Test review: A missed opportunity for what could have been a compelling debut for Netflix’s first Tamil original film

Test starring Nayanthara, R. Madhavan and Siddharth is an amalgamation of done and dusted tropes along with a confusing climax. 

Test review: A cricketer fuelled by passion, a teacher caught between love and duty, and a scientist on the brink of brilliance find their lives intertwined - this was the official description of the film given by Netflix, but the truth is that the film is anything but what it's sold as. While the first half builds enough tension to keep you hooked, the second half completely leaves you flabbergasted with what you just saw and not in a good way! The film is directed by S.Sashikanth, and stars R. Madhavan, Nayanthara and Siddharth. When you hear three big names from down south come together for a film, you’re bound to have expectations and be excited about it. But the story simply does not bring out this alliance’s true potential.

Test revolves around Arjun (Siddharth), a famous cricketer playing for the country who’s had a streak of bad luck recently. His bad luck extends to the point where there are discussions about removing him from the team. So it goes without saying that he has a lot of pressure on his head. He has a son, Adi, who he barely pays any attention to, so he finds parental comfort in Kumudha (Nayanthara), his elementary school teacher. Speaking of Kumudha, her personal life is pretty much hanging by a thread. She is married to her college sweetheart Saravanan (R. Madhavan), who is a scientist struggling to kickstart his projects due to lack of funds. But that’s not all! Kumudha desperately wants to have a child, there really is no other topic on her mind and will go to any extent to complete her IVF procedure. But an ugly argument between a frustrated and drowning in debt Saravanan and an immensely let down Kumudha, changes the whole course of this film. On the outside, Kumudha might just look like a school teacher to Arjun's child but on the inside, she is his biggest fan, and their friendship goes way back. But Arjun and his son have to pay a heavy price for having a close alliance with her.

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This scene where the film truly lost me was when Saravanan slaps Kumudha in a fit of rage. Even if the slap is justified with the fact that he was turning into a psychotic villain at that moment, Kumudha still continues to support him in his evil endeavours further and it feels we’ve gone four steps back all over again. Slapping in general is shown to be a no big deal in this film. Sarvanan slaps Kumudha then Kumudha slaps Sarvanan. Arjun slaps Adi and then Padma slaps Arjun. Not only do they normalize this to a great extent, it’s also almost as if the maker has to rely on violence while showing anger. Words or good acting probably didn’t fit as good parameters!

Even if one turns a blind eye to any of this and looks at the story for what it is, it still doesn’t work. Because after 2 and a half hours of build up, the film has a rather underwhelming climax. It not only ends abruptly, it also leaves you with unanswered questions and that's not a mark of a tightly written script. Nayanthara and R. Madhavan did the best of what they could with the characters they were given. She is fierce and headstrong even though her character is shown to be this woman whose only purpose is to have a child. She stands out especially in scenes where she has to put her husband in place, and act as the breadwinner of the family. We don't see R. Madhavan in a negative light very often. There’s a certain craziness in his eyes that works perfectly for the part. As for Siddharth, knowing what he is capable of, this sure wasn’t one of his best performances. 

Overall, if I had to describe Test in a nutshell for you, I’d say it was a testing time for the characters and the viewers!

Test is currently streaming on Netflix!

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