The Muni franchise holds a wonderful track record at the box office, especially, the previous part, Kanchana 2 ended up as a blockbuster that released during the summer of 2015. On the same lines, the next instalment of the franchise, Kanchana 3 has hit the screens as this year's summer treat for the kids and family audience. Has the film lived up to its expectations and does it happen to be a fulfilling entertainer? Here is our review! 

There is nothing much to talk about the film's story as it travels on the templated usual path used by masala horror films, especially the Muni series. Raghava is happy with his family that includes his mother, brother, sister-in-law, and a niece until an unusual mystery starts following them. There is a ghost, it has a wish to be fulfilled, it needs to kill the antagonist. It kills the evil forces and Raghava is once again happily back with his family, and then... Of course, a lead to Muni - 5 (Kanchana 4)!

Right from the beginning till the end you never find a tinge of freshness in the screenplay or the scenes. Before entering the cinema hall, you should be well prepared that you are going to watch a mindless masala film that will be loud and over the top. The entire first half is completely flat and in the name of comedy, you are forced to see a compiled set of boring scenes. The slapstick comedy is overdone to a larger extent.

If it was enjoyable in the first part, it is better to be left with the same impact. Treating the scenes the same way for more than 10 years is not just spoiling the experience, but also, dilutes the funny impact of the former's scenes. The hip comedy might irritate the audience. Lawrence doesn't spare even a single person in the film. He hops on to his mother, then his sister-in-law, then for a change, the heroines, Oviya, Vedhika, and Nikki Tamboli hop on him, one after another. This doesn't happen just once. To make the scenes look funnier, exaggerated acting is seen, but the intended humour isn't transferred to the audience.

The artificially dramatizing performances from Kovai Sarala, Devadarshini, and Sriman do not count as a humour. Probably, a section of the audience might enjoy that style too. The old-school treatment in the writing and the execution doesn't fit into 2019 template and it is important for Lawrence to shift the style.

It is high time that the actors and directors stop calling the heroines as 'figure' in films. Kanchana 3 stands out in that aspect. Usually, we see a villain or a hero, while talking with his friend, addressing a heroine as a 'figure'. In Kanchana 3, the entire family calls their house girls as figure. Lawrence's dialogue to his grandfather goes like, "Figure-nga enga?! (where are the figures)". Later in a scene, Oviya says, "Unakkaga dhaan glamour ah dress panitu vandhrukken (I've dressed in glamour suit just for you)" , followed by Vedhika who says, "Naan over glamour ah vandhrukken", and for her part, Nikki tries to seduce Lawrence.

Kovai Sarala too calls Vedhika as a figure in a sequence. We wouldn't have seen a family like this before. All the three heroines have been completely wasted and they are used for complete skin show. It is better left to not talk about the usage of heroines in the film.

Similarly, the horror scenes also never allows you to skip a beat as it is poorly executed. The dialogues in the flashback portions just elevate the mass of Raghava Lawrence. It is a known fact that he is a socially responsible actor and he runs a trust for differently abled children. You see exactly the same thing in the film as well and he says the 'Raghavendra Kadavul' dialogue. You get confused if you are watching a film or a Raghava Lawrence speech in a stage.

The screenplay doesn't engage you with the proceedings except for a very handful of sequences. For example, the intermission sequence does look quite decent, as it is the same scene which we saw in Kanchana. The similar interval block helps and also, the 'Therinjrucha' reference brings back the nostalgic Kanchana connect. The film could have more such interesting references. The song placements are bad and not even a single song fits the situation. The flashback has two song sequences and was there a need for the song between Kaali (Lawrence again) and Rosy? The VFX work in the horror scenes and the duet song look tacky and amateur.

On the positve side, the flashback portions has some good emotions that will connect with the family audiences. Though the impact isn't that great, as the first part of the Kanchana series, it does sound to be a pacifying factor. Lawrence's performance as Raghava is plastic, however, as Kaali, he scores. As the saviour of his people, Kaali's justifying portrayal holds the pulse of the flashback. The background music by Thaman is loud, but at the same time, has some good intense scores. The visuals and editing are functional, while the songs aren't interesting. 

In a nutshell, Kanchana 3 is a weakly made, over the top masala filled commercial drama that might interest you if you found Kanchana 2 to be your favourite. If you did not like Kanchana 2, you are going to have a tough time coping up with this third franchise of the Kanchana series.