''Keedam'' () is a 2022 Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

-language

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Rahul Riji Nair Rahul Riji Nair is an Indian film director, scriptwriter, producer and actor active in the Malayalam film industry. His debut feature film ''Ottamuri Velicham'' won 4 awards at the 2017 Kerala State Film Awards, including Best Feature Film. Rah ...

and starring

Rajisha Vijayan Rajisha Vijayan is an Indian actress, who primarily appears in Malayalam films, in addition to a few Tamil films. She hosted several television shows in Malayalam before making her acting debut in the 2016 film '' Anuraga Karikkin Vellam,'' fo ...

and

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 ' ...

. The film was released in theatres on 20 May 2022.

Plot

Cybersecurity expert Radhika Balan's life turns chaotic when she falls prey to a cyberstalking incident. She decides to take things into her hands and settle the score with the criminals.

Cast

as Radhika Balan *

as Balan *

Vijay Babu Vijay Babu (born 14 May 1976) is an Indian film producer, actor, and businessman, who works in the Malayalam film industry. He is the founder of the film production company Friday Film House. Vijay Babu is best known for producing and starring ...

as CI Charles *

Manikandan Pattambi Manikandan Pattambi ( ml, മണികണ്ഠൻ പട്ടാമ്പി) is an Indian television, stage, and film actor. He's best known for his roles in Malayalam television. He became famous for his character ''Sathyasheelan'' in the si ...

as Kuttettan *Renjit Shekar Nair as Thurumbu Aji *Anand Manmadhan as Zam *Mahesh Nair as Kili Biju *

as Vijay *Arjun Ranjan as Muthu

Production

The film's director, Rahul Riji Nair, previously directed the Sports Drama ''

Kho-Kho Kho kho or kho-kho is a traditional Indian sport that dates back to ancient India. It is the second most popular traditional tag game in the Indian subcontinent after kabaddi. Kho kho is played on a rectangular court with a central lane connec ...

'' starring Rajisha Vijayan. In this film, Rajisha Vijayan plays a cyber security expert.

Music

The music rights of the film is owned by

Saregama Saregama India Ltd. (Saregama refers to the first four notes of the Indian musical scale); formerly known as The Gramophone Company Of India Ltd. is India's oldest music label owned by the RP- Sanjiv Goenka Group of companies. The company i ...

. The music of the film is composed by Sidhartha Pradeep. Lyrics are written by

Vinayak Sasikumar Vinayak Sasikumar (born 13 June 1994) is an Indian lyricist, who works in Malayalam cinema. Personal life He was born in Trivandrum, Kerala to S. Sasikumar and Asha Sasikumar. At the age of 12, he started writing poetry. Later, he moved to Ch ...

, Neeraj Kumar and Mridul.

Marketing

Online Designs Are Done By Adhin Ollur.

Release

Theatrical

The film was released in theatres on 20 May 2022.

Home media

The film was digitally streamed on

ZEE5 ZEE5 is an Indian subscription video on-demand and over-the-top streaming service, run by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched in India on 14 February 2018 with content in 12 languages. The ZEE5 mobile app is available on Web, Androi ...

from 1 July 2022.

Reception

Critical reception

S. R. Praveen of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' opined that "Setting aside the ethical part, the movie can be viewed positively as one woman’s valiant fightback, using her own tools, against a group of thugs who intrude into her personal space". A critic from ''

Manorama Online ''Malayala Manorama'' is a morning newspaper in Malayalam published from Kottayam, Kerala, India by the Malayala Manorama Company Limited. Currently headed by Mammen Mathew; it was first published as a weekly on 22 March 1888, and currently has ...

'' wrote that "Nevertheless, Keedam is a mirror on the invasion of privacy and the concerns arising from that portrayed through the prism of cybersecurity, though we wish it could pan a wider canvas". Anna M.M. Vetticad of ''

Firstpost ''Firstpost'' is an Indian online news and media website. The site is a part of the Network 18 media conglomerate owned by Reliance Industries, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC-TV18. The ''Network 18'' group was originally owned by Raghav ...

'' said that "''Keedam'' is, wisely, not prescriptive on the question of technology-driven vigilante justice, but it avoids addressing the complexities involved in the use of surveillance techniques including their misuse by the powers that be". Cris of ''

The News Minute ''The News Minute'' is an Indian digital news platform based in Bangalore, Karnataka. It was founded by Dhanya Rajendran, Chitra Subramaniam and Vignesh Vellore in 2014. Apart from Karnataka, it also has bureaus in the states of Telangana, And ...

'' stated that "Even though all the elements are there – a good cast, convincing villains, a setting that fits – the filmmaking falls inadequate".

References

{{Reflist 2020s Malayalam-language films Indian thriller films