“Page 3”, a Madhur Bhandarkar-directed Indian drama film, was released in the year 2005. It starred Konkona Sen Sharma as Madhvi Sharma (the Page 3 journalist), Atul Kulkarni as Vinayak Mane (the crime-beat journalist), Sandhya Mridul as Pearl (the air hostess), Tara Sharma as Gayatri (the struggling actress), and Boman Irani as Deepak Suri (the editor of Page 3).
This movie addresses the theme of the ‘Page 3’ culture and the media in the Mumbai of 2005, where more coverage seems to have been given to the events, parties and people in the limelight, than to the stories that need more awareness.
Just as the title signifies, the movie also has the same setting.
Synopsis:
The Page 3 journalist Madhvi lives with her air-hostess friend Pearl. A new girl, Gayatri, joins in after a couple of days. All three of them are busy with their lives – be it romantically or professionally. The new roommate Gayatri was molested by a director in the name of being interviewed for a movie. After knowing this, Madhvi wanted to take action, but she doesn’t do so – as she realises that molesting is far too common in the media industry, especially with the women aspiring to be actresses.
In the meantime, Gayatri gets familiar with Rohit, an actor through whom she had met the director. Madhvi meets Anjali Thapar, who’s always present at the parties, but also spends her time with the children in the orphanage. Madhvi decides to write an article on her, but the part which she wanted to be specifically highlighted was cut and replaced. After a few days, she gets to know that Anjali has committed suicide.
When Gayatri learns that she is pregnant with Rohit’s child, she tries to contact him. Finally, she is able to locate Rohit, where he is giving interviews about safe sex. Oh the irony! If he believed in safe sex, Gayatri wouldn’t have been in this situation. However, being a man and a celebrity, Rohit gets away, saying, “Get it aborted.” Gayatri tries to commit suicide by slitting her nerves.
Here, the girls meet Vinayak who’s Madhvi’s colleague. They learn about Gayatri’s problem – and Madhvi angrily writes an article about it and gives it for publishing without asking the editor. After this incident, Gayatri returns back to Delhi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWzH0SzKoIs
The next day, the editor asks Madhvi to apologise for something that she knew was the truth. She is taken aback and heartbroken. After facing all this, she decides to switch from the Page 3 section to the crime beat section, as she wants to do some ‘real’ journalism. Deepak assigns Madhvi to go and assist whenever and wherever Vinayak needs it. She witnesses a bomb explosion – and is shocked that on the same day, a party is held and the ACP is present at the party instead of working hard.
After this incident, she becomes friends with Tarun, whom she had met at a fashion show. She falls in love with him, and they spend some good time together. But Madhvi is unaware that another of her friends (a makeup) artist and Tarun were in a physical relationship. The issue is that Tarun would’ve told Madhvi about this much earlier.
Later, when Vinayak is in Nasik, she learns that a few kids have been enrolled in human trafficking. She gets a tip and exposes Romesh Thapar, the industrialist and husband of Anjali Thapar. In anger, she gets the article done and calls Deepak, expecting that he’d help him. But this time, due to orders, he had to stay quiet and could print nothing against Romesh. Madhvi is fired from the job – and after a few days, she again joins the Page 3 section in the newspaper. When she leaves the party, she says, “Meri party toh kabki khatam ho chuki hai sir (My party has long been over, sir).”
How Did I Get To Know About This Movie?
I was recommended to watch this movie by my senior and even by some of my teachers, as I also have the passion for pursuing journalism as my career. A few seniors asked me to watch this movie saying that it would unleash the reality of the media – and I guess it did.
Was The Movie Successful?
The film was a commercial success. It went on to do great business later and emerged as a box office hit. The movie has won three National Awards, including the Golden Lotus Award for Best Film.