Aranmanai 3 Review

Introduction

The comedy-horror movie Aranmanai 3 was written and directed by Sundar C. in 2021. It is the third instalment of the Aranmanai film series, which Khushbu produced under the auspices of Avni Cinemax. U. K. Senthil Kumar shot the movie, C. Sathya created the soundtrack, and Fenny Oliver edited the movie.

The movie was released in theatres on October 14, 2021, which was also Ayudha Puja. Vivek, a deceased actor, receives a posthumous release in this movie.

In the film, a Zamindar and his daughter are the targets of the spirit of a mistreated mother, but one man stands in his way. The movie garnered mixed to poor reviews from reviewers and viewers.

While the ensemble cast, villain, and main actor's screen time were criticized, Raashii Khanna's performance and the score were praised. Despite the unfavorable reviews, the movie was deemed a box office hit and became one of the highest-grossing and most lucrative Tamil films of 2021.

Cast and Crew

Director:

Sundar C.

Screenplay and Storyline:

Sundar C.

Producer:

Khushbu

Sundar C

Cinematography:

U. K. Senthil Kumar

Editor:

Fenny Oliver

Music By:

C. Sathya

Production Companies:

Avni Cinemax

Benzz Media (P) Ltd.

Cast

• Sundar C.
• Arya
• Raashi Khanna
• Andrea Jeremiah
• Vivek
• Yogi Babu
• Sampath Raj
• Sakshi Agarwal
• Myna Nandhini
• Nalini
• Madhusudhan Rao
• Manobala
• Vela Ramamoorthy
• Cell Murugan
• Ovi Bhandarkar
• Amit Bhargav
• Vincent Ashokan
• Vichu Vishwanath
• Kulappulli Leela
• Veronika Arora

Language:

Tamil

Running Time:

155 minutes

Budget:

Rs. 22 crores

Box Office Collection

Aranmanai 3 opened well on the first day of its theatrical release despite garnering mixed to unfavorable reviews, and it went on to become a smash at the box office, earning over Rs 15 crore in its first four days of release. With just 50% of seats permitted in theatres, "Aranmanai 3" performed better in B and C centers than in cities, contributing to the movie's successful box office performance.

The movie made more than and about Rs 20 crores (around the film's budget) in just two weeks. The film's producers hailed its box office take of about Rs 50 crores as a commercial triumph.

The Plot of the Movie

The movie opens with a young Jyothi becoming terrified as she sees a ghost in her house. Because Jyothi's mother passed away giving birth to her, her father, Zamindar Rajasekhar, dislikes her. He sends her off to a boarding school in a furious manner because he thinks she is lying to get attention. Many years later, Rajasekhar is compelled by a court order to reveal the location of the village temple's hidden chamber.

Rajasekhar is astonished when nothing is found in the room since he is afraid and furious about the decision. Durai, Rajasekhar's driver, and manservant, dies by suicide shortly after. Adult Jyothi visits Durai's funeral and develops feelings for Saravannan, her childhood sweetheart. Jyothi understands that the ghost that used to stalk her is now stalking her young cousin Shalu.

A painting of Jyothi's late mother, Eeshwari, saves her from being murdered by a falling chandelier when she is subsequently drawn to the chamber of her deceased mother. Later, she has another meeting with the ghosts of Eeshwari and Shalu. One night, Shalu argues with an evil ghost and gets doused with paint thinner. After being pursued by flames, her father, Ravi, saves her. Jyothi persuades Ravi to look into the strange incidents for Shalu's sake.

When Ravi looks through Eeshwari's belongings, he finds a picture of Jyothi's parents with three enslaved people, two whose faces have been wiped off. The third servant in the picture is slain immediately after encountering Eeshwari's ghost. Ravi and Jyothi bring priests to purify the castle.

They manage to capture one of the ghosts, but the other materializes and shatters the trap, revealing that Saravanan is in its control. This ghost, according to Ravi, is Eeshwari, who carried out the murders and attacked Jyothi. Rajasekhar, alarmed by the deaths, seeks solace from a hermit monk named Saamiyaadi. Saravanan attacks the duo.

Ravi saves Rajasekhar, but Saamiyaadi is left behind and faced by Eeshwari. Ravi is informed of the truth by Rajasekhar. After falling in love with her at her wedding to Saamiyaadi's son Samikannu, he is forced to wed Eeshwari. Rajasekhar discovers that she was already pregnant during the wedding when their kid was born and resembled Samikannu. Rajasekhar murders Eeshwari after ordering the child's covert death and burial in the palace.

