| Three Roses | |
| Director: | Parameswar |
| Producer: | Usha Rani Vasu |
| Screenplay: | Parameshwar |
| Story: | Infocus |
| Music: | Karthik Raja |
| Cinematography: | Rajarajan Nirav |
| Editing: | V. T. Vijayan |
| Studio: | Infocus Ltd Parijay Creators |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Tamil |
Three Roses is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language action-adventure film directed by Parameswar, starring Rambha, Jyothika and Laila. The film features Vivek, Urvashi, Rekha Vedavyas in supporting roles. Karthik Raja composed the music and Rajarajan handled the camera.
Charu, Nandhu and Pooja are friends who study music abroad. On their return they become 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.
Actress Rambha along with her brother, Srinivas (a) Vasu, agreed to produce a Tamil-language film along the lines of the American franchise, Charlie's Angels, and hired leading actresses Jyothika and Laila to appear in key roles alongside her.[1] Parameswaran 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.[2] [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] He shot for a song in Chennai.[5] Reports also suggested that Arjun would play a supporting role in the film, although claims proved to be untrue.[6]
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.[7] 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.[8] Prior to release, the team of the film collaborated with prominent tea brand, 3 Roses, for their media campaign.[9] The brand is referenced in the film.[10]
The film evaded its release date several times and eventually took close to two years to complete, only finally releasing on 10 October 2003. Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu said 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."[11] Visual Dasan of Kalki felt this version of Charlie's Angels lacked the art direction, graphics and background score of the original. The critic also panned music but praised Vivek's humour and added the first half which wobbles like a pit, gains speed after Dalal Azmi's love affair comes up.[12]
Rambha suffered losses from the film and fell heavily into debt, being forced to sell her home at Mount Road, Chennai. A cheque bounce case was filed against her as she borrowed a large sum of money, failing to return it.[13] The failure of the film also led to Rambha taking an extended break from Tamil language films.[14]
Soundtrack was composed by Karthik Raja and lyrics by Paarthi Bhaskar.[15] The film marked the full-fledged singing debut of Shweta Mohan.[16]
Vasu went on to produce Rambha's thriller film Vidiyum Varai Kaathiru. However, the film never saw a release date.[17]