Three

Vikram Bhatt’s previous thriller movies have been a mixed bag of both quality and mediocre flicks. But this time he only wears the hat of a producer and scriptwriter, whereas the film is directed by the debutant Vishal Pandya. Trying his hand at an intense crime thriller, Vishal comes up with a reasonably okay attempt which sticks to its original theme and subject. But in absence of highly gripping moments in the movie, it may find hard to find a large number of viewers.

The story talks about the relationships and betrayal games being played between three characters living in a house. The owners are a loving couple, fighting hard to go on with their happy married life. In order to meet their growing financial needs they decide to rent a portion of their house to a young part time singer, who in return brings more complications into their half broken marriage. The director slowly shows the ugly side of each central character in the script and also surprises the viewer with some sharp twists and turns in the plot. But still the movie fails to take you in completely and keeps on moving with a simple time-pass feel throughout.

The main reason behind the less absorbing feel of the movie is that it doesn’t have any relief moments in the proceedings which make you feel tense and restless. Moreover, the script doesn’t have too many characters to deal with, which results in a tired, monotonous look for the movie in the end. Nausheen Ali Sardar, playing the sharp lady of the house, gets a good opportunity to prove herself and she readily makes the most of it. Impressing with her brilliant act, she scores above the rest, but should have gone for a little less make-up for her looks. Ashish Chowdhry improves a lot from his previous projects. Akshay Kapoor shows his capabilities after he less impactful “Powder” and Achint Kaur leaves a mark in her few scenes. 

It’s really amusing to see, that even in the current changing scenario, directors are still forced to squeeze in few song and dance sequences in an otherwise bloody crime movie. The music is average, but it wasn’t really required according to the script. The few melodious piano pieces played in the movie could have served the purpose perfectly. Background score supports the theme completely and DOP captures Scotland and its locales on the screen beautifully. But the movie could have been shot anywhere as the location has no role to play in the script and its only there to add more glamour and grandeur to the project.

The first half seems to be inspired from “A Perfect Murder” where also the husband and this wife have a criminal link up with an artist. But later on, the three characters go on backstabbing each other in a more desperate way than expected. In short, if you love watching crime thrillers with straight to the point proceedings and characters ditching each other with a different plan of their own, then you might enjoy “Three”. But if you want to have a good entertaining time as a refreshing dose after your hard day, then it may not be the right choice for your evening. 

In our part of the world, the most successful crime thrillers have been made by Abbas-Mastan, who may have been inspired though, but rightly understand the pulse of our Indian viewers. They exactly know how a crime thriller has to be presented in front of the Indian audiences as a tasty, crispy, flavored dish. But Vishal Pandya’s current attempt missed out on those necessary spicy ingredients, which could have resulted in a more entertaining thriller for the viewers. In all it’s just an okay product, which can be given a try if you really love this particular genre.

Rating : 2 / 5

(By Bobby Singh from www.bobbytalkscinema.com)