Harshini S V
Debutant Prem Anand is well aware of the world he is building in the third part of the Diilluku Dhuddu horror comedy franchise. Done and dusted with the flashback of the ghosts in the very first scene, DD Returns starts on a better note and maintains the rhythm throughout.
What undoes most of the super cool pay-offs in horror comedies is the often underwhelming buildup part. It is here you see the smartness in Prem Anand’s writing. Right before the film reaches its horror-comedy zone, you get a heist comedy that keeps you entertained.
Though the double-meaning or body-shaming jibes that often make their appearance in this genre are left out, you can’t seem to take the pant-jokes out of it. Even though these remain laughable to an extent, such scenes overstay their welcome.
Do watch out for all kinds of wacky callbacks like the parody of the iconic step from ‘Oo Antava Oo Oo Antava’. Sometimes, the film unintentionally does so like the scene where it recreates the “pei kum pei kum sanda atha oore pakkuthu (the whole town's watching the fight between two ghosts)” moment from the Kanchana films.
While DD Returns gets the jokes right, the same cannot be said of its horror or thriller elements. But despite these minor distractions, the laughs never run out in the film which has Santhanam in his prime form and the whole Kollywood comedy troupe in it.