Three Roses

Three Roses is a 2003 Tamil action film directed by Parameswar featuring Rambha who produced the film along with Jyothika and Laila in the lead roles. The film also featured Vivek, Urvashi and Rekha Vedavyas in supporting roles, while Karthik Raja composed the music^[1] and Rajarajan handled the camera. The film took two years to complete production and the eventual delayed release was met with a poor response from critics and at the box office.

Plot

The movie is an action-adventure inspired by Charlie's Angels. Charu, Nandhu and Pooja are friends who study music abroad. On their return they get embroiled in a case involving their friend Asha, who travels with her lover to Chennai from Dubai on a false passport. She is imprisoned and the three girls garner support for Asha who would be executed if sent back to Dubai.

Cast

Production

Actress Rambha along with her brother, Srinivas (a) Vasu, agreed to produce a Tamil language film along the lines of the English films, Charlie's Angels, and roped in leading actresses Jyothika and Laila to appear in key roles alongside her.^[2] Parameswaran who directed films like Suriya Paarvai and Looty was signed as director. Initially the producers had approached Simran to play one of the lead roles, though the actress rejected the opportunity after completing the photoshoots for the movie.^[3] After much media speculation, the film began its first schedule on 21 November 2001 in Chennai with the producers also revealing they managed to rope in leading Hindi actor Govinda to make a guest appearance in the film.^[4] Reports also suggested that Arjun would play a supporting role in the film, although claims proved to be untrue.^[5]

During the shoot of the film, there was reportedly a clash of opinions between actresses Jyothika and Laila in January 2002, with the pair having to be restrained by the actress-producer of the film, Rambha.^[6] Problems continued as the careers of Laila and Rambha began to peter out, prompting distributors to back away from the film, leading to further delays.^[5][7] Prior to release, the team of the film collaborated with prominent tea brand, 3 Roses, for their media campaign.^[8]

Release

The film evaded its release date several times and eventually took close to two years to complete, only finally releasing on 10 October 2003. The film gained negative reviews with Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu citing that "a frivolous storyline, a lackadaisical approach to the screenplay and inept direction mar Three Roses", adding that "after all the hype and hoopla, speculation and delay, arrives Three Roses, and ironically it is focus that the film lacks."^[9] Another critic claimed that "the disastrous effects all these problems (changes in cast, production delays) have had on the movie is clearly evident from the final product."^[10]

Rambha suffered losses from the film and fell heavily into debt, being forced to sell her home at Mount Road, Chennai to pay off loans taken.^[11] A check bounce case was filed against her as she borrowed a huge amount of money and failed to return it.^[12] The failure of the film also led to Rambha taking an extended break from Tamil language films.^[13]

Soundtrack

• Meiyanadha - Karthik, Swetha
• Oh Oh Sexy - Bhavatharini, Rohini
• Dil Se Pyar - Karthik, Sujatha
• Anbal Unnai - Bhavatharini, Anupama, Febi
• Sevvai Desam - Karthik, Sujatha, Shwetha

References