3 (2012 Tamil film)

3
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Aishwarya R. Dhanush
Produced by	Dr. K. Vimalageetha Dhanush Aishwarya R. Dhanush
Written by	Aishwarya R. Dhanush
Starring	Dhanush Shruti Haasan Prabhu Sivakarthikeyan Sunder Ramu
Music by	Anirudh Ravichander
Cinematography	Velraj
Edited by	Kola Bhaskar
Production company	R. K. Productions Pvt.Ltd
Distributed by	Wunderbar Films
Release date	30 March 2012 (2012-03-30)
Running time	148 minutes
Language	Tamil

3 is a 2012 Indian Tamil language romantic psychological film written and directed by Aishwarya R. Dhanush in her directorial debut. It stars her husband Dhanush, who himself co-produced the film, alongside his wife.^[1][2] The soundtrack and film score were composed by debutante Anirudh Ravichander while the cinematography was handled by Velraj. The film gained high anticipation due to the viral marketing of the song "Why This Kolaveri Di".

Plot

The film opens with a funeral partaking in an apartment where the police are involved saying he doesn't understand the motive of the murder of Ram. His wife Janani hallucinates about her husband running away. She recalls memories and it continues with a flashback when Ram and Janani were 12th-grade students. While she was from a middle-class family and Ram at that time lived with his father who was a businessman and his mother. After he saw Janani he helps fix her bicycle (it was raining heavily) but at the same time has a crush on her. He tells his friends Kumaran and Senthil about it they were from different schools but same tuition. One night he and Senthil stalked Janani and was caught by her father as he questioned them both. He slapped Ram and scolded Senthil for lying and warned them. Nevertheless, Ram visits Janani before he could ask she reciprocates his love. Janani's sister Sumi makes sure her parents aren't aware their secret love. The story returns to reality while Janani has a teary conversation with her mother about Ram. Soon she slept having a dream about when her family has a visa to go to the US and she had to go. When Ram heard this he decided that she could leave him. Instead of leaving him she appeared near him. He said she burned her passport and her mother disowned with a slap. She then urged Ram to marry her because of their five-year relationship. So he told his mother then urged his father who did agree and gave them a flat.After their marriage, Ram persuaded that her family to come and see her for she felt uncomfortable.He made a promise to not hurt her or allow anyone to. Ram and Janani were pleased with their life and were happy together. Again the story comes to reality when Janani is awoken by her maid. Two police officers are in her flat and one of them tells her something that she made her cry. Janani had an impact that made her break household items and stare into Ram's photo. She then is informed by her husband's doctor that he had come with his friend Senthil.She asked his parents but they had no idea that they'll inform when. Her father in law said Ram asked him to transfer his properties in his name. As she went home she packed his items away but stopped at a coat. She put it on then found a letter as she studied she wept it was a suicide letter from Ram.She visited Senthil and asked to reveal thing they were hiding from her.He told when she was leaving for the US and that same time Kumaran said he got a job in Singapore. Ram couldn't bear it that Kumaran was his childhood friend and she was his life. He got drunk and imagined her asking him to come to her. He nearly drowned but thanks to Senthil he was alright.Soon Senthil saw that Ram wasn't behaving how he was raised.One time Ram's office lost 32 million and was in a bad mood. Ram was working on his laptop when his pug Tom, played near his feet. He got irritated and kicked the dog away ruthlessly Senthil sharply disapproved of this. After a while when Senthil went into the kitchen, he heard a squeal and came back running. Tom was dead and Ram was working on his laptop as if he didn't notice. Senthil made him come to his senses and they buried Tom in secret because Janani loved Tom as their child. As Janani came he asked uncannily her where is Tom they looked she cried soon he cried it's his fault. Senthil found out that Ram suffered from Bipolar Disorder.At first, he smashed a bottle on his head afterwards he agreed to see a doctor.After the past few days, he avoided Janani. Janani was aware of her husband's absence and confronted him. At a nightclub, a man misbehaved with Janani Ram dragged her out and sent her home. The misbehaver and his friends sought a fight with Ram and Senthil. Ram is been hit badly so Senthil helps Ram home but Janani fell sick for she couldn't bear it.Senthil drags him for electric shock therapy and he stayed there almost 4 hours. He lied to Janani about it but she slapped him because she was aware of the lie.She showers her anger, rage and frustration over him for the current situation in their lives. A silent Ram rebukes when she insults Senthil. After the whole fiasco that night, Ram again loses his mental stability and tries to stab Janani with a knife, but Senthil stops him from doing it. Later on, when Ram comes back to his senses, he feels guilty, heartbroken and scared that he tried to kill his only love and decides to go to his father and transfer all his property in Janani's name.On another day, Ram suddenly bashes Senthil's head against the steering wheel, rendering him unconscious. Ram says his last words to his friend, "Sorry dude, you have done so much for me" and leaves the car in order to go see Janani himself. He remembers all the beautiful memories from their young age, and the ending takes onto the final scene of Ram's life, as he goes to Janani's bedroom and watches her sleeping. He tries to control his emotions and kiss her for the last time and suddenly he hallucinates seeing a young girl saying "Either kill her or you die". Terrified, he immediately gets away from her bed. The young girl and a Sadhu from his previous hallucinations now appear unnervingly in front of him. Dreaded, he goes to his office and writes a suicide note while hallucinating disturbing visions of the young girl and the Sadhu.To avoid causing further harm to Janani, he picks up a knife and slits his throat, and kills himself, saying his final words "I love you, Janani". The film ends with Janani wailing in grief, as she learns her husband's fate.

