ARM (film)

ARM
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jithin Laal
Written by	Sujith Nambiar
Additional screenplay	Deepu Pradeep
Produced by	Listin Stephen Zachariah Thomas
Starring	Tovino Thomas Krithi Shetty Aishwarya Rajesh Surabhi Lakshmi Kabir Duhan Singh Basil Joseph Nisthar Sait Harish Uthaman Rohini Jagadish Aju Varghese Sudheesh Biju Kuttan
Narrated by	Mohanlal
Cinematography	Jomon T. John
Edited by	Shameer Muhammed
Music by	Dhibu Ninan Thomas
Production companies	Magic Frames UGM Entertainment
Distributed by	Magic Frames
Release date	12 September 2024 (2024-09-12)
Running time	142 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Budget	₹30 crore
Box office	est. ₹70 crore

A.R.M (officially titled: Ajayante Randam Moshanam; transl. Ajayan's second theft) is a 2024 Indian Malayalam-language action adventure film directed by Jithin Laal (in his directorial debut), written by Sujith Nambiar, and produced by Magic Frames and UGM Entertainment. The film stars Tovino Thomas in triple roles, alongside Krithi Shetty, Aishwarya Rajesh, Surabhi Lakshmi, Kabir Duhan Singh, Basil Joseph, Nisthar Sait, Harish Uthaman, Rohini, Jagadish, Aju Varghese, Sudheesh and Biju Kuttan in prominent roles.

The film was originally shot in 2D format and converted to 3D. ARM was made on a budget of ₹30 crore including print and publicity. It was theatrically released on 12 September 2024 in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi languages coinciding with the Onam festival. The film received positive reviews from critics with praises to Tovino's (especially for Maniyan) and Surabhi's performance, direction, story, visual effects and music and became the 9th highest grossing Malayalam movie of 2024.

Plot

The movie begins with a grandmother telling her granddaughter the lore of Chyothivilaku. Chyothivilaku is a sacred light which was made from a melted mixture of an asteroid which once crashed in the land of Haripuram in the ancient times. The lamp was commanded to be made from the asteroid by the Edakkal King at the time, who takes it to his palace owing to it's supernatural powers. During the invasion of the thugs in the land, a scared King calls upon a warrior from Haripuram called Kelu Nayanar known popularly as Kunjikelu (Tovino Thomas) to help save his citizens and his nephew Mana Varma, the heir apparent. After his victory over the thugs, Kunjikelu requests the Chyothivilaku as a gift. The king agrees and Kunjikelu brings it home to Haripuram. Kunjikelu is romantically interested in Chothi, a woman from a lower caste. Kunjikelu promises Chothi on building a temple and so that the lamp is accessible to everyone without discrimination. Meanwhile smallpox spreads across Haripuram. An affected Chothi on the brink of death is saved by Kunjikelu. Chothi survives where Kunjikelu gets affected. During his bed rest he gets an secret letter from Mana Varma which breaks his heart. Kunjikelu learns that even though he wanted the temple to have no discrimination, no one from the lower caste is allowed into the temple. Seeing all the distress Kunjikelu dies. The grandmother ends the story by describing the lore on how their village came to be known as Chyothikavu. The grand daughter asks the grandmother on if Chothi was pregnant and she dismisses the thought and that Chothi had left to Pollachi after her recovery from the small pox.

His descendant Maniyan was a crooked yet sharp thief who ends up stealing the Chyothivilaku but dies by the hands of the people.