He adopts Durai's new daughter instead of the dead kid and declares her his own. Samikannu snatches Eeshwari's body and uses black magic to try to make her alive, but when she comes back as a ghost and abandons her in the jungle, he is horrified. Later, Eeshwari threatens Rajasekhar and murders the nurse who poisoned her kid.

Rajasekhar persuades Saamiyaadi to assist him in exterminating the spirit that his son awakened. Saamiyaadi tricks Samikannu into enticing the ghost of Eeshwari out of the temple, where she is imprisoned. Saamiyaadi inadvertently kills Samikannu during the attempt, and she retreats to the jungle to grieve.

Eeshwari confesses that Durai had murdered Samikannu under Rajasekhar's direction in the present. She feels that Jyothi is leading the life that her kid should have been living. Thus, she wishes to replace Jyothi's soul with her deceased child's. She persuades Saamiyaadi to summon Samikannu's spirit to assist her.

The spirit of Eeshwari's kid is captured by Ravi and Jyothi, who then bring it to the priests who had assisted them. They first attempt to bury her and Eeshwari, but Samikannu's appearance catches them off guard. Although Rajasekhar is murdered, Saravanan is set free when Jyothi, Ravi, and the priests successfully evict the three ghosts at a sacred feast.

Aranmanai 3 Reviews

Ratings:

6/10

Aranmanai 3 Reviews Based on Critics

The movie Aranmanai 3 received mostly negative to mixed reviews from critics. Some said it was the most stupid movie ever, a horror-comedy that makes too many wrong turns and loses its focus, while others thought it was at least tolerable. The reviewers said the movie didn't make the audience laugh or frighten them.

Sundar C has created a haven for himself with the Aranmanai series. These films are proving to be the director's haven; he can work on them anytime one of his other pictures doesn't perform well, and they will help him regain his box-office confidence. It's okay if the movie exploits some of the scares as comedic devices.

For example, the Scary Movie series does this. But a movie that aims to frighten and entertain its viewers ends up walking a fine line. And the majority of Tamil films need to strike the right balance. Neither does Aranmanai 3.

The wide-eyed shock of individuals who have had close encounters with a frightening ghost or witnessed evil spirits doing strange pranks is nothing new. It doesn't imply the director has been successful if viewers keep reacting to tired fright techniques. Humans naturally tremble when something repulsive or terrifying appears in our path. It's doable for any 10-year-old wearing a ghost mask.

Aranmanai 3 could be more innovative. A massive palace with a troubling past is at the center of the narrative. Additionally, a sealed chamber is in one of the palace's corners. As long as the chamber is shut, many eerie mysteries remain buried. However, once it's opened, dark energy that is nearly difficult to control is released.

The movie's summary seems quite similar to that of "Chandramukhi." The melody "Sengaandhale," a mother's lullaby, emerges from a chamber that has now turned into a lair of supernatural powers instead of the song "Raa Raa," from Chandramukhi, which shows a woman's longing to see her lover. In one of the sequences, the antagonist Jyothi, portrayed by Rashi Khanna, is killed by the vengeful ghost using its telekinetic abilities.

In another, it plays about Sigamani, portrayed by Vivek, and Abhishek, portrayed by Yogi Babu. Typically, Yogi Babu names his humorous sidekick. Despite being married to his wife for 15 years, Vivek portrays a sad virgin who has never had intercourse with her. Then there is Nalini, who creates Tik Tok videos (simply saying it is meant to be humorous).

Half-laughs are heard when Vivek meets Manobala and Yogi Babu. But even with three well-known comedians (Vivek, Manobala, and Yogi Babu) sharing the screen, the material is cringe-inducing, if not outright insulting. It must take considerable thought to waste a talent like Yogi Babu. Being able to watch Vivek once again was pleasant.

However, the portrayal of the late actor Vivek in writer-director Sundar C's Aranmanai 3 has to be my biggest complaint. Getting a comic performer of his skill down to this level takes some work. And it is sad for us because Vivek is no longer with us, and we get to watch the movie.

Even so, it was because of how the performers carried themselves, delivered their lines, and looked. The settings and the sentences were clich�s. Even the set pieces are boring. No performer in the ensemble cast, including Raashi Khanna, Vivek, Yogi Babu, Andrea Jeremiah, and Sampath Raj, has a significant part in what can be deemed the most idiotic movie of the year.

