Artham is a 1989 Malayalam-language Indian crime drama film directed by Sathyan Anthikkad and written by Venu Nagavally. It stars Mammootty, Sreenivasan, Murali, Saranya, and Jayaram in the main roles along with Parvathy, Mamukkoya, Philomina, Mohan Raj, Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, Sukumari, Jagannatha Varma, and Oduvil Unnikrishnan in other pivotal roles. The music was composed by Johnson.
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 as Ethir Kaatru.
The movie starts with a loner named Ben Narendran (Mammootty) 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 (Jayaram) 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 [Sharanalayam] under 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 (Saranya) 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.The film became blockbuster and ran over 150 days in Kerala.
