Aranmanai 3

Aranmanai 3 is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language comedy horror film written and directed by Sundar C. The film stars Sundar alongside an ensemble cast including Arya, Raashii Khanna and Andrea Jeremiah, with Sakshi Agarwal, Vivek, Myna Nandhini, Yogi Babu, Nalini, Manobala, Sampath Raj, Ovi Bhandarkar, Vincent Asokan, Madhusudhan Rao and Vela Ramamoorthy. It is the third instalment in the Aranmanai film series, produced by Khushbu Sundar under Avni Cinemax, with cinematography by U. K. Senthil Kumar, music composed by C. Sathya, and film editing by Fenny Oliver. The story revolves around Jyothi (Khanna), who is threatened by a vengeful spirit, as she tries to discover the truth with her relative Ravi (Sundar).

Aranmanai 3 was theatrically released on 14 October 2021. The film marks the posthumous release of Vivek and received mixed to negative reviews.

Plot
The film begins with a young Jyothi encounters a spirit in her home, terrifying her. Her father, Zamindar Rajasekhar, resents Jyothi as her mother died giving birth to her. Believing she is lying for attention, he angrily sends her to a boarding school.

Many years later, a court ruling forces Rajasekhar to open a secret room at the village temple. Rajasekhar is terrified and angry at the court ruling and is relieved when they find nothing inside the room. Soon after, Rajasekhar's manservant and driver, Durai, dies by electrocution. Jyothi, now an adult, returns for Durai's funeral and falls in love with her childhood sweetheart, Saravanan. Jyothi realises that the spirit that haunted her is now haunting her young relative, Shalu. Jyothi is later lured to her late mother's room and nearly killed by a falling chandelier, but a portrait of her late mother, Eeshwari, saves her. She later has another encounter with both Eeshwari's spirit and the spirit haunting Shalu. One night, Shalu argues with the hostile spirit and is doused in paint thinner. She is chased by flames and rescued by her father, Ravi. Jyothi convinces Ravi to investigate the mysterious occurrences for Shalu's sake.

Ravi investigates Eeshwari's room and discovers a photo of Jyothi’s parents with three servants, with the faces of two servants scratched out. He encounters Eeshwari's spirit, and the third servant in the photo gets murdered shortly after. Ravi and Jyothi bring priests to exorcise the palace. They trap one of the two ghosts, but the other appears and destroys the trap, revealing that it has possessed Saravanan. Ravi tell Jyothi that this spirit is Eeshwari, who was responsible for the murders and the attack on Nandhini. The deaths spooks Rajasekhar and visits Saamiyaadi, a hermit priest. Saravanan attacks the pair. Ravi manages to rescue Rajasekhar, but Saamiyaadi is left behind, and Eeshwari confronts him. Rajasekhar reveals the truth to Ravi and Vallimalai Swamiji.

Past: Rajasekhar had forcibly married Eeshwari after falling for her at her wedding to Saamiyaadi's son, Samikannu. When their child is born, the child resembles Samikannu, and Rajasekhar realises she had already been pregnant at the wedding. A furious Rajasekhar has the child secretly killed and buried in the palace, then stabs Eeshwari, killing her. He replaces the dead child with Durai's newborn daughter and claims her as his own. Samikannu steals Eeshwari's body and attempts to use black magic to revive her but is horrified when she returns as a ghoul and abandons her in the forest. Eeshwari later kills the midwife who poisoned her child and threatens Rajasekhar. Rajasekhar convinces Saamiyaadi to help him destroy the spirit his son revived. Saamiyaadi tricks Samikannu into luring out Eeshwari's spirit and traps her in the hidden room in the temple. During the attempt, Saamiyaadi accidentally kills Samikannu and withdraws to the forest to mourn.

Present: Eeshwari reveals to Saamiyadi that he did not kill Samikannu, but Durai killed Samikannu on Rajasekhar's order. She wants to replace the soul in Jyothi’s body with that of her dead child, believing that Jyothi is living the life that her child should have had. She convinces Saamiyaadi to raise the spirit of Samikannu to help her. Saamiyaadi dies raising the spirit of his son. Ravi and Jyothi trap and take the spirit of Eeshwari's child to the priests who had helped them. They initially try to lay her and Eeshwari to rest, but the arrival of Samikannu blindsided them. Eeshwari's spirit kills Rajasekhar, but Jyothi, Ravi, and the priests banish the three spirits during a holy festival, freeing Saravanan.

Saravanan and Jyothi marry, hinting at a sequel.

Development
After the release of Action (2019), In January 2020, sources claimed that director Sundar C will make his third instalment for the Aranmanai film series to following the success of two films Aranmanai (2014) and Aranmanai 2 (2016), and same month it was reported that Sun Pictures is set to produce the film. Later, Sundar announced that the film will be produced by Avni Cinemax and Khushbu within their own production house. He started the casting work for the film in early January 2020.

