Review : Page 3

Page 3 is the story of a journalist, Madhavi (Konkona) who writes the Page 3 columns for a Bombay based newspaper, Nation Today. Deepak Suri (Boman Irani) is her supportive boss, and Tarun (Jai Kalra), an up and coming model her boyfriend.She shares her flat with an air-hostess Pearl (Sandhya Mridul) who is in searchof a rich husband, so that she can quit her job, and live a luxurious life.

Every night, Madhavi hobnobs with the socialites, at various parties around town, to get grist for her journalistic mill. Through regular parties, Madhavi is well-known to most social butterflies, and meets alsmost the same people every day. The viewer thus is introduced to some of the characters which make up Madhavi’s Page 3 world: actors, businessmen, socialites, social workers, artists etc. In one such party, Madhavi meets Gayatri (Tara Sharma), a shy wanna-be actress, who later becomes good friends with Madhavi, and becomes the third girl to shareher flat. And one evening, when Pearl accompanies Madhavi to a party, she meets an elderly businessman, whom she begins to date regularly.

After a while, Madhavi tires of the false glitz and glamor of the night, and ask her boss to put her onto investigative journalism. Suri complies, and details her to work with Vinayak (Atul Kulkarni). Covering a bomb blast, Madhavi finds her niche in investigative reporting. Meanwhile Gayatri is finding a hard time finding roles, without compromising on her principles, since directors and producers she approaches ask her for sexual favors. She meets Rohit (Bikram Saluja) a top actor, and falls in with love with him.

Each girl faces her struggles; Madhavi uncovers a scandal involving the bigwigs of Bombay, Gayatri faces personal and professional predicaments, and Pearl has her share of dissapointments. How the three cope, and whether they stand their ground in the sea of caprice that is Bombay, is the rest of the movie. Do they achieve what they set out to do ? And at what cost ?

This is an interesting movie, touching a subject which is off-beat, and unusual. Bhandarkar, known for his earlier films like “Chandni Bar”, etc, shows his mettle here also. Taking potshots at the Page 3 people, Bhandarkar exposes it as a superficial world, with a slimy and capricious underbelly. Corruption and connections go hand-in-hand, and money talks.

Konkona does an incredible job as Madhavi, and Boman Irani is at his best. Tara Sharma comes across well as a fragile, shy aspiring actress, while Sandhya Mridul shows off her acting skills in a short role. The supporting cast is good too. Although a bit slack mid-way, this is all-in-all, a good worth-your-time movie.