'Aranmanai 4' Review: Negatives overpower positives in Sundar C's ...

Director Sundar C's 'Aranmanai 4', starring himself, Tamannaah Bhatia and Raashii Khanna, is a template horror-comedy that has more negatives than positives. With little laughs, the film is full of redundant ideas. Read our review.

Sundar C's 'Aranmanai 4' released in theatres on May 3.

The 'Aranmanai' franchise is particularly a favourite amongst young children and family audiences. The film, especially when played on TV, gets good ratings and has that kind of repeat value. However, over the years, the horror comedy genre has been milked the most. Has Sundar C been able to reinvent himself with 'Aranmanai 4'? Let's find out.

Saravanan (Sundar C) is a lawyer living with his aunt (Kovai Sarala). One day, he gets the news that his eloped sister Selvi (Tamannaah Bhatia) died by suicide after the death of her husband. Saravanan, who is grieving the loss of his sister Selvi, goes to Kovur, to take care of his sister's children.

Upon his arrival, Saravanan learns that Selvi could not have died by suicide. He digs deeper to find out what happened to his sister and her husband. He takes the help of the local doctor, Maya (Raashii Khanna), and the villagers to unravel the truth.

If you have watched the three installments of 'Aranmanai', there's nothing much new in terms of the storyline and the template. In 'Aranmanai 4', we are introduced to Baak, who is a flesh-eating and shape-shifting spirit. The horror-comedy also deals with the 'good vs evil' formula and we see two spirits fighting it out for different reasons.

The first half of 'Aranmanai 4' is tedious to sit through as neither the horror nor the comedy work. Kovai Sarala's screeching voice makes it worse. As expected, a horde of comedians including Yogi Babu, VTV Ganesh, Motta Rajendran and late actor Seshu tried their best to bring in laughs. But, their age-old jokes do more harm than good. 'Aranmanai 4' takes its sweet time to get into the story, and it's a problem. By the time we are invested, we're already rolling our eyes at the ridiculousness unfolding on screen.

Here's the trailer:

Sundar C's 'Aranmanai 4' takes off in the last act. That is when the comedy actually works. We get an 'Avengers' callback and a surprise cameo, which will make the 90s kids happy. The climax is what saves 'Aranmanai 4' from drowning.

The film is high on production values and the effort that has gone into art direction is visible on screen. But, how is this of use if you don't have a solid screenplay that could hold your attention throughout? If the horror-comedy is limited to two high moments, that speaks volumes about the screenplay.

'Aranmanai 4' also ends up being unintentionally funny even in serious circumstances, thanks to the poor execution of certain interesting ideas. Performances by Sundar C, Tamannaah and Raashi Khanna are adequate to lift the film.

If you are into the 'Aranmanai' franchise and willing to overlook the glaring logical loopholes, this could be the film for you.

2 out of 5 stars for 'Aranmanai 4'.