3

Story:

3 is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language romantic psychological thriller film written and directed by Aishwarya R. Dhanush, the ex-wife of the actor Dhanush, who also produced the film, thus making their debut in both the fields. He also played the lead role alongside Shruti Haasan, whilst Sivakarthikeyan and Sunder Ramu appear in prominent roles. The film follows Ram (Dhanush) and Janani (Shruti Haasan), two intermediate sweethearts who eventually get married. However, Janani is mystified when Ram commits suicide all of a sudden and she tries to find out the truth behind his death.

PLOT

At Ram’s funeral, his wife Janani hallucinates about him running away, and the film flashes back to when Ram and Janani were 12th-grade students when Ram helps Janani fix her bicycle and tells his friends Senthil and Kumaran that he has a crush on her. He joins her tuition, in order to see her every day, in the hopes that she will reciprocate his love for her. As time goes by, she eventually reciprocates his love.

After Janani is awoken by her maid, she tries to hunt for Ram’s friend, Senthil, for knowing the mystery behind Ram’s death. Janani enquires about Senthil’s parents but she doesn’t find any clue. Later, Janani finds a suicide letter from Ram in his coat. She again requests Senthil’s parents to convince Senthil to help Janani and she asks him to reveal what they were hiding from her. A distraught Senthil tells Janani that when she was leaving for the US, Kumaran got married and he went to Singapore.

Upon finding out that his two friends have moved on, Ram hallucinates and almost drowns when he tries to swim past a beach but is saved by Senthil. Senthil doesn’t suspect anything strange and just thinks that this happened because Ram was drunk. Later on, one day when Ram took a 3.2 crore loss, he lost his control and he accidentally kills Janani’s pet dog, Tom. This leads Senthil to consult a doctor and notices him being strange having extreme emotions, the primary emotions being despair or anger. Senthil tells a doctor about Ram’s actions, the doctor reveals it might be bipolar disorder, and if bipolar disorder is not treated, It could lead to suicide. When Senthil tries to warn Ram by inviting him to spend nights out with him, Ram loses his sense of control and attacks Senthil with a bottle, and chair, and he leaves the place. Later, Senthil finds Ram unconscious on the road.

The visit from the doctor confirms Ram has severe bipolar disorder, but Ram refuses to get admitted to Hospital because of his love for Janani. To stay away from Janani, Ram goes on a pilgrimage, causing further anguish. Janani takes notice of Ram’s absurd behavior and she asks Ram why he is acting weird. Later, at a club, Ram picks a fight with a drunkard who was misbehaving with Janani. Later, Ram and Senthil are beaten up by the gang of the drunkard’s friends. When the drunkard tries to kill him, Ram beats them up and incapacitates them. That night, Ram and Senthil get back home with wounds. Janani becomes restless seeing Ram injured. After this incident, Ram decides not to reveal his condition to Janani. Ram spends time in the hospital as his condition worsens. Janani becomes frustrated with Ram for not telling her where he goes, and why. Janani suspects Ram of having an extramarital affair. Janani lashes out at Ram and she cries. After a while, Ram, in a manic state, he tries to kill Janani, unbeknownst to her (since she was in a deep sleep) but is stopped by Senthil. This makes Ram feel guilty.

Ram requests his father to transfer his company shares to Janani, and Ram wants Senthil to leave him to see Janani. Senthil refuses, and Ram suddenly bashes Senthil’s head against a steering wheel, rendering him unconscious. Ram tearfully says goodbye to Senthil and he leaves the car. In the present, Senthil and Janani are crying profusely. As Ram goes to Janani’s bedroom and he watches her sleep, he suddenly hallucinates seeing a young girl saying “Either kill her or you die.” Terrified, Ram immediately gets away from her bed. Ram goes to his office and he writes a suicide note while the hallucinations continue. Ram grabs a knife and struggles to kill himself. In the present Janani is wailing in grief as she learns her husband’s fate. The film ends with Ram committing suicide by slitting his throat and saying his final words, “I love you, Janani”.

The movie includes a message at the end that “Suicide is not a solution. Bipolar disorder can be treated with proper medical help.”