Movie Review - 3 (Telugu/Tamil/Hindi) - A beautiful tale of love & pain.

"Why This Kolaveri Di" has gone viral, thanks to social media, and that has pulled many people to movie screens on day 1 of the release which is hitherto a rarity for a Dhanush and Shruti Hassan starrer in Telugu. But the audience seldom knew that once they have glued their eyeballs to the screen the central premise would horrendously go wrong!! Welcome to what they call as an experimental cinema that takes you to two different extremes of movie-watching where in you find disconnect between the first and second half in terms of tone and content. Most of the film is narrated in flashback intercut with scenes of real-time. So if you miss the beginning, rack you greycells and scratch the person sitting next to you.

The movie tests the audience's intellect to connect the dots and how they adapt themselves to different surprising and breath-taking moments (once you are into the second half, like many others, you move out of the theatre to get some fresh air, and that makes it really breath-taking) If you have an ability to emote with the lead pair that would be an icing on the cake. You can also pride yourself for two movies being shown for the price of one but that doesn't compensate for what it puts you through. The movie's title '3' is still an enigma to me. Someone please help me decipher this one!!

The acting department takes all the laurels with its lead performers firing on all cylinders. Dhanush is truly awesome and his role as a hardcore lover in the first half and as an emotional husband in the second half is simply superb. His acting in the climax is heart-touching. Shruti Hassan did an equal job and her acting in emotional scenes is very natural & brilliant. Watch out for the music given by the whizkid Anirudh Ravichander. His compositions are brilliant and the BGMs are out of the world. His knowledge of classical piano exuberates in every piece and every scene.

The story-telling capabilities of Aishwarya Dhanush must be lauded to certain extent. She knows how to weave a romance and has given the movie a cheerful texture with an eye on life's little nuances, and the way she managed to make the lead pair effortlessly look like teenagers is magical. Her effective use of some Mani Ratnam-patented-scenes is phenomenal. On the flip side, she must be blamed for the slow narration and lack of homogeneity in the movie. First half is very romantic while the second half is emotional. The movie reminds me of Sarvam (2009) whose narration also goes on the same lines. I am sure these kind of movies don't go well with Telugu audience but it definitely has got soul. Don't know how Hindi audience would react to this one. Watch it to feel the love and pain and if you think you can digest it.