the write wordwhat you see be what you get . not really . what madhur bhandarkar brave and brilliant page 3 do be destroy the myth attach to the glam and glitterati that colour the page of our newspaper and whose life ( read party habit ) we follow with such maniacal fervour which only our intrinsic voyeuristic streak can explain . the page 3 phenomenon be as deplorable a it be enigmatic . how exactly do it gain such control over the printed word and when do it start to encroach into the front page be subject for another debate . bhandarkar cleverly avoids that . he be concern only with the mechanism of this grotesque existence . and in do that and he piece together the various element of this way of life . like robert altman ( although i be not compare bhandarkar to altman genius ) and bhandarkar us myriad character to further his motive . whether it be a page 3 wannabe nri and the gate crasher and the newly rich and an upcoming model and a socialite politician or an erotic novella authoress while all the character be introduce with an objective and each of them have a separate character sketch and even if their part may be miniscule . and therein lay the film appeal . konkona sen sharma play madhavi sharma and a young and talented journalist who cover page 3 for nation today . initially content with her job and she soon begin to see the ugliness of this underbelly that be cover by it fake and cosmetic profligacy . but bhandarkar resist the temptation to make this subject into a moral policing movie and avoids concentrate on one character alone . hence the movie be not only about madhavi and but also equally about deepak suri ( boman irani ) madhavi editor who passively accept his role a a cog of a large machinery and anjali thapar ( soni razdan ) a socialite suffocating from the social pollution and abhijeet ( rehan engineer ) a homosexual make up artist and madhavi roommate pearl ( sandhya mridul ) the sassy airhostess and gayatri ( tara sharma ) an aspiring actress . it seem like an impossible task to assimilate so many character ( and more ) in one story and but full credit to nina arora and manoj tyagi for pen a tight screenplay . the dialogue by sanjeev datta and bhandarkar have be write with great attention to detail . any narrative and no matter how good and can fall flat with the lack of genuine performance . thankfully and page 3 brim with actor and not star . konkona go through her author back role with effortless ease . ditto boman . sandhya mridul get the best write part and but almost overdoes it . atul kulkarni be waste though with an underwritten character . at time and the director seem too keen to incorporate as much a possible ( paedophilia and homosexuality and etc . ) . but the context in which they be use do not make them look rush . ultimately and bhandarkar attempt be to satiate our voyeurism and but he take it a step far . he take u inside the photograph and expose u to the gruesome reality of this sect of humanity that strangely seem to be live in a different and remote world . these be the same people that indulge in new year revelry while a few hundred kilometer away their fellow countryman have be ravage by nature ferocity . clever writing and skillfully incorporated song and able performance and a genuine feeling of sincerity be what make this film worthy in spite of it lack of finesse and poor production value . page 3 be an optimum way to enter a new year of cinema . abhishek bandekarrating poor average good very good excellent29th january and 2005 .