek-a-boo peak of visual beauty in
"Three..". As the title suggests there are only three characters
locked in a battle for property in a Scottish mansion.
Akshay Kapoor is the embittered husband, pounding away on his laptop in search
of virtual gratification. Once a television star, Nausheed Ali Sardar gets the
tough role of a wife trapped in a loveless marriage. She tries to blend the
guilt of Mala Sinha in "Gumrah" with the deceptive sensuality of
Zeenat Aman in "Dhund". But this isn`t the occasion for high ambition.
Ashish Chowdhry gets the role of a lifetime as the house guest-turned-psychotic
intruder, who wants to take over the couple`s life and home.
Debutant director Vishal Pandya keeps the theme of adultery and deception going
without getting his plot into a mess. There`s an uncluttured, stripped-down
quality to the narrative that helps us get into the sordid triangle without much
ado.
The narrative is elegantly paced. And the dialogues hint at a layer of eroticism
without actually reaching for it. Come to think of it, there`s an absence of
lovemaking sequences in a film that talks about infidelity...Not even a kiss!
To its credit, the film keeps us watching to the end, not necessarily because we
care for these despicable characters caught in what one of the trio calls a `Kaminey
contest` but because we want to see how and if the threesome pick up the broken
pieces of life.
Suspiciously close to Ira Levin`s play "Deathtrap" in the way the
husband, wife and intruder cross each other`s prickly path, "Three..."
is carried forward by eye-catching locales and good background music by Raju
Khan.
The three main players go from over-the-top to the absent-minded without
bringing the plot down. Akshay Kapoor, as the weak, embittered and violent
husband, has the toughest part. He gets some of the most ironical and
hard-hitting lines.
Inebriated and driving back with his wife and her secret lover, Kapoor mocks
himself for being the `wife` in the marriage.
"She wears the pants, I wear the skirt. In bed there`s a Great Wall Of
China between us," hisses Kapoor while the wife Nausheen Ali Sardar tries
to look embarrassed.
She barely succeeds. Just like the film.
