Aranmanai 3 (2021) is the third installment in the popular Tamil horror-comedy franchise, directed by Sundar C, who also stars in the film. The story revolves around a haunted palace and the dark secrets that it holds, blending elements of horror and comedy to create an engaging narrative.
The film begins with a young Jyothi (Raashi Khanna) who encounters a spirit in her home, terrifying her. Her father, Rajasekhar (Sampath Raj), resents Jyothi as her mother died giving birth to her. Believing she is lying for attention, he angrily sends her to a boarding school. Many years later, a court ruling forces Rajasekhar to open a secret room at the village temple. Rajasekhar is terrified and angry at the ruling and is relieved when they find nothing inside the room. Soon after, Rajasekhar's manservant and driver, Durai, dies by electrocution. Jyothi, now an adult, returns for Durai's funeral and falls in love with her childhood sweetheart, Saravanan (Arya). Jyothi realizes that the spirit that haunted her is now haunting her young relative, Shalu. Jyothi is later lured to her late mother's room and nearly killed by a falling chandelier, but a portrait of her late mother, Eeshwari (Andrea Jeremiah), saves her. She later has another encounter with both Eeshwari's spirit and the spirit haunting Shalu.
One night, Shalu argues with the hostile spirit and is doused in paint thinner. She is chased by flames and rescued by her father, Ravi (Sundar C). Jyothi convinces Ravi to investigate the mysterious occurrences for Shalu's sake. Ravi investigates Eeshwari's room and discovers a photo of Jyothi’s parents with three servants, with the faces of two servants scratched out. He encounters Eeshwari's spirit, and the third servant in the photo gets murdered shortly after. Ravi and Jyothi bring priests to exorcise the palace. They trap one of the two ghosts, but the other appears and destroys the trap, revealing that it has possessed Saravanan. Ravi tells Jyothi that this spirit is Eeshwari, who was responsible for the murders and the attack on Jyothi.
Rajasekhar is spooked by the deaths and visits Saamiyaadi, a hermit priest. Saravanan attacks the pair. Ravi manages to rescue Rajasekhar, but Saamiyaadi is left behind and is confronted by Eeshwari. Rajasekhar reveals the truth to Ravi. He had forcibly married Eeshwari after falling for her at her wedding to Saamiyaadi's son, Samikannu. When their child is born, the child resembles Samikannu, and Rajasekhar realizes she had already been pregnant at the wedding. A furious Rajasekhar has the child secretly killed and buried in the palace, then stabs Eeshwari, killing her. He replaces the dead child with Durai's newborn daughter and claims her as his own.
Raashi Khanna as Jyothi
Arya as Saravanan
Sundar C as Ravi
Andrea Jeremiah as Eeshwari (Spirit)
Sampath Raj as Rajasekhar (Zamindar)
Yogi Babu as Abhishek
Vivek as Sigamani
Manobala as Manobala
Nalini as Nalini
