3BHK movie review: Sarathkumar and Siddharth’s film has a spacious heart even as melodrama rents it

3BHK plot:

Middle class family, Vasudevan and wife Shanthi along with their two children Prabhu and Aarti’s only ambition is to save up money and buy a house of their own. The dream seems easy written on paper than done, as they go through a lot over a period of time. But do they finally have a roof to call their own?

3BHK review:

What is home? The answer might come with a gazillion of ideas and emotions. But for a majority, it refers to a geographical location which has a roof of their own, consisting of a room whose blueprint is on their fingertips, a washroom which is their safe space and a kitchen which is the source for the home-cooked meals. And for Vasudevan’s family, it is not any less different. After fighting for their own rooms, being flooded with rainwater, with increasing rent and decreasing space, and what not, it is only natural that Vasudevan (Sarathkumar), Shanthi (Devyani), Prabhu (Siddharth) and Aarti (Meetha Raghunath) want to have a space they call it their own. 3BHK has laid out the dream of every middle-class family, and makes an emotional drama which has heart in its right place, that you tend to forget some melodrama it comes with.

Also read: 3BHK 2025: Release date, trailer, runtime, OTT partner, plot and everything you need to know about Siddharth and Sarathkumar’s new family drama

3BHK moves through the various stages of Vasudevan’s family, and as much as we are told that it is the dream of all four of them to buy a house, the film majorly takes the sides of men in charting out the screenplay, even if it is the women, in this case Aarti who charts out the buying plan. It is the story of Vasudevan who struggles to move forward from ledgers to computers, and Prabhu who becomes one of the sheep in the herd that strives for a well-earning job. In a delightful exchange of ideology, we see Prabhu leaving his IT job to pursue a mechanic-oriented factory floor job, as Vasudevan passes the Tally software exam that his job wants him to get updated. In such instances 3BHK gets real and rooted to its middle-class origin. 3BHK thrives in such spaces.

The film is also honest to its setting of a middle-class mindset where men are given the upper-hand; when Prabhu who is dull at studies gets to go to private school at the cost of an intelligent Aarti’s education at a government school. Patriarchy is a recurring theme in 3BHK. As much as we see Prabhu’s constant failures and chances get a lion’s share of importance, Aarti’s prominence is less shown than said. It is not that the film intends to make the story about the men, or rather it wants to tell the story of middle-class where women take the back seat naturally. 3BHK cannot be boxed as it is a film which shows that sometimes money plays the deciding factor; when Prabhu’s marriage gets fixed with an alliance (which feels like he is being sold) almost, up and until he chooses to decide for himself for the first time in his life. 3BHK is in that spot where it chooses to show the discriminating reality while also almost not calling it out.

Undoubtedly, 3BHK is a film which is led by its cast; honest performances from Siddharth, Meetha, Sarathkumar and Devyani, aided by Chaithra Achar in her Tamil debut (read in this particular order). There is a level of honesty with which the film runs on, the sheer ambition that drives the middle-class to work harder and battle a society where winning does not come easily. But when they do so, it feels personal.

3BHK is a film which has its ups and downs. It is a film which shows the reality and its flaws as it is. There is no fluff, and there is no intention to call it out either. With the heart at the right space, the flaws are evident but you can forgive when the film reflects the harsh society, and living conditions. The melodrama is aplenty and sometimes a tad too much, but when the film becomes rooted in reality, you allow it to dwell and so is 3BHK, a spaciously loving film even as melodrama is a tenant.

3BHK review:

3BHK is about dreams, the relentless pursual and has heart at the right place. It is a film which is enclosed with warmth that some cold stares can be ignored. It is that warm hot chocolate that soothes and comforts you, even as it might not be your regular cup of tea that gets you addicted. With noble performances and some reality checks, the film celebrates dreams along with the hardships it comes with. A well-made film.