In 1990s, M. V. Ajayan (Maniyan’s grandson)(Tovino Thomas) is an electrician who is secretly in love with Chathutti Nambiar’s daughter, Lakshmi. He is carrying the weight of his grandfather Maniyan's unfavourable image as a thief and the villagers mostly insult him for being from a thief's family. His friend K. P. Suresh stand up for him during the tough times. He finds himself in a difficult situation when a stranger, Sudev shows up unexpectedly on their land posing as a photographer with the intention of stealing the Chyothivilaku and sell it off to the British archives. Suresh, under the orders of Sudev, traps Ajayan and himself. Sudev reveals that the Chyothivilaku in the temple is fake and is banking on Ajayan’s skill to find the real Chyothivilaku before the temple festival. He searches all possible places near Chyothikaavu but fails miserably. But Lakshmi asks him to check places where a man such as Maniyan and only Maniyan could get into. he reaches a hillside and goes inside a cave near a waterfall, and finds cave paintings on the walls.

Years ago, Maniyan went into hiding. The townspeople brought a policemen to help catch him. Furious at the fact that Maniyan was nowhere to be seen, the policeman misbehaves with Maniyan's wife, Manikyam. Maniyan beats up the policeman and asks him if it was the thief or the police who came first. Maniyan, saddened by the state of his wife, plans to steal the Chyothivilakku to prove to the townspeople that Manikyam's dignity is greater than the idol the townspeople worship so dearly, and when he does, he goes into the cave which Ajayan went to years after, and announces his win over the townspeople. But Naanu, a goldsmith, tells him that this was not the real Chyothivilakku. It is revealed that the letter which Kunjikelu received informed him that the Chyothivilakku was a fake. Maniyan then plans to find the real one and sets off to the royal palace.

After getting through various traps and obstacles, Maniyan finds the lamp and brings both of them to Manikyam, and claims that he will bring the fake lamp to the temple, where it was kept and worshipped. On the way, he is trapped and the townspeople, enraged by the fact that he tried to steal the lamp, tries to kill him. They chase him up a mountain, and the villagers corner him at a cliff near the waterfall. he refuses to give up the lamp but they threaten him with his wife and daughter. He puts the fake idol back down and he lets himself go and falls into the waterfall, leading to his death.

In the present, Ajayan agrees to participate in a Kalaripayattu competition, but fails at the last minute under the orders of Sudev. Since he was unable to find the idol, he plans to run away. He goes to Chathutti Nambiar's home to collect Lakshmi and run away, but gets locked in a room and is trapped by Chathutti Nambiar. He manages to escape with the help of their caretaker but gets chased by the villagers into the same hillside where his grandfather also fell to his death. He also falls to the waterfall, but instead of dying, he survives and finds the lamp by using a key which his mother gave him days prior for searching the lamp, thinking it would prove useful.

After a brief confrontation with Sudev and his cronies, Ajayan beats them up and the original lamp is returned to Chyothikkavu. Ajayan goes to find Lakshmi and the movie ends with him riding along the car in which Lakshmi was ordered to be taken away by her father suggesting Ajayan's second theft was nothing but his true love.

Cast

• Tovino Thomas in triple role as
  • Kunjikelu, a warrior; Maniyan's and Ajayan's ancestor.
  • Maniyan; a thief; Ajayan's Grandfather and Kunjikelu's descendant
  • M. V. Ajayan, an electrician; Maniyan's grandson and Kunjikelu's descendant
    • Roshan as Young Ajayan
• Krithi Shetty as Lakshmi, Ajayan's Love Interest
  • Anvi as Young Lakshmi
• Sanju Sivram as Constable Chandran
• Santhosh Keezhattoor as Paramu Nambiar
• Parvathi T. as Lakshmi's grandmother
• Shivajith as Kavumbayi Sudhakaran
• Pramod Shetty as Inspector Nanjappa Chowta
• Jithin Laal as Mana

Production

On 1 January 2020, coinciding the occasion of New Year's, Tovino Thomas officially announced through his social media pages that he would collaborate with Jithin Laal for an upcoming film, titled Ajayante Randam Moshanam. The project would be funded by UGM Entertainment, written by Sujith Nambiar and feature music composed by Dhibu Ninan Thomas, in his Malayalam debut. It is Tovino's 50th film as an actor.

