3BHK Review - A Reflection of Every Single Middle Class Family Out There!

Ashwin Ram

Premise:  A coming-of-age story about a middle class family’s aspiration of buying an own house. The film showcases their step by step journey in achieving their dream.

Writing/ Direction: Director Sri Ganesh has taken a very simple subject, yet that can resonate with every single middle class person across the world, as the film is about a family wishing and working around to buy and live in their own house. Obviously it’s not an overnight possibility like we saw in Suryavamsam, the route taken is a 20-year journey of the family. The emotional portions do connect, their impact could have been harder if there was a little more stay in the conversations. Yet many dialogues make sense and tend to pass on some philosophical values. The coming-of-age angle feels rushed, many internal and financial issues the family face are relatable, but those aspects don’t get the deserving payoffs as the required time is not given. Except for the school portions and the drama around the marriages, there are abrupt jumps in every other plotpoint. One thing that stands tall amidst the flaws is the family bonding, especially the equation between the father-son played by Sarathkumar-Siddharth respectively is explored well. The message the film tries to convey at the end with actor Karthi’s voiceover is deep… that a house and a home are different, house is just a building and a home is where a happy family is residing. But there is a mixed feeling in the way it is portrayed, there is a superb scene where Siddharth quits his job which he was doing for salary-sake and decides to follow his passion. The film could have pulled off a ‘Dragon’ if it was ended there, the extension feels forceful. All said and done, the screenplay is pretty engaging on the whole with plenty of light-hearted moments and situations to root for.

Performances:  Very natural acting from both Siddharth and Sarathkumar, their characterizations and performances are the soul of the film. With more conviction in their makeup and getup that are done to suit the timeline transitions, the output could have been impactful. Good roles for Meetha Raghunath and Sapta Sagaradaache Ello gal Chaithra, they barely had any importance till a point, but suddenly took control towards the end which resulted in the film’s favour. Sadly Devayani’s character needed more flavour as the writing was substandard. Same with Siddharth’s college friend role, it had so much potential, but the right tapping was not done. Casting choices could have been better for some of the supporting artists, they didn’t really fit in the shoes to improve the believability factor.

Technicalities: Varshangalku Shesham music director Amrit Ramnath has been roped in, but he has given just passable songs for a film that has a lot of scope for music, it is not bad or anything, but none of the tracks are memorable enough, the lyrics though, mostly written by the director himself has immense meaning. Background score is slightly overpowering for the emotional stretches, yet it works in the ideal circumstances. Neat camera work, the reactions of the artists have been captured well, many frames excel in placing them with sensible backgrounds denoting the ongoing situations. However it is the filmmaker’s choice to present the story with an infinite time period, the narrative jumps could have been minimalised with some seamless editing but it was missing here. Also, a limitless number of cards have been used to mention the timeline.

Verdict: A relatable story told in quite an engaging manner. Giving more stay and space for the emotional sequences to settle would have highlighted the dramatic aspect, rather than the hurried pace. However, the intent delivers a satisfying watch.

3BHK - A Reflection of Every Single Middle Class Family Out There!

Rating - 3/ 5.