3, one of the most eagerly awaited films of the year, had a lot of things going in its favour. Besides the viral Kolaveri song, it is special in many other ways - Rajnikanths daughter, Aishwaryas directorial debut featuring her husband Dhanush and Kamal Haasans daughter, Shruti Haasan, plus, a very efficient technical crew. Does this exciting ensemble deliver? Partly, yes!
If one expects a fun film going by the feel of kolaveri di, he/she is in for a surprise. It is much more than that. Aishwarya surely deserves a pat for bringing alive the emotions quite strongly in her very first venture. Dhanushs performance, Shrutis aura, Velrajs camera work and Anirudhs music lend solid backing to her effort.
The film begins with Rams (Dhanush) funeral and Janani (Shruti Haasan), his young wife, recalls the life theyve lived together. The film travels back and forth in time narrating the 3 stages in their life together starting with the school days, the subsequent growing up ending in marriage and finally, their life as husband and wife.
The story is largely about Ram and Janani. The pacing is leisurely and you take a while to get used to it, specially, during the first half which has many light moments. The second half travels on a totally different track which is totally unexpected. Too many sequences about Rams illness and the hide-and-seek he plays with Janani become quite tedious. The mood gets too serious and the film ends all of a sudden.
Now about the much famous kolaveri di song, it does not add anything to the story and is placed in a situation where it is not required. Thankfully, its lively and simple picturisation make it watchable. But the numerous brand placements in the song (obviously capitalising on its popularity) are jarring.
Dhanushs role is multi-dimensional and he has done all of them earlier. It is just a cake walk for him. Shruti looks ethereal and has a great screen presence. She fares better when shes silent than when shes is talking. But, in the latter portions, her acting alternates between wheezing and wailing, which get annoying after a point. Sivakarthikeyan and Sundar share the first and second halves respectively as the supportive friends. Prabhu as the understanding father of Dhanush is fine. Banupriya and Rohini do not make much impression.
Kola Bhaskar does not resort to too much style and edits the film as the per the directors vision. Kirans art direction complements the mood of the film pretty well.
That Aishwarya is no flash in the pan is evident. But why is the familys obsessed with mental illness?
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