HIT: The 3rd Case

The HIT franchise, which began with a promising start, has unfortunately seen a steady decline in narrative quality and originality with each installment.

HIT-1, while not without flaws, stood out for introducing the investigation thriller genre to mainstream Telugu cinema. The storytelling had noticeable shortcomings-particularly in pacing and a rather underwhelming, even silly, climax. However, it managed to keep audiences reasonably engaged with its freshness and novelty, which contributed to its success.

HIT-2, though attempting to build upon its predecessor, ended up being a weaker effort overall. Despite a few intriguing elements, the film suffered from a lack of narrative depth and an even less impactful climax. The genre conventions felt overly familiar, and the execution lacked the tension and originality expected from a thriller, making it feel like a retread of what we've seen before-only with less conviction.

HIT-3, regrettably, falls further down the slope. It leans heavily on violence and genre clichés, offering very little in terms of fresh content or emotional engagement. The film feels like a generic action thriller with a glossy exterior-thanks largely to improved production values and a notable star cast-but devoid of substance.

The first half trudges through a formulaic investigation arc that adds no innovation to the narrative. The second half abruptly shifts into a survival-action mode, seemingly inspired by the John Wick franchise, but lacks its finesse or justification. The action is over-the-top, the violence excessive, and the plot twists are painfully predictable. As a result, the film loses credibility and emotional connection with the audience.

Overall, HIT-3 feels overly cinematic and detached from reality, sacrificing depth for style. It's unfortunate that a franchise that began with potential has now become an exercise in style over substance.

Nani serves as the heart of the film - this time he confronts a ruthless syndicate called CTK which believes in killing people brutally and selling their organs - this group has a registered website and the killings are executed following due procedures - will he be able to apprehend them and stop the massacre - will he be able to mend ties with his dad - action is over the top - running time needs to be reduced by 15 minutes - audiences should brace themselves for the fourth installment.

#HITTheThirdCase rating 3/5, director Sailesh Kolanu, heroine Srinidhi Shetty, released in cinemas on 1 May 2025.

Did HIT the 3rd case really do justice to the first 2 cases? The answer is yes, it justice. The way the movie present the story and the characters really impressive. The character of Nani as Arjun Sarkar a violent and arrogant officer and Pratik Babbar as a psychopath was mind-blowing. The first half of the movie really perfect but the 2nd half was crazy ever. The climax keeps you shocked. The performance of every character specially Nani give justice to the story line and the way the character written. It's going to be a blockbuster. And now coming to the cameos it was a wow moment for me and the last cameo which setup the 4th part of the movie really work and I'm excited for it's part 4. But one problem that I have is what happened to the first case actor Vishwask Sen, why he is still not coming to any part and and what happened to him is still a mystery? I wanna see him in this universe once again. But go to theatre and enjoy the movie, I suggest you to not to miss this movie.

HIT was a suspense, murder mystery thriller.

This was more of an action movie.

I was promised Biryani, I got Korean fire noodles.

It's not bad, but it was not what was promised.

This is not subverting expectations.

And this too fell into the recent trend of gore-action, follows in the same path as leo, kill, marco etc.

What next?

We went from blood, hitting women, dismembering body parts, killing kids, what's next?

Audience will get used to this too.

And to give the shock factor, the makers will have to up the violence. So what's next?

Yes, people may like it. Movie will make money.

But it's not my cup of tea.

If i want tea, I'll go buy tea, don't sell me coffee, and ask wasn't it nice.

TLDR: If you're a fan of HIT series, you can treat it as a normal movie and skip.

If you just want to watch a movie, you can consider it.

As expected, the movie is more of a brutal action thriller with survival element, than a procedural investigative thriller, so yeah, that's bit disappointing I had so many apprehensions about Nani's portrayal in this movie, but surprisingly, he's the major asset of the film, he get the attitude and pitch of the character right, though lacks the physique to make those action scenes look believable, nothing much to speak about rest of the cast First half is good, keeps you hooked throughout, despite the lack of high. But the second half is a bummer, becoming a survival drama with heavy dose of violence, and one too many cameos Technically, movie lacks technical finesse, cinematography by Sanu Varghese is so shaky in those action scenes, which already look so routine and nothing outstanding, second half needed some editing by Karthika Srinivas, music and BGM by Mickey are generic and Dull.

Coming to Sailesh Kolanu, his major strengths are attention to details in those investigations, sadly he deviated from them since Saindhav and HIT 3 suffers the same fate

BOTTOMLINE: WATCH FOR NANI WITH EXPECTATIONS IN CHECK.