Casting
Arya and Raashii Khanna confirmed in February 2020 that they had signed the film. The film marks the first collaboration between Arya and Khanna. A source revealed that Khanna's role would have a huge importance in the film. Khanna allotted 30 days to shoot Aranmanai 3, and a remuneration of ₹1.5 crore was offered to her. The source claimed that Arya would be playing the role of a man possessed by a spirit. Sundar initially planned to have Hansika Motwani to play the second female lead. However, due to scheduling conflicts, she did not sign with the film. Instead, in the same month, Andrea Jeremiah, who had also appeared in the first instalment of the Aranmanai series, signed on as the second female lead. At the time, Sakshi Agarwal was also in talks for to play an important role, which was later finalised. Later, Yogi Babu, Vivek, Manobala, and several others joined the film. Shankar Mahadevan and Hariharan made cameos in the film. Andrea later reported that she was playing the role of a ghost, and that the story revolves around her character.

Filming
The filming started at the Gujarat Wankaner palace in February 2020. In March 2020, shooting was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and scheduled to resume in November 2020 in Pollachi. It was rescheduled to begin on 20 November 2020. More than Rs. 2 crore had been spent to construct the set used for the climax sequence. In January 2021, shooting was completed. However, the film post-production was delayed as Sundar tested positive for COVID-19, and post production work began in February, ending early in March. The climax portions were filmed in 16 days, with 200 background workers, and computer graphics work was conducted for 6 months.

Music
The film's soundtrack was composed by C. Sathya, who was collaborating for second time with Sundar C after Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru (2013). The audio rights were acquired by Saregama. The first single "Ratapatata", sung by Arivu, was released on 30 August 2021. The second single "Rasavaachiye", sung by Sid Sriram, was released on 13 September 2021. The third single "Lojakku Mojakku" was sung by Mukesh and released on 22 September 2021. The fourth single "Sengaandhale", sung by Reema, released on 6 October 2021. The fifth and final single, "Theeyaga Thondri", sung by Shankar Mahadevan and Hariharan, was released on 12 October 2021.

Marketing
The first look and motion poster were released on 22 April 2021. Exclusive stills of the film were leaked online two months later, and went viral. The official trailer of the film was released on 30 September, and received two million views in less than 24 hours.

Theatrical
The film release was initially planned for a theatrical release in summer of 2021. However, due to the second wave of COVID-19, the film release and post-production were postponed. It was then scheduled to release in September 2021, and later pushed to October. The film was cleared by the censor board in mid-September. The distribution rights for the film were acquired by Red Giant Movies. The film released on 14 October 2021 coinciding with Ayudha Puja.

Home media
Red Giant Movies withheld the satellite rights of this film, and sold it to their own channel Kalaignar TV. The streaming rights were sold to ZEE5, where it began streaming on 12 November 2021.

Critical response
Aranmanai 3 received mixed to negative reviews from critics.

Manoj Kumar R. of The Indian Express gave 0.5 out of 5 stars and called it, "The dumbest film of the year yet". Bharathy Singaravel of The News Minute gave the movie 1.5 stars and said, "No ghost, spirit or spectre doomed to haunt the same house for eternity has felt more trapped than I did in the theatre today. Even an end credit song by Arivu couldn’t keep me from fleeing for the exit the second the lights came on. Avoid Aranmanai 3 with the same dedication that Sundar C shows in evading at arriving at a conclusion in this film."

Praveen Sudevan of The Hindu said Sundar C's third instalment in the ‘Aranmanai’ franchise succeeds neither in scaring the audience nor making them laugh. The Times of India gave 3 stars to the film and said, "It all happens in predictable fashion, and by the time the film ends, we neither feel overwhelmed nor underwhelmed. That, in a way, is the director's success – making us feel contended [sic] with a passable and instantly forgettable entertainer." Karthikeyan S of Dinamani said that overall it is doubtful whether even those who liked the first and second parts of Aranmanai will like this film.

Sudhir Srinivasan of Cinema Express wrote, "We have seen in multiple carbon copy films in this genre. Even still, it’s astonishing how little Aranmanai 3 seems to care about being novel". Subha J. Rao of Film Companion wrote, "What is the point of taking forward a franchise when there’s little to redeem it? It’s just a waste of everyone’s time."

Box office
Despite receiving mixed to negative reviews, Aranmanai 3 had a good opening on the first day of its theatrical release. It grossed around ₹4 crore on the opening day, and became a hit at the box-office, collecting over ₹15 crore in the first four days of its release.

Controversy
There were complaints among critics and audience about Arya's screentime in the film. The entire team promoted the film with him, and conveyed that he had been playing a lead role as a spirit. However, his total screen space in the film was only 30 minutes.

Installment
The fourth installment, titled Aranmanai 4, starring Sundar C, Tamannaah Bhatia, Raashii Khanna and Santhosh Prathap, was released on 3 May 2024. The film grossed ₹100 crore worldwide, making it the most successful entry in the Aranmanai franchise.