Importance Score: 35 / 100 🔵
Test, an engrossing Indian drama now streaming on Netflix, delves into the world of cricket, a sport of intense national significance. For those unfamiliar, imagine a blend of baseball’s strategy and soccer’s endurance, played over five compelling days. The narrative centers around a pivotal “test match” between India and Pakistan. Siddharth portrays a celebrated player grappling with a career slump, Nayanthara appears as his son’s teacher, and R Madhavan embodies her complex husband. In his directorial debut, S. Sashikanth orchestrates a sweeping tapestry of dramatic events. The film intertwines domestic complexities and a kidnapping plot with the electrifying intensity of high-stakes sports action, unfolding over approximately two and a half hours – a duration that may feel both protracted and insufficient.
TEST: Should You Stream It?
Synopsis: Arjun (Siddharth), a distinguished cricket icon and mainstay of the Indian national team, faces immense pressure to retire after a noticeable decline in performance over two years. As India prepares to host a momentous test match against Pakistan in just three days, the weight of expectation intensifies. Cricket is his life’s core, his sole identity. He displays despondency, petulance, and denial, often directing his frustrations at his wife (Meera Jasmine) and their ten-year-old son, Adi (Lirish Rahav). Adi aspires to emulate his father’s cricketing success. Observing his son struggle during a match, Arjun’s critical remark, “Your team lost because of you,” exemplifies a parenting approach where expertise in one domain does not guarantee proficiency in another.
Kumudha (Nayanthara), Adi’s educator, shares a long-standing acquaintance with Arjun dating back to her father’s role as his cricket coach. She is married to Saravanan (Madhavan), who mirrors Arjun’s ambition for eminence, though his aspirations are yet to be realized. Saravanan, a talented MIT graduate, transitioned from canteen management into debt with loan sharks to finance his ambitious project: a revolutionary water-powered fuel cell—a potentially transformative invention with global implications. While Saravanan seeks to emulate figures like Steve Jobs, Kumudha desires a simpler life centered on family. Their struggle with infertility and expensive treatments underscores her longing for motherhood, perhaps amplifying her nurturing disposition towards her students, particularly Adi.
Test dedicates a significant portion of its runtime to establish this premise, interweaving Arjun and Kumudha’s interconnected narratives. Their paths converge further when it’s unveiled that Saravanan’s unscrupulous lender is involved in a betting syndicate attempting to manipulate the India-Pakistan test match. Kumudha’s association with Arjun provides Saravanan an avenue to exploit the situation. He transitions from a flawed but relatable individual, driven by a desire for impactful innovation, to someone willing to compromise his principles for personal advancement. The credibility of this character evolution remains a central question.
Similar Movies: Test echoes elements of sports dramas centered on an athlete’s final triumph (For Love of the Game), infertility storylines akin to This is Us, and kidnapping plots reminiscent of Ransom.
Standout Performance: Nayanthara delivers a compelling performance, serving as an emotional anchor amidst Siddharth’s subdued portrayal and Madhavan’s theatrical depiction.
Quotable Line: Arjun contemplates his dilemma: “Should I prioritize my son, whom I brought into this world, or cricket, which constitutes my very existence?”
Content Advisory: No explicit sexual content or nudity.
Editorial Assessment: Test exemplifies a narrative where plot mechanics overshadow character depth, compounded by directorial indulgence that impedes judicious editing. The film feels like two disparate movies awkwardly joined. The initial half presents an absorbing and relatable exploration of personal and familial challenges, while the latter half devolves into an overwrought thriller that overestimates its suspense. The abrupt tonal shift disrupts character consistency, leading to actions devoid of logical progression and rendering the film artificially dramatic. This manufactured tension translates to a contrived and increasingly unconvincing cinematic experience.
The screenplay, crafted by Sashikanth and Suman Kumar, contains promising concepts. Arjun grapples with the conflict between familial obligations and national duty as a prominent cricketer under intense public scrutiny. Saravanan’s pursuit of societal betterment is undermined by conflating his project with personal ambition. Nayanthara injects depth into Kumudha’s portrayal of a woman’s yearning for motherhood, despite a somewhat conventional narrative treatment. (The thematic disparity—men confronting broader societal issues while Kumudha’s concerns remain domestic—is likely intentional.)
While Test possesses dramatic potential, its uneven tone resembles a poorly blended dish. It relies heavily on sports movie clichés – the climactic final play, breathless commentary – and employs protracted montages and slow-motion sequences that unnecessarily inflate the runtime, contrasting sharply with disorienting rapid-fire editing in other segments. The film gradually shifts from acceptable melodrama to formulaic soap opera. Integrating its diverse themes and conflicts effectively demands more refinement during writing and post-production.
Verdict: Test presents a potentially captivating drama hindered by its execution and excessive length. Ultimately, it is advisable to SKIP IT.