Garudan

<p>A college student named Theresa Philip is , and Harish Madhav is assigned to investigate the case. Salam Kyperi sees the culprit and gives information about him to the police. The police find Sudev V. Rajan, a -based IT professional, whose sample matches the rapist. Through him, Harish learns of Nishanth Kumar, a college professor. Salam identifies Nishanth, and Harish collects evidence to arrest him. Following the laboratory result, police arrest Nishanth and proceeds him before court. Thomas Iype, Harish’s friend, appears for the prosecution and proves that Nishanth is guilty. The court Nishanth to . Seven years later, Theresa remains in a state, and her father, Philip George, suffers from . Harish gets a punishment transfer to the Kerala Armed Police battalion right before his retirement. Nishanth meets his wife Haritha, and daughter after being released from jail, but Haritha avoids him. Harish plans to use his for his son Vijay’s education and decides to live a peaceful life with his wife Sreedevi. He gives a statement against Minister Mathew in a smuggling case. During Harish’s retirement day as the Deputy Commandant, Nishanth files a petition at the to reopen the case, which the court decides to consider. On Iype’s request, Harish steps in to face Nishanth. Harish and Iype visit Salam’s wife and tell her the importance of Salam appearing in court. In court, Iype represents the state, and Nishanth, having earned an during his sentence, opts to defend himself. Nishanth proves Salam is a , and the DNA report submitted by the laboratory director is untrustworthy. He requests the that he be allowed to practice as an advocate and to temporarily suspend his . During the examination, Murugan, a burglar, takes responsibility for assaulting Theresa. Nishanth is proven not guilty, and upon his demand, the judge orders the investigating officer to give ₹70 lakhs as compensation for . Harish suffers humiliation and sends his family to . Nishanth decides to continue as an advocate and starts a new life with his family, who reconciled with after his innocence gets proved. Though Iype thinks they made a mistake, Harish believes he hasn’t. He finds his house in a damaged condition and finds Drake, his pet dog, being killed. Nishanth becomes a suspect, and Harish creates a scene at his house. Harish learns that it was Mathew and his goons who were behind damaging his house and killing Drake. Harish visits Jayadevan, of , and learns how Nishanth impressed Nari Suni, a prisoner with great influence. Harish tells Iype that Nishanth is not someone they expected and that he brilliantly planned to prove himself innocent, which Iype takes as Harish’s assumptions. When Iype visits Harish at his house, Harish tells him about Nishanth’s possible intention to attack Arunima, who joined Nishanth’s office as an intern. While following Arunima, Harish finds her lying unconscious inside a . She wakes up, sees Harish, and misapprehends him, as she knows he has been following her. Varghese Cherian arrests Harish and puts him in . Nishanth learns of Harish’s arrest and decides to appear for him. He visits him in the police lock-up to get an authorization letter signed. Harish tells about Nishanth’s role in Suni’s growth as a wealthy businessman named Sunil Kumar and how he used the witnesses to the case. Harish finally admits that he made only one mistake in Theresa’s case. He concludes the Nishanth attacked Theresa by a practice and it a showed a sign of a psychopath. He thought it was a random incident and he didn’t do a full thorough background profiling. He expresses his doubts about Nishanth’s involvement in Safia Sait’s and Sunita Sharma’s deaths in the past. Nishanth reveals about two other murders he has committed that were unknown to Harish and shows his nature. Nishanth, who arrived after keeping Neethu as a hostage in Harish’s house, tells Harish about it and quickly reaches there. But, Nishanth finds Haritha in place of Neethu and realises that it was all planned by Harish, Cyriac Joseph and Varghese Cherian to trap him and to bring out his killing obsession. At court, Philip informs Harish and Iype about Theresa’s death, and Iype requests the judge to impose an additional charge under against Nishanth. The court tasks the with further investigation, declares Nishanth the accused, and orders Nari Suni, Murugan, and others to be included as co-accused. In the post-credits scene, Mathew and his private secretary are traveling in their vehicle and are blocked by a broke-down truck in an isolated area. Harish approaches Mathew and asks if he’s seen