Cast

• Dhanush as Ram
• Shruti Haasan as Janani Ram
• Prabhu as Ram's father, a businessman
• Sivakarthikeyan as Kumaran, Ram's friend since school days
• Bhanupriya as Ram's mother
• Sunder Ramu as Senthil, Ram's work friend, the only one who knew of his condition
• Jeeva Ravi as Janani's father
• Rohini as Janani's mother
• Gabriella Charlton as Sumi, Janani's mute sister
• Badava Gopi as Teacher
• Anuradha Krishnamurthy as Senthil's mother
• Sunitha Gogoi as Janani's friend

Production

Aishwarya revealed that the script was written with Shruti Haasan in mind but the actress was unavailable to do the film initially. Subsequently, Aishwarya signed on Amala Paul, after being impressed by her work in Mynaa.^[3] This film’s press meet was held at the Star City Hotel on 5 August 2011 in Chennai with the director, the cinematographer and the lead pair, Dhanush and Amala Paul.^[4]

The film was originally meant to begin its first schedule in October 2011 but in a turn of events, Dhanush had free dates in August and September 2011. However Amala Paul was unavailable to start the film early and left the project, with Shruti Haasan joining the team after her Telugu film was delayed.^[5][6][7]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack and background score is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, cousin of Aishwarya. The single track "Why This Kolaveri Di", written and performed by Dhanush, was initially leaked on the internet. Having noticed its popularity, the makers launched the song as a single. The song became the most searched YouTube video in India, attracting more than 20 million views within 28 days,^[8][9] and was listed by YouTube under the "Recently Most Popular (Gold)" videos.^[10]

Aishwarya denied reports that suggested that another song from the album had leaked.^[11] The soundtrack was released by college students on 23 December 2011 at the St. George's School, Chennai. Although Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan were expected to attend the event,^[12] only Latha Rajinikanth was present.

Soundtrack of the film was also released in Telugu and Hindi.

Release

The satellite rights of the film were secured by Sun TV for a whopping price.^[14] The film was given a "U" certificate by the Indian Censor Board. The film released on 30 March 2012,and it become the blockbuster of the year along with a dubbed Telugu version with English subtitles. It's Hindi dubbed version was supposed to release on 29 May 2012. But it remained unreleased.^[15] The film released with 1000 prints in Tamil.^[16] The film released in 1250 screens worldwide for both versions.

