Maarutha Movie Review: Scrolls through big ideas, but the drama buffers

Maarutha Movie Review:

There are films that tell stories, and then there are films that try to understand the times we live in. Maarutha, S Narayan's 51st tries to be the latter. The veteran filmmaker has long believed that cinema carries a moral spine, and his earlier family dramas and romantic tales have often echoed values that everyday audiences identify with. This time, he turns to the anxieties of the digital age—information overload, the illusion of closeness, and the silent dangers behind glowing screens.

Cast: Vijay Kumar, Shreyas Manju, Brinda Acharya, Sadhu Kokila, Tara, Sharath Lohitashwa, Pramod Shetty and Sujay Shastry

Director: S Narayan

Social media today does more than influence behaviour; it shapes perception. What once felt like harmless scrolling has become a window into vulnerabilities. Narayan builds his film on this unease and the widening distance created by modern communication.

Maarutha circles one troubling truth-a rising number of young girls across Karnataka and India fall prey to faceless online predators, profiles run by organised networks with employees, targets, and incentives. In Bengaluru, a few girls go missing within a month, thus pushing the police into a state of silent alarm.

The story follows Eesha (Shreyas Manju), a small-town dreamer from Malnad who wants to write, act and direct. Ravichandran is the artist he looks up to, and his world is shaped by middle-class warmth, creative chaos and constant pressure. Tara and Sharath Lohitashwa, as his parents, bring a quiet authenticity that does not rely on dramatic peaks.

Running parallel to his journey is Ananya (Brinda Acharya), also from Malnad, who arrives in the city with simple dreams and love. She trusts the digital world around her, without realising that it might turn against her.

The plot shifts when rumours start linking Eesha to Ananya and her sudden disappearance. The city, once full of promise, turns unfamiliar and hostile. Eesha, along with his uncle (Sadhu Kokila), is pushed into a crisis he is not prepared for.

This subject needs either the pace of a thriller or the weight of a strong social drama. Instead, Narayan chooses a wider canvas. Some portions plunge into darkness, some wander into a coming-of-age rhythm, and some scenes drift into comedy. These shifts dull the urgency of the central theme. The film finds clarity only when Maarutha finally enters the investigative track with Detective Ambareesh Patil (Vijay Kumar). The sequences decoding online scams feel researched and come across as so real—how the conversations are crafted, how trust is manufactured, and how victims are scanned. Vijay Kumar brings calm assuredness; these portions are so much more observational than melodramatic.

But the movie quickly changes gear again. There is much humour, courtesy Sadhu Kokila and Sujay Shastri, which bursts through in spurts and jars the prevailing tension. The scenes of Eesha agonising over short films are fun but somehow take away from the main crisis. The movie tries to juggle too many tones, each interesting by themselves, rarely coming together.

Shreyas Manju is sincere but doesn’t always reach the emotional complexity the character demands. Brinda Acharya plays her role with natural restraint, fitting for the truth that most victims in such stories stand to be ordinary individuals who get blindsided by manipulation. Tara and Sharath Lohitashwa stand out with their performances that always keep their feet on the ground. Pramod Shetty, Kalyani, and Rangayana Raghu make their short appearances work. There’s enough warmth from Ravichandran and Nishvika Naidu, although the script rarely pauses long enough to let these moments deepen the film.

Maarutha states its message loud and clear: the digital world is not neutral. It can comfort, connect, and express-but it can also distort, endanger, and erase. Narayan wants parents vigilant, young people cautious, and society aware of the machinery behind online exploitation. The intention holds weight.

As a cautionary fable, Maarutha hits home. As cinema, it falters-its tonal shifts dilute its urgency, its pacing wavers, and its drama struggles to hold steady. Maarutha scrolls through big ideas, but the drama buffers.