"Ratham" is an Indian Tamil action drama film of 2023, directed and written by C. S. Amudhan. The film stars Vijay Antony, Mahima Nambiar, Nandita Swetha, and Remya Nambeesan. "Ratham" explores the crime underworld, manipulation of media, and conditioning of society.
The story is about "Ranjith Kumar" (Vijay Antony), an investigative journalist, who returns to work following the brutal killing of his close friend "Chezhiyan". The police eliminate the murder as a random act of violence, but Ranjith believes there must be something more to it. He decides to get to the bottom of it and begins to investigate a series of similar murders and discovers that they are not random events but are linked as part of a larger conspiracy.
As Ranjith assembles the pieces of evidence, he exposes a sinister truth: a coordinated underworld that exploits social media, mines personal data, and inducts regular citizens into focused hate crimes. The masterminds behind such activities use psychological profiling and web manipulation to turn innocent citizens into killers, with no trace of their role. With time running out and lives at stake, Ranjith must navigate through a dense mesh of lies, corruption, and cyberwar to reveal the truth. His relentless quest puts him at risk, as the perpetrators will go to any lengths to maintain their secrets.
"Ratham" is an edge-of-the-seat thriller that highlights the sinister side of media manipulation and cyber manipulation. While the film generates suspense with a gripping premise, it occasionally fails in pacing and execution. Vijay Antony does a good job, but the plot twists are somewhat predictable. In spite of negative feedback, the movie manages to provide a thought-provoking interpretation of contemporary crime and its connection to social conditioning, and therefore it is an interesting watch for viewers who enjoy investigative thrillers.