Speaking of squandered ability, there are very few performances in a movie with so many characters that they don't vary from annoying to forgettable. The opening sequence of Sundar C, who is also the director and has given himself a substantial role, is puzzling. A guy who seems to cherish his little daughter is completely heartless in a needlessly violent scene where a youngster is doused in paint thinner, and then a path of fire is left behind.

The movie tries to induce fear by using tired horror tropes by showing moving eyes in a painting, pregnant pauses interrupted by a demon's blood-curdling cry, children conversing with an invisible monster, etc. But these sequences are frequently broken up by protracted comedy scenes unrelated to the story.

The script tries to explain why not one but three ghosts have started haunting the castle where the movie is situated or periodically murdering persons we don't particularly care about. We discover in a flashback that the king, represented by Sampath Raj, forcefully marries Eshwari. The result is murders and other covert crimes. The discovery of all of this is meant to serve as the turning point.

But despite your internal cries for the movie to stop, the storyline is derailed by brand-new rabbit holes to tumble down every five minutes. Aranmanai 3 is still determining what it wants to be because it is not a horror-comedy. The few sequences that are particularly unsettling fall into a jumble of chaos.

The filmmaker needed help to discern when ratcheting up the drama was necessary or when understatement would be more effective. Before the intermission, the absurdly complicated plot gave me a genuine headache. The tale continually spools out into one sub-storyline after another, with a secret, enormous subterranean temple tossed in at random, curses to raise the dead, and various spirits with their intentions. It needs to be clarified what this movie is trying to be.

Additionally, there is a lot of black magic, poor visual effects, a loud background soundtrack, and (of course) a climactic scene with Amman in the second half. Thankfully, there aren't any post-credit scenes that hint at a continuation. You never know, however. That is genuinely rather terrifying.

Aranmanai 3 Reviews Based on Viewers

Since its release, Aranmanai 3 has garnered mixed reviews from critics and viewers alike. Some people offered the performers and the directors positive reviews and praise. At the same time, some were extremely dissatisfied with the film's creators and plot.

After viewing the film, one audience member said it was completely flawed and that the plot of 1 and 2 was superior. Without Kovai Sarala, the Franchisee would be as weak as something that has just been partially cooked. Sundar has to start thinking about what the audience would want from his forthcoming film.

Another user had conflicting opinions on the film. He wrote that while the first half of the film was strong and kept viewers engaged with intriguing scenes and unable to guess the plot, indicating that the screenplay was strong, the second half of the film was overly predictable and strikingly similar to Aranmanai 2, leaving viewers wondering when the film will end.

Furthermore, he added that it would be preferable if the Aranmani series ended at this point and no more sequels were produced unless a fresh, new plotline was included. Another viewer commented on the film simultaneously, saying that expectations are just pure masala when it comes to Sundar C's films. Aranmanai 1 was one such film, albeit having many similarities to Manichitrathazhu. The second film was a rerun. Third is yet another repetition.

In addition to all the criticism the film got, several people gave it high marks. One of the reviewers said the film was excellent and included comedy, music, horror, and suspense. We had a great time laughing a lot while viewing this movie after a while. Another reviewer praised the humor and the intriguing story twists. These days, this genre only provides a little. The filmmaker tried a few novel things.

A viewer commented that the plot is strong in the film. The cinematography is excellent. Even though comedy has fewer scenes than the preceding two, many make us chuckle. Both the story's basis and climax have no repetition. The movie gained ratings between 7-10 on a scale of 10 from viewers.

Conclusion

Both critics and spectators have differing opinions on "Aranmanai 3," which is a mixed bag. While some applaud the film's attempt to combine comedy with horror, others think it's a lackluster addition to the series. The movie's production design and visual effects are its greatest assets; they create a frightening atmosphere emphasizing the horror themes.

The humorous scenes generate sincere chuckles thanks to the excellent ensemble cast. However, the story needs more consistency and depth to captivate the viewer since it feels chaotic and overloaded truly. Becoming emotionally invested in the characters is challenging due to the need for more character development.

Additionally, the writing frequently uses cliched horror clich�s and predictable jump scares, which lessens the effect. With its combination of horror and humor, "Aranmanai 3" provides entertainment value. Still, it falls short of presenting a gripping tale, leaving viewers yearning for more depth and innovation.