Telugu movie producer and distributor Natti Kumar reportedly said that out of the Rs. 60  million (1.33 million USD approximately) he spent on distribution rights and publicity, he had been able to recover only Rs. 47.0 million (0.83 million USD approximately).^[17]

Critical reception

3 received negative reviews, being positive primarily due to its trending song, Why This Kolaveri Di. Vishnupriya Bhandaram of The Hindu wrote "Aishwarya R. Dhanush takes a twisted look at love and its meaning – when you put someone before your own existence – comes across as profound, underlining theme in the film. It fades out as a moving and tragic ode to romance, to the grand idea called 'love'".^[18] Moviebuzz of Sify called the film "poignant", quoting that "On the whole, 3 has its heart in the wrong place, though the second half seem scattered. Overlook these faults, and make it a point to watch 3".^[19] One India concluded that "3 is an engaging tale backed by wonderful performances of Dhanush and Shruti Hassan" and rated it 15 out of 100.^[20] Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff rated the movie 1.75 out of 5, saying that "There are certain moments in 3 that defy interlogic at times, and sentiment rules the roost, but Aishwarya Dhanush has chosen to very past 40 years a take on romance that is appealing in its dullness. "^[21] L Romal M Singh of DNA India gave the movie 2 stars out of 5, commenting that "We do not think anyone would want to watch the movie again, only because it demands too much from you emotionally. We, however, plan to watch this movie once more and walk out during the interval, we’d advise the romantics to do the same."^[22] I

In rated the film 2.25 out of 5, claiming that "3 is waste and not worth watching in the theatres. Better wait for the DVD or online! It fails to meet the expectations and works only in parts like all regular Dhanush's movies, but Aishwarya had shown promise by taking a funny subject in her very first film".^[23] Behindwoods rated the film 2 stars out of 5, commenting that "3 has bad performances, but is let down by slower narration".^[24] An IANS reviewer gave the movie a negative review, commenting that "Neither a joyous love story nor a serious movie, '3' actually stands in between."^[25] Rohit Ramachandran of NowRunning gave the movie a negative rating of 0.5 on a scale of 5, stating that "3 is a heartless comedy involving mentally imbalanced characters, only one of which is lucky to have been diagnosed. This is not a safe place for you to be."^[26]

Awards

2nd South Indian International Movie Awards

• Best Actor - Dhanush
• Best Lyricist - Dhanush for "Kannazhaga"
• Best Male Playback Singer - Dhanush for "Why This Kolaveri Di"
• Nominated—Best Actress - Shruti Haasan
• Nominated—Best Music Director - Anirudh Ravichander.
• Nominated—Best Male Playback Singer - Mohit Chauhan for "Po Nee Po"
• Nominated—Best Female Playback Singer - Shruti Haasan for "Kannazhaga"
• Nominated—Best Female Playback Singer - Shweta Mohan for "Nee Partha Vizhigal"
• Nominated—Best Debutant Producer - Dhanush
• Nominated—Best Debutant Director - Aishwarya Dhanush

60th Filmfare Awards South

• Best Actor - Dhanush
• Best Male Playback Singer - Dhanush ("Why This Kolaveri Di")^[27] This Kolaveri Di")
• Nominated—Best Actress - Shruti Haasan
• won—Best Music Director - Anirudh

Asiavision Awards

• Excellence in Tamil - Shruti Hassan^[28]

Vijay Awards

• Best Actor - Dhanush
• Best Male Playback Singer - Mohit Chauhan for "Po Nee Po"
• Best Find of the Year - Anirudh
• Nominated—Best Actress - Shruti Haasan
• Nominated—Best Music Director - Anirudh
• Nominated—Favourite Hero - Dhanush
• Nominated—Favourite Heroine - Shruti Haasan
• Nominated—Favourite Song - "Why This Kolaveri Di"

See also

• Bipolar disorder
• Mental illness in film
• List of films featuring mental illness

References

External links

• 3 on IMDb