Much like its title Test plays out like a five-day test match in the beginning portions gradually building up the tension and the conflict points, however it hits a sixer with a crucial twist and the second half in particular plays out like a roller coaster.

• Starcast: R Madhavan, Nayanathara. Siddarth, Meera Jasmine and others
• Genre: Drama/thriller
• Writer and director: S Sashikanth
• Additional writer: Suman Kumar
• Producers: Chakravarthy Ramachandra and S Sashikanth
• Cinematography: Viraj Singh Gohli
• Music: Shaktisree Gopalan
• Production Company: Y NOT Studios
• Streaming site: Netflix
• Running time: 2 hours and 26 minutes

Characters with grey shades always make for fascinating on-screen characters, the reason being many of us have a grey area within us. More often than not a person being good or bad depends on how you react to the circumstances. Sometimes even the purest person can become evil due to an inability to cope with the challenges.

Test directed by S Sashikanth begins with an interesting quote. “A hero will sacrifice the person they love to save the world, but a villain will sacrifice the world in order to save the person they love.” this quote perfectly sums up the core theme of Test. The three protagonists are often pushed to their limits forcing them to choose between morality and self-interest. The plot of Test primarily focuses on three characters from different paths of life, but their journeys get intertwined. Arjun Viswanathan (Siddarth) is a major batsman going through a professional crisis. He is almost at the end of his career. There are huge rumors of him retiring during an important test series against Pakistan. In order to save his career Arjun resorts to media manipulation forcing the selectors to play him. On the other hand, you have R Madhavan’s Saravanan and Nayanathara’s Kumudha. Sarvanan is an MIT scientist struggling to get his project on alternative energy approved, he is also drowning in debt. Kumudha on the other hand is longing to become a mother through the procedure of IVF, but it isn’t happening due to certain problems. As the plot progresses all three characters face life alternating scenarios where their integrities are put at test.

As already mentioned, the movie Test plays along the lines of a five-day test match. A majority of the first half is devoted to establishing the different hurdles faced by the characters. Director S Shashikanth along with Suman Kumar slowly build up the simmering tension particularly the dynamics of R Madhavan and Nayanathara. Towards the end of the first half the movie gets into a thriller mode with the backdrop of match fixing and a crucial change in the character of Sarvanan. From here the graph of the movie becomes more interesting.

A strong aspect of Test is the psychological insight that the director and the writer have given exploring the motivations of the primary characters. This can be particularly felt in the character of R Madhavan. There is an interesting juxtaposition here. Saravanan is someone who is working on a groundbreaking project which could benefit the humanity however he doesn’t have the privileges of Siddarth’s Arjun. The survival struggle of Saravanan and Arjun’s fight for legacy raises interesting questions.

Test also benefits immensely from the on-screen chemistry combined with the performances of Madhavan and Nayanthara. Both the actors share a magnetic chemistry whether it is some of the lovey Dovey moments or the more intense ones when their marriage starts to crumble. R Madhavan as Saravanan delivers a truly scintillating act. The way he goes from loving to slowly grey and eventually psychotic is brilliant to watch. A major reason for the second half turning out the way it does is due to his outstanding act. R Madhavan is truly aging like fine wine proving his versatility with wide range of characters. A specific portion worthy of mentioning here is a slap scene featuring Saravanan and Kumuda. A wide range of emotions are on display ranging from frustration, concern, instant guilt and then regret. This portion itself is a perfect example of why R Madhavan is one of the best actors working in the industry today. Nayanthara as Kumudha also delivers a strong act. The way she portrayals the dual shades of her role the motherly concern for her students by becoming their cheerleader at the same time the grey shades too is a sheer delight to watch.

A lovey dovey moment between R Madhavan and Nayanathara

Siddarth as Arjun though could have done with more intensity. His act is more internalized and does suffer somewhat from weak writing. Having said that Siddarth also gets into his groove when the stakes become very high, and Arjun goes through an emotional upheaval connected to the missing son. Meera Jasmine as Arjun’s wife does a fine job too. The confrontation scenes between the two actors strike the right emotional cord. Having said that here too the writing could have been much better. The subplot of India and Pakistan test match feels like more of an add on and doesn’t add much to the proceedings.

Siddarth as Arjun

The music by Shaktisree Gopalan is a major speed breaker. The songs don’t add much value to the proceedings. However, the cinematography of Viraj Singh Gohli is of a good standard. A particular mention must be made of his work during the emotional scenes.

Final word: Watch Test if you like complex human dramas and of course if you are an R Madhavan fan