Artham

Artham
Poster designed by Gayathri Ashokan
Directed by	Sathyan Anthikkad
Produced by	Suriya Chandralal
Screenplay by	Venu Nagavally
Based on	Ethir Katru by Subha
Starring	Mammootty Sreenivasan Murali Saranya Jayaram Parvathy
Music by	Johnson
Cinematography	Vipin Mohan
Edited by	K. Rajagopal
Production company	Chanthu Films
Distributed by	Mudra Arts
Release date	28 July 1989 (1989-07-28)
Running time	135 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Artham (Malayalam: അര്‍ത്ഥം, English: The Meaning) 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 (1990).

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.