Kanchana 3 trailer: Raghava Lawrence returns to fight supernatural beings in upcoming horror comedy

Raghava Lawrence is back to fight ghosts in his backyard in the trailer of his latest horror thriller offering Kanchana 3, which is gearing up for a worldwide release on 19 April. The film is the fourth installment of the Muni series after Muni, Muni 2: Kanchana, and Kanchana 2: Ganga. The franchise has an extensive fan following and the fact that the upcoming film is backed by Sun Pictures along with Raghavendra Productions, has made it more promising. [caption id=“attachment_6349541” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Raghava Lawrence in a still from Kanchana 3. Screenshot from YouTube[/caption] Kanchana 3’s trailer follows a tried-and-tested horror film recipe to induce fear through a neat concoction of terrifying sound and visual effects. Although the trailer does not have any hair-raising moments, it has all the usual ingredients: a haunted house, a series of rattling noises, a hand emerging from behind the wall, an anonymous ghost (in all Muni films, Lawrence gets possessed by a revenge-seeking ghost). There are some effective reaction shots of Kovai Sarala, Sriman—regulars in the Muni series—while witnessing an exorcism, and the blink-and-you-miss shots of female leads Vedhika, who is making a comeback to the franchise after the 2007 hit Muni, and Oviya, who makes her first appearance in the series. Written and directed by Raghava, Kanchana 3 also stars Nikki Tamboli, Ajay Ghosh and Nedumudi Venu in important roles. Kabir Duhan Singh of Thala Ajith’s Vedalam fame plays the antagonist. The trailer has opened to mixed response among netizens, who thrashed Lawrence’s last two films_, Shivalinga_, and Motta Siva Ketta Siva. Both films bit the dust at the box-office in 2019 before Lawrence announced Kanchana 3 to make a comeback and prove his mojo at the ticket window again. Despite bad reviews from critics, Kanchana 2 went on to become a money-spinning blockbuster at the box-office, collecting nearly Rs 110 crore worldwide. Taapsee Pannu and Nithya Menen played the female leads. Now, the expectations are huge among theater owners and distributors for Kanchana 3, since the release date coincides with the peak summer season in Tamil Nadu. Coincidentally, Kanchana 2 also saw the light of day around the same time (17 April) in 2015. Sun Pictures is expected to leave no stone unturned in marketing the film, which has music composed by Madhan Karky’s DooPaaDoo. Antony Ruben has worked on the film’s editing and has packed the trailer with crowd-pleasing shots. Will Raghava’s loud, over-the-top antics once again find favor in B and C audiences? We have to wait and see since the same viewers rejected his outdated, punch dialogue-heavy cop drama Motta Siva Ketta Siva, which sank without any trace at the box-office. Watch the trailer here.