the movie ‘ ‘, showing Drake’s photo. The vehicle instantly gets locked with Mathew and his private secretary inside and the driver missing, which draws fear in them of what is to come next. Jinesh M got the film’s storyline from the he referred to as part of his studies while doing his at in 2015. Jinesh was introduced to Arun Varma through a friend, and later the two discussed some stories from which the story of was selected. Before meeting , Jinesh and Arun had approached many other producers with the story. In 2019, Jinesh and Arun prepared a screenplay for film based on the story. Later, through Listin Stephen, Jinesh and Arun approached , who became part of the script, made changes and rewrote it. The project was officially announced on 15 April 2023 during the occasion of . The film was produced under Listin Stephen’s banner, Magic Frames. The film marks the reunion of Suresh Gopi and Biju Menon after 13 years. They previously acted together in the 2011 film . It also marked the directorial debut of Arun Varma. In an interview with , Arun Varma said that Biju Menon was first approached to play the role of the police officer, but he expressed interest in playing the professor role. Suresh Gopi, who initially intended to play the professor role, later agreed to play the police officer role. Following an announcement in April 2023, the film began on 12 May 2023 in . The filming began with a pooja ceremony in the presence of Abhirami, Thalaivasal Vijay, Midhun Manuel Thomas, Listin Stephen and Major Ravi. Major Ravi lit the first and gave the first clap, while the film’s story writer, Jinesh M, performed the switch-on. Suresh Gopi joined the film set on 15 May 2023. Biju Menon joined the set at the beginning of July after completing his shoot for ‘s film. at was also used for filming. Apart from Kochi, was another main shooting location. The shoot took place for 75 days on three schedules. The entire filming up on 19 August 2023 in Kochi and entered work. Suresh Gopi completed his dubbing portions in the first week of October 2023. The songs and background score are composed by in his third collaboration with Magic Frames, following and in 2022. The film was censored with a U/A certificate by the . A preview of the film was held at at on 2 November 2023. was released in theatres on 3 November 2023. acquired the digital rights and began streaming it on 1 December 2023. reportedly collected ₹1.15 crore on its opening day. The film grossed a total of ₹5.25 crores from the Kerala box office, in its first five days. The film grossed ₹16.3 crore in Kerala, ₹1.5 crore in the rest of India, and ₹9.55 crore overseas, totaling ₹27.35 crore worldwide and thereby becoming a commercial success. It earned $17,343 in the United Kingdom, $9,922 in Australia, and $4,818 in New Zealand. It earned a total of $898,000 from GCC, $112,000 from Canada, $32,000 from USA and $4000 from Singapore. received positive reviews from critics. of gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, ” is a compelling beast of a film. It grips you by the neck and hurls you from one twist to another until you are pleasantly exhausted at the end while reaching a culmination that is both expected and unexpected.” Gopika Is of gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, “Arun Varma’s is a perfect dose of everything for Malayali audiences who go to theatres with not much hope now.” Vignesh Madhu of gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, “Pitted against each other in equally prominent roles, seasoned performers Suresh Gopi and Biju Menon keep us on the edge of our seats.” Anandu Suresh of gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, ” is undoubtedly a breath of fresh air for viewers inundated with mindless thrillers that have dominated our industries in recent times.” Neelima Menon of gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, “You might guess how a tense investigative thriller, will unravel. But the cleverness of its execution will still leave you impressed.” S. R. Praveen of wrote, “If manages to keep on flying, it is only due to the strength of the story at its core, although one wishes things were a bit more convincing.” Princy Alexander of wrote, “Though the screenplay by Jinesh and Midhun Manuel is good, there are some weak moments in the film. The second half feels rushed, which affects the climax slightly. Nevertheless, the movie offers a lot of interesting twists that keep the audience engaged.” In an interview with , Arun Varma said that a to is likely, and that he and Midhun Manuel Thomas are working on it.</p>