Credit: Special Arrangement
At the very end of the movie (and the Test match), a commentator breathlessly asks the most tired question in cricket commentary: ‘Will they snatch victory from the jaws of defeat?’ Yawn, yeah, we know they will, for this is a movie that snatches boredom from the jaws of excitement.
‘Test’ advertised itself as a movie about three strangers and a test match. Turns out the test match is just incidental in this so-called thriller, which keeps insisting that it is a test, a test of character, a test of nerves, and sadly, a test of the viewers’ patience too. Unfortunate because the cast is great, and the story begins rather compellingly. There is an MIT alumnus scientist (Madhavan) who wants to ‘save the world’ with his hydro-fuel invention, his teacher-wife (Nayanthara) desperate for a baby, and an out-of-form legendary cricketer (Siddharth) who are all, to the writers’ credit, characters with many shades of grey. A crucial decider between India and Pakistan is being played in Chennai. While the men in whites put bat to ball, events outside the stadium are snowballing out of control. What makes this muddled movie tolerable is the acting and these seasoned actors’ strong screen presence.
The actual cricket in the movie is a mish-mash of bad commentary, a few extravagant batting flourishes and unintentionally funny chatter about inswingers and outswingers. Chepauk (M A Chidambaram Stadium) is shot beautifully though, and inevitably reminds one of the iconic India-Pakistan Test match of 1999, which India lost by 12 runs while the Chennai crowd quietly won a million hearts.