It began filming on 11 October 2022 with a planned schedule of 125 days. Filming was wrapped up on 11 March 2023, lasting 118 days. The film was originally shot in 2D format which was converted to 3D. The film was made on a budget of ₹30 crore.

Music

The songs and background score for the film were composed by Dhibu Ninan Thomas. The first single "Kiliye" was released on 2 September 2024.

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Kiliye"	Manu Manjith	K. S. Harisankar Anila Rajeev	4:31

Release

Theatrical

ARM was released in theatres worldwide on 12 September 2024 in both 3D and 2D formats.

Distribution

It was released by the production house Magic Frames in Kerala.The film was distributed Overseas by Home Screen Entertainment.The film was distributed in USA by Prime Media.Mythri Movie Makers distributed the film in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.The Karnataka distribution rights were acquired by Hombale Films.The North India distribution rights were acquired by AA Films.The Tamil Nadu distribution rights were acquired by Five Star K. Senthil.The film was distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Wanderlust Films.

Reception

Rohit Panikker of Times Now gave 4/5 stars and wrote, "Ajayante Randam Moshanam is a visual spectacle supported by some masterful story-telling. If not anything, the film is worth it for its performances from all quarters, but most of all, as a story-telling vehicle that has taken Tovino Thomas the performer up a few notches. The film is an excellent theatre-watching experience that you can hope for from a festival release". Christy Rosy Sibi of The Week gave 4/5 stars and wrote, "Tovino should take on more menacing, villain roles". Anna Mathews of The Times of India gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "Ajayante Randam Moshanam could be like another one of those impressive films that have come out of the Malayalam industry - which is currently ailing from several issues driven by the Hema Committee report - but does it have that emotional hook to pull in audiences is a question that we will have to wait and watch out for". Goutham S of Pinkvilla gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "Ajayante Randam Moshanam aka ARM is surely not a commercial cinema that is filled with crazy elements or fanfare. However, the film provides a tale of action and adventure which is mixed with myth and folklore". Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "Dhibu Ninan Thomas’s background score stands out, especially in the mass-appeal moments, though his songs are not all equally memorable. Gokuldas’s production design, Praveen Varma’s costume design and Ronex Xavier’s makeup also deserve recognition for their contributions". Vignesh Madhu of Cinema Express gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "It is precisely why ARM is that much-needed breath of fresh air from Malayalam's overpopulated realistic dramas and generic thrillers".

Janani K of India Today gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote, "ARM intriguingly blends folklore and action. However, the screenplay has some shortcomings that prevent it from fully conveying the intended message". Kirubhakar Purushothaman of News18 gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote, "In Ranjith’s film, the coveted object is gold; in ARM, it’s the lamp. Both symbolize what is denied to the oppressed. It’s interesting how both Ranjith and Jithin Laal use fantasy as a genre to delve into this topic. If only Ajayante Randam Moshanam was as captivating as its concept.

S. R. Praveen of The Hindu wrote, "Despite the underwhelming writing, Jithin Laal gives us a hint of his craft with a visually impressive drama. And yes, the film belongs to Tovino". Swathi P Ajith of Onmanorama wrote, "The film benefits from a well-balanced blend of genres, incorporating magic, supernatural elements, folktales, history, and romance, all mixed together in perfect harmony. The film is a must-watch for those seeking a dynamic performance and is perfectly suited for the big screen experience". Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times wrote, "Technically, the cinematography by Jomon T John stands out but the songs by Dhibu Ninan Thomas don’t. Thomas’ BGM however did work well in the film. Tovino Thomas shines in ARM but the execution is, unfortunately, flawed".

Piracy Issues

On 17 September 2024,The director of the film Jithin Laal, shared a video of a man watching the pirated version of the film in train through his Facebook page criticising the piracy. Following this on 19 September 2024, Kerala Police registered a case regarding the incident.

External links

• ARM at IMDb