F3: Fun and Frustration

Following the success of F2: Fun and Frustration (2019), studio owner Dil Raju announced its sequel in February 2019. He added that a third lead actor will be cast for the sequel.[4][5] However, in April 2020, director Ravipudi clarified that there was little space for a third protagonist.[6] In an interview in March 2021, Ravipudi said: "F3 is not a [direct] sequel to F2. It is completely a new story where the leads are seen getting frustrated caused by money."[7]

Venkatesh, Tej, Prasad, Tamannaah and Pirzada are reprising their roles in the sequel. Devi Sri Prasad, who scored the music for F2, is retained as the music composer.[8] Sunil and Murali Sharma signed to play a key roles in the film.[9][10] In April 2021, it was reported that Anjali was cast in the film, though there is no official communication yet.[11] Rajendra Prasad was also set to return with a different role.[12] Venkatesh plays a night blind while Tej's character would be suffering from stuttering.[10] Sonal Chauhan confirmed that her appearance in the film in October 2021, describing her role as a "surprise".[13] In April 2022, Pooja Hegde was signed on for a special song.[14][15]

F3 was formally launched on 6 December 2020.[16] Principal photography of the film began on 26 December 2020 in Hyderabad.[17][18] Varun Tej has joined the production in January 2021.[19][20] Due to COVID-19 pandemic in India, filming was paused from April to June. Filming was planned to be resumed in July 2021 with 10-day long schedule.[21] However, the filming resumed in September 2021.[22] In December 2021, filming took place at Charminar and nearly 85% of the shoot is completed.[23] The talkie portions were wrapped in January 2022 with only a song left to shoot.[24] A special song featuring Hegde was filmed in April 2022 at a specially constructed set at the Annapurna Studios.[25]

F3 was released on 27 May 2022.[30] Earlier, it was scheduled to be released on 27 August 2021,[31] but was deferred due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[32] It was later scheduled to release theatrically on 25 February 2022, but was postponed to avoid clash with Bheemla Nayak which released on that date.[33] Its release date was scheduled as 28 April 2022 but it was again delayed and moved to the current date to avoid clash with Acharya.[34]

The film's pre-release theatrical business stood at ₹72 crore, and needs a worldwide gross over ₹130 crore in order to be a profitable venture.[35]

The satellite rights of the film were sold to Zee Telugu while the digital distribution rights were acquired by Sony LIV and Netflix. F3 was made available for streaming from 22 July 2022 on Sony LIV and on Netflix.[36]

F3 received generally favourable reviews from the critics with praise for the cast and direction.[37][35][38]

Writing for Cinema Express, Murali Krishna Ch called F3 a "laugh-riot." Considering it an improvement over its predecessor, Krishna praised Anil Ravipudi's direction and performances, particularly Venkatesh and Tej.[39] Echoing the same, Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu stated: "the comedy franchise, though uneven, elicits ample laughter, and Venkatesh shines."[40] Balakrishna Ganeshan of The News Minute gave the film a rating of 2.5/5 and wrote "'F3' does not have much of a plot but a series of comedy events keeps the audience engaged".[41]

Neeshitha Nyayapati of The Times of India gave the film a rating of 2.5/5 and compared F3 with the Golmaal franchise, terming it: "loud, messy, sometimes funny".[42] Arvind V of Pinkvilla gave the film a rating of 2.5/5 and wrote "Venkatesh's performance is of quality. Quite a few others show conviction, but somehow, most of them don't get to make a stellar presence".[43] In his review for Deccan Herald, Karthik Keramalu,opined it's a "half-hearted comedy" which Ravipudi got partly correct while praising the comic timing of the lead actors.[44]

Firstpost reviewer Sankeertana Varma criticized the film's logic and story, calling it a "laughable attempt at comedy and entertainment."[45] Manoj Kumar R of The Indian Express gave the film a rating of 1/5 and wrote "Anil is really scraping the bottom of the barrel with the Venkatesh, Varun Tej starrer. His attempts at comedy lack both sincerity and originality".[46]

F3 grossed ₹23 crore (US$2.9 million) worldwide on its opening day, including ₹17 crore (US$2.1 million) from the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.[47] The opening day share of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana together stood at ₹10.37 crore (US$1.3 million).[37] The film grossed ₹58.08 crore (US$7.3 million) in its opening weekend.[48] In its first week, the film grossed ₹80.4 crore (US$10 million), with a distributor's share of ₹48.17 crore (US$6.0 million).[49] After theatrical run ends, the film's total gross collection stood at ₹134 crore (US$17 million) worldwide.[50][51]