Watching Rathnam, directed by Hari, felt like a two-and-a-half-hour headache. The mindless twists and turns made the film difficult to sit through, and I was just waiting for the climax to come. Even by commercial movie standards, it was neither entertaining nor thrilling. Now, let’s talk about the story. We meet Rathnam, who grew up feeling like an orphan after his mother took her own life. As he got older, he started working for an MLA in the Vellore area named Panner Selvam. Along the way, he meets a girl named Malliga, who looks just like his mother. Malliga gets attacked by the henchmen of the villain Beema Rayudu over some land issues. Because Malliga resembles Rathnam’s mother, it becomes his mission to save her, even if it means risking his own life. Will Rathnam be able to save Malliga? That’s what we’ll find out in this explainer.
Spoilers Ahead
What was Rathnam’s childhood like?
The story starts off in 1994, when three brothers, Raghava, Beema, and Subha Rayudu, were robbing a bus in the Tirupati area. They attacked and murdered everyone on board—all for the sake of their robbery. These same men had previously robbed Loganayagi’s house after she married a local high-ranking police officer. Loganayagi was Rathnam’s mother, and she was pregnant with him at the time. When Loganayagi saw those three men attacking her house, she couldn’t just sit there! She called the police, who came and arrested the robbers and sent them to jail. This naturally made the brothers furious. So to take their revenge, what they did was unthinkable. One day, as Loganayagi and her husband were traveling in their police van, the men threw eggs at the vehicle, causing an accident that killed her husband. Loganayagi managed to escape somehow, but you can imagine how traumatic it was for her. After that tragic event, Loganayagi started living in the marketplace, relying on the help of the locals. She gave birth to her son, Rathnam, and did everything she could to raise him well. But there was a problem: the local brothel owner often tormented and humiliated her. One day, during a police raid, Loganayagi was humiliated in front of the public and her son. The shame was unbearable for her. So she ended up committing suicide in the police station. This incident left a deep scar on Rathnam. So to take his revenge, he eventually stabbed and killed the brothel owner who had humiliated his mother. For this, he was sent to prison.
Why did Rathnam want to protect Malliga?
After Tirupati became part of Andhra, the Nagari people sold a lot of land at very low prices. The Rayudu brothers took full advantage of this situation. Unfortunately, Malliga’s family became one of the victims. The Rayudu brothers wanted to take their land, but Malliga’s family refused to sell it. This refusal was the reason behind all the drama. But there was another reason for the conflict. Beema Rayudu had a special hatred for Malliga and wanted to murder her for revenge. Why? Because Malliga looked a lot like Loganayagi, Rathnam’s mother. However, neither Malliga nor Rathnam knew this at the time. After Rathnam got out of jail, he was a changed man. He started working under MLA Panner Selvam and became a protector of women. For example, when a politician tried to take advantage of a teenage schoolgirl, Rathnam killed the man in revenge. After all, he had seen his mother humiliated, so he couldn’t tolerate seeing any woman suffer. Meanwhile, Malliga was studying nursing but dreamed of becoming a doctor. She had already taken the entrance exam three times but couldn’t get into a government college.
Coming from a non- prosperous family, studying at a private college was too expensive. So she was preparing to take the exam for the fourth time. Little did Malliga know she was being followed—not only by Rathnam but also by the Rayudu gang. Rathnam followed her because she looked so much like his mother that he felt like he had seen a ghost! When he realized the gang was trying to kill her, he took it upon himself to protect her. He attacked the gang members—some escaped, but some were killed by Rathnam. At first, Malliga didn’t understand what was happening. She was righteous, so seeing people beaten up in front of her, she went to file a complaint with the police. Little did she know, Rathnam had saved her life. From that day on, Rathnam started calling Malliga “Ma,” as if she were his mother’s reincarnation. He made it his mission to protect her and her family and make sure they remained safe and sound.
What happened to the Rayudu brothers?
After Rathnam heard about the land dispute, he told Malliga to give up the land. To him, protecting her was more important than any piece of land. But for Malliga, this land was like a mother to her and her family. She couldn’t just sell it. On top of that, the Rayudu brothers wanted to build a medical college on that land to make a lot of money. Even though Rathnam received offers from the Rayudu brothers to arrange the sell of the land and kill Malliga for a huge sum of money, he couldn’t do it. How could he? He called her “Ma”! So, to resolve the situation, they planned an official meeting to settle things, as the constant revenge-seeking was getting too much for everyone. At the meeting, Malliga offered to give up the land on one condition: the medical college to be built there had to be a government college. Obviously, the Rayudu brothers weren’t happy about this. They wanted to make money through a private institution, and this would jeopardize their 200 crore plan. The Rayudu brothers blamed Rathnam for this turn of events. So after cooperating with the local police, they planned to murder both Rathnam and Malliga. But Rathnam was stronger and braver than they thought. He confronted the brothers not only for tormenting Malliga and her family but also for causing his parents’ deaths. Rathnam took a dagger and brutally killed them, cutting their bodies into pieces and scattering them around the town. He wanted everyone to know what happens to those who try to ruin innocent lives.
But what happened to Rathnam in the end? Well, being the righteous and honest man he was, Rathnam went to the police and confessed his crimes. He didn’t regret it at all. After all, he was happy to have finally avenged his loved ones. Throughout these events, Malliga started developing feelings for Rathnam. However, when she learned how much she resembled his mother, she didn’t want to burden him with her feelings. For Rathnam, his only wish was to be remembered. He told Malliga that if she ever got married and had a baby, he wanted her to name the child Rathnam. That way, his name would live on. That was his only wish.
