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

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combi ...

directed by Sathyan Anthikkad and written by Venu Nagavally. 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 films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada ...

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 as ...

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

Mamukkoya Mamukkoya (born 5 July 1946) is an Indian actor known for his work in Malayalam cinema, and has also appeared in French film ''Flammens of Paradise''. He has mostly appeared in comedic roles. His unique usage of the Mappila dialect and style ma ...

, Philomina,

Mohan Raj Mohan Raj, better known by his stage name Keerikkadan Jose, is an Indian actor who works in Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu-language films. Personal life Mohan Raj is married to Usha. They have two daughters, Jaishma and Kaaviya. He is settled ...

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 from ...

, Sukumari,

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 dir ...

, 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) known mononymously as Jayaram, is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam,Tamil cinema, Tamil films, along with a few Telugu cinema, Telugu films. He is also a chend ...

plays a cameo role. The music was composed by

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

. The film is an adaptation of the Tamil 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, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywo ...

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 sets out on a mission to find the culprits and destroy those who caused his death.

Cast

as Ben Narendran *

as Adv. P. S. Nenmara * Saranya Ponvannan as Manasa * Murali as R. K. Nambyar *

as Janardanan(cameo) * Parvathi as Geetha *

Kollam Thulasi Kollam Kanjaveli Kuttilazhikathu Thulasidharan Nair is an actor in Malayalam cinema, who is better known as Kollam Thulasi relating to the name of his birthplace Kollam to his first name as customary in some parts of Kerala Kerala ( ; ) ...

as Jaleel *

as Kunjikannan * Philomina as house owner *

as Sukumaran, Janardanan's father * Sukumari as Janardanan's mother *

(Keerikkadan Jose) as Stanley *

as Warrier *

as Ananthan * Karamana Janardanan Nair 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.

References

External links

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