ELSS funds have a three year lock-in compared to other funds. If your life goals demand liquidity earlier than that you should be looking at open ended equity funds with no lock in.
Now while a 3 year lock-in appears high, compared to PPF it is much less. PPF has a lock-in of 15 years. Most insurance policies which masquerade as investments have a 10 year lock in (in fact surrender is not a viable option in them).
The following shows the return comparison between these options too.
Invest in a direct mutual fund platform such as Jama.co.in