Test Movie Review: R Madhavan, Nayanthara And Siddharth's Performance Couldn't Save A Lacklustre Script
Test Movie Review And Rating: A promising premise about cricket spot-fixing loses momentum as characters begin to falter. Despite strong performances from R Madhavan, Siddharth, and Nayanthara, Test ultimately tests the audience’s patience.
TestU/A
Test Movie Review And Rating: The film opens with the quote: “A hero will sacrifice the person they love to save the world, but a villain will sacrifice the world to save the person they love." This neatly encapsulates the film’s core idea. It examines two protagonists pushed to their limits, forcing them to choose between morality and self-interest—one emerging as a hero, the other a villain.
At its core, Test has a compelling premise, but producer-turned-director Sashikanth struggles to transform it into an engaging film. The main issue lies in its characters, who feel artificial and distant, making it hard to empathise with them—despite strong performances from the cast.
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Arjun Viswanathan (Siddharth) is a legendary Indian cricketer nearing the end of his career. His declining form fuels speculation about his retirement during a high-stakes series against Pakistan. When a high-level committee forces him out, he resorts to media manipulation to cling to his career. Meanwhile, Saravanan (Madhavan), an MIT scientist (Massachusetts, not Manipal), is drowning in debt while fighting to get his alternative energy project approved. His wife, Kumudha (Nayanthara), longs for motherhood but struggles due to Saravanan’s drinking problem. With time running out, a doctor warns that their chance of having a child is now or never. As all three characters face life-altering decisions, their integrity and values are put to the test.
Test explores what defines a hero and a villain while also questioning the nobility of individual pursuits. Saravanan, working on a groundbreaking project for humanity, lacks the privilege, wealth, and fame of Arjun, a cricketer who entertains the masses. Sashikanth juxtaposes Saravanan’s survival struggle with Arjun’s fight for legacy, raising an interesting question: who is truly more deserving? The film suggests that heroism is not about the utility of one’s actions but the honesty behind them.
The performances of the lead cast is among the few redeeming factors about the film. Siddharth is impressive as this taciturn cricketer, who is battling his inner demons, while maintaining a cold face. Madhavan, on the other hand, is made to put on two faces, which becomes vital to the film. While the actor delivers his part, the film doesn’t do justice to him as the writing doesn’t provide as much to him as he does to them. Nayanthara is also effective as a Kumudha, but her look is a bit incongruous with her role of a school teacher and middle-class wife.
Despite such performances and its solid themes, Test struggles with execution. The overarching problem with the film is that the characters are a bit unrelatable. There’s something cold about everyone in Test that renders us indifferent to their predicament. Arjun is portrayed to be like the Sachin Tendulkar of the film’s world, but the film never truly convinces us of his greatness, making his downfall feel less impactful. Similarly, Saravanan’s project remains vague, making it hard to grasp its significance. Everything is hearsay. We don’t really see the greatness of the two protagonists.
Hence, when they fall off their legacy, it doesn’t create the intended impact. Also, the complete flip of Saravanan is a bit jarring and feels a bit abrupt, making the character’s decisions appear inconsistent. There is no lead-up to this change.
On top of that, the whole kidnapping sequence feels a bit silly, given the stature and power of Arjun. Not just the characters, but even the film’s tone becomes a bit too tacky and cinematic. Deaths and crimes are dealt with as afterthoughts, robbing them of their severity, unbecoming of the sober reality the film sets at the start. While cricket is a game of greatest uncertainties, a film about the sport shouldn’t feel so erratic.
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