Test Movie Review: Let’s be honest, the first hour of S Sashikanth’s directorial debut, Test, feels suspiciously like homework. You know the kind — important themes, respectable actors (Madhavan! Siddharth! Together again!), Nayanthara bringing grace, Meera Jasmine returning… all diligently assembled, yet struggling to hold attention beyond polite acknowledgment. The setup involves Arjun (Siddharth), an out of form top batsman whose focus is so laser-sharp it burns holes through family obligations; Saravanan aka Sara (Madhavan), an MIT brainiac suffocating under the weight of stalled projects and looming debt; and his school teacher wife Kumudha (Nayanthara), longing for a child. There’s talk of cricket, glimpses of family life, introduction of bookies – it dutifully lays groundwork, but thrilling it is not. The much-vaunted reunion feels less like fireworks, more like damp kindling refusing to catch.
Then, the film abruptly changes course. Driven by a potent mix of desperation and wounded ego, Sara kidnaps Arjun’s son. This event finally kicks the actual plot into gear, largely jettisoning the earlier, meandering focus — a focus that spent perhaps too much runtime detailing the son’s minor schoolyard woes and complaints, layering sympathy thick when the sheer stakes of the later situation render it almost redundant. It feels like the movie has finally found its nerve, deciding to get down to business.
What follows rests heavily on Madhavan and Siddharth navigating a messy triangle fuelled by ambition, desperation, and old history. Madhavan is definitely the highlight here — his slide from cornered failure into high-stakes desperation is absorbing. You can almost see the justifications for his actions. Siddharth embodies the single-minded sportsman and conveys conflicting emotions well. Nayanthara, dubbing in her own voice, is effective for the most part. But she's hard to discern at times as the film was shot in live sync sound.
So, Test eventually puts runs on the board, but only after that painfully slow opening stand. The lopsided structure is a definite foul — seriously, the kid's subplot needed trimming. Still, the central drama sticks in the mind, flaws and all. Not exactly a classic, but a fair pick for streaming.
Written By: Abhinav Subramanian
0/5