''Artham'' () is a 1989 Indian Malayalam-language

action thriller film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by

Sathyan Anthikkad Sathyan Anthikad is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and lyricist who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. In a career spanning five decades he has directed more than 50 films, been the lyricist for 12 films and been the scriptwriter ...

and written by

Venu Nagavally Venu Nagavally (16 April 1949 – 10 September 2010) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and director best known for his work in Malayalam film industry. He has directed 12 films. Son of writer, commentator, and broadcaster Nagavally R. S. Kuru ...

. It stars

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, ...

Sreenivasan Sreenivasan (born 6 April 1956) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, dubbing artist and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Sreenivasan has starred in over 225 films. Sreenivasan wrote the screenplays of films such a ...

Murali Murali may refer to: People Mononyms *Murali (Malayalam actor) (1954–2009), name of Malayalam film actor Muraleedharan Pillai, who appeared in ''Neythukaran'' and ''Aadhaaram'' *Murali (Tamil actor) (1964–2010), Tamil actor who appeared ...

, Saranya, in lead roles along with Parvathy, Mamukkoya,

Philomina Philomina (1926 – 2 January 2006) was an Indian actress, who worked in the Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. She acted in more than 750 films in her career. She played mostly character and comedy roles, besides that of mother and gra ...

Mohan Raj Mohanarajan (13 November 1955 – 3 October 2024), professionally credited as Mohan Raj, also known as Keerikkadan Jose, was an Indian actor and assistant enforcement officer. He primarily worked in Malayalam, Telugu, and Tamil languages, an ...

Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair (16 October 191611 March 1997) was an Indian poet, playwright, script writer, lyricist, orator, film director and actor, though he is best known as an actor in Malayalam cinema. He is the recipient of Padma Shri fr ...

Sukumari Sukumari Amma (6 October 1940 – 26 March 2013) was an Indian actress best known for her works in Malayalam and Tamil films. In a career spanning more than five decades, She has appeared in more than 2500 films predominantly in Malayalam, T ...

Jagannatha Varma K. N. Jagannatha Varma (1 May 1939 – 20 December 2016) was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam film and television industry. He was also a Kathakali artist. His son Manu Varma is also an artist and his son-in-law Viji Thampi is a film d ...

, and

Oduvil Unnikrishnan Oduvil Unnikrishnan (13 February 1943 – 27 May 2006) was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam cinema. He has portrayed supporting roles in both dramatic and comedic roles.The HindMalayalam film actor Oduvil Unnikrishnan dead He is a four- ...

in other pivotal roles.

Jayaram Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965), is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Bhojpuri language films. He is also a chenda ...

plays a cameo role. The music was composed by

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

. The film is an adaptation of the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

detective novel ''Ethir Katru'' by Subha. The story revolves around a loner and award-winning novelist Ben Narendran (Mammootty) who seeks revenge against the forces who murdered his dear friend Janardanan (Jayaram). Joining in Narendran's aid are journalist Manasa (Saranya) and Advocate P. S. Nenmara (Sreenivasan). It was also later adapted in

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...

as '' Ethir Kaatru'' (1990).

Plot

The movie starts with a loner named Ben Narendran writing a suicide note. He mentions that he is committing suicide as he has nothing to do with his life. He chooses to jump in front of the train to perform the act. He waits for the train but ends up saving another young man named Janardanan who has the same intention. Janardanan has committed a murder out of desperation and is scared of revenge. Narendran consoles him and offers to take the blame of the murder so that Janardanan can live freely. Narendran gets sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. While in jail, he writes a book haranalayamunder the pen name "Ben" which becomes immensely popular. He is also given an award by the state, but his true identity is never revealed. Journalist Manasa discovers that the author is behind bars and tries to get a parole for him. Though Narendran is not initially interested, he eventually applies for parole and is granted 28 days of parole so that he can receive the award in person. Once out of jail, Narendran gets word that Janardanan has died mysteriously. He, with the help of Manasa and his advocate P S Nenmara, sets out on a mission to find the culprits. Janardanan's family, who initially reluctant to help them due to fear, later reveales that, a Mr. Nambiar and his henchmen are behind this. They have now employed Janardanan's sister Geeta, who is blackmailed to work for them. She is killed by Mr. R K Nambyar when they find out she revealed their secrets to Narendran. On the final day of his parole, Narendran has to attend his award ceremony but he first finishes, Mr. RK Nambyar and his men. He then attend the ceremony and reveal that he killed for the first time but he feels justice is served now. He finally feels that there is now a meaning (Artham -Film title) in his otherwise aimless life. He then voluntarily surrenders in front of police.

Cast

as Ben Narendran *

as Adv. P. S. Nenmara *

Saranya Ponvannan Saranya Ponvannan (born Sheela Christina) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam and a few Kannada language films. She also acted in one Hindi movie '' Chup: Revenge of the Artist'' in 2022. Saranya made ...

as Manasa *

as R. K. Nambyar *

as Janardanan(cameo) * Parvathi as Geetha * Kollam Thulasi as Jaleel * Mamukkoya as Kunjikannan *

as house owner *

as Sukumaran, Janardanan's father *

as Janardanan's mother *

(Keerikkadan Jose) as Stanley *

as Warrier *

as Ananthan *

Karamana Janardanan Nair Karamana Janardanan Nair (25 July 1936 – 24 April 2000) was a Malayalam film actor, who was active during the 1980s and 1990s. He was especially known for his character roles. He won wide acclaim especially for the role of the protagonis ...

as George Zachariah *Azeez as David *Jagannathan as bookshop owner *Sindhu Varma

Soundtrack

Lyrics by Kaithapram. *"Shyaamambaram Neele" (male) - K J Yesudas *"Shyaamambaram Neele" (female) - K S Chitra

Box office

The film was one of the biggest hits of 1989. It had also marked the

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

debut of actress, Saranya (in her mother-tongue).

References

External links

* 1980s Malayalam-language films 1989 films Films directed by Sathyan Anthikad Indian action thriller films Malayalam films remade in other languages Films shot in Thiruvananthapuram Films scored by Johnson 1989 thriller films {{1980s-Malayalam-film-stub