Aranmanai 4 movie review: A template Sundar C horror-comedy aimed at the masses

The Aranmanai franchise has worked for director Sundar C in the past and he is back with the fourth installment.

While some may have disliked his previous Aranmanai films, the audience just can’t seem to get enough of them as Aranmanai 3 released in 2021 turned out to be one of the most commercially successful ones of the year.

Aranmanai 4 also follows a similar template that combines horror-comedy and moments of fun for the kids which brings in the family audience. Given that it’s a summer release, the family audience may just find it that whets their appetite like Aranmanai 3.

The premise

At the heart of Aranmanai 4 is a large house in the middle of a forest, a supernatural force, a ghost, numerous comic characters, several kids, a godman, pretty women, poojas, a song in honour of the Gods and Sundar C himself who comes to save the day. The story in this film revolves around Selvi (Tamannaah Bhatia) and her husband (Santhosh Prathap) who reside in a large house in the forest with their two kids. They are living a relatively happy life when for some unknown reason her husband suddenly tries to kill her and the kids. The kids survive this horrendous attack but the couple don’t and cops intimate Selvi’s brother, lawyer Saravanan (Sundar C), about this horrible incident. Saravanan and his aunt (Kovai Sarala) rush from the city to Selvi’s place and Saravanan decides to investigate what really happened.

As Saravanan probes into the entire tragedy along with the police, numerous unexplained deaths start to take place, along with the emergence of a ghost in their house. Maestry (Yogi Babu) and Carpenter (VTV Ganesh) were helping Selvi’s husband with his work and they also begin to help Saravanan in his investigation. Now, we also have Dr Maya’s (Raashi Khanna) grandfather (Delhi Ganesh) living in the house as he has been entrusted with the house. The plan is to sell the house so Maya can build a hospital and do social service.

During Saravanan’s investigation he discovers a godman who seems to know more about this ghost and when the cops catch him, he reveals there’s another evil presence as well. Why is the ghost haunting Selvi’s house? What is this other evil presence? How can they prevent the deaths taking place and get rid of this presence? How does Saravanan manage to protect his family and does he find out what really happened to Selvi and her husband?

The performances

Director Sundar C has ensured he has added more cast members to this franchise and along with the above-mentioned cast, we also have director KS Ravikumar, Rajendran, Singampuli, Vichu Vishwanath, and V Jayaprakash. Thus, we have at least four comedians to give us some laughs while the glamour quotient is provided by Raashi Khanna. Given the large cast, many of them just come and go (as expected) and no one really stands out as we have seen them all perform similar roles in other films as well. Tamannaah Bhatia, who is central to the story, essays the role of an emotional mother quite admirably and Raashi Khanna too has delivered as Maya. But it is Khushbu (who is married to Sundar C) and Simran’s special appearance in the second half of the film which was a pleasant surprise and amped up the film.

Final thoughts

Sundar C’s Aranmanai series is meant for the masses who just want to entertained without too much of logic – they want some jump scares, some funny dialogues and comical exchanges between the cast, some fights, some element of faith, a thumping song and the climax where the evil is vanquished and everyone’s a happy family once again. With four installments now, the director seems to have aced the concept because this is exactly what Aranmanai 4 is all about as well. Aranmanai 4 is timepass and if you go in with no expectations, you will not come out raving about the film but you won’t come out bitterly disappointed either.