On the surface, Girish AD’s “I Am Kathalan” (2024) is every jilted incel STEM bro’s wet dream. A computer engineer taking revenge on his ex-girlfriend by hacking into her father’s company’s server? Dream so good that it could be the premise of a biopic of Elon Musk. Not that the world needs one. Girish AD, to his credit, does not allow “I Am Kathalan” to be too ‘enamored’ by such dreams. The film, under the guise of a techno-thriller, is more about human frailties, with the fallacies of the youth and the ignorance of the old taking centerstage.
Having said that, it must be noted that the ‘technological’ aspect of the film is deftly done with specific attention to details when it comes to ‘hacking.’ It does not involve the tried-and-tested method of showing a black screen with the word ‘downloading’ written on it with a progression bar. And for that, we are grateful. With a proficient cast, the positives of “I Am Kathalan” outweigh the negatives, and becomes a palatable watch.
I Am Kathalan (2024) Plot Synopsis and Movie Summary:
Vishnu’s Journey from Rejection to Redemption
“I Am Kathalan” starts with a montage of every IT worker’s dream destination, Bangalore, as we are introduced to the story’s protagonist, Vishnu (Naslen K Gafoor). As Vishnu readies himself for what clearly seems to be a job interview, he receives a message bearing the words “I know it was you.” This is when the film takes us back a year, to a small yet neat town in Kerala. Vishnu is shown to be an intelligent guy with a particