Article Updated 21 January, 2005 11:13:12 PM IST   Page 3 By Prema K. ©2005 Bollyvista.com   'Page 3' is an unsuccessful attempt to look into the lives of the rich and famous. It takes potshots at the so-called upper section of society comprising of the city's who's who! Gay fashion designers, wannabe models and actors, social workers, socialites, and social climbers. Ultimately the film focuses on the corruption present in the media- how editorial is determined by the advertising capacities of people and how scoops are dropped for reasons personal or monetary. The director may have thought it to be a brilliant subject but we wonder who would want to watch a film of this nature especially when it showcases all socialites as ugly middle aged people. Definitely not the media who is conversant with the page 3 culture and its people as well as with the workings of a newspaper. Although 'Page 3' does showcase the dual personalities of people, one must add that the film is an exaggerated view of things. All page 3 parties and people are not as bad as portrayed in the film. And wouldn't a struggling actress know what it involves when a top star wants to sleep with her! Where does the bit about her trying to commit suicide creep in? If hard-hitting means exposing the bit where rich men indulge in sex abuse of children, then come again! It hasn't quite registered in that one scene towards the fag end of the film. Madhvi (Konkona Sen Sharma) comes straight into Mumbai from Bangalore to start her career in journalism. She lands a job at the Nation Today newspaper. Her beat is entertainment and her job involves covering those highly-glamourized Page 3 parties. She has a supportive editor, Deepak Suri, (Boman Irani). Like most journalists she shares a rented apartment. Her flat mate is a fiery and ambitious air-hostess, Pearl (Sandhya Mridul). One day Madhvi comes across Gayatri (Tara Sharma), a struggling actress in a local train while returning home after a party. Gayatri moves into Madhvi's apartment and the three soon become thick. A few incidents cause Madhvi to get sick of Page 3 reporting (we don't blame her!). She realizes that such parties are a mere sham and decides to take her colleague, senior crime reporter Vinayak's (Atul Kulkarni), advice seriously and concentrate on more pressing issues. But, in the end, she is back to square one - she gets back to Page 3! So ultimately she ends up looking like a very convenient rather than a firm journalist. The film does manage to interest the viewer slightly in the second half but it is not gripping at all. This is surely not a film that one can rave about. It is best forgotten. Or at best one could just laugh at it and at oneself for having allowed the director to put you through all this torture for nothing at all. Konkona Sen Sharma is okay. Nothing to write home about. Sandhya Mridul excels and adds an element of real fun to an otherwise pretending to be funny film. Tara Sharma is okay. Boman Irani is outstanding yet again. Atul Kulkarni doesn't get much scope but still makes an impact. Bikram Saluja is sincere. Jai Kalra makes a fair debut. The rest are adequate and there are yet others who are irritating. Don't see much hope for this film! ** (TWO STARS) *poor; **average; ***good; ****very good; *****excellent   close   Print this Article http://www.bollyvista.com   http://www.bollyvista.com/article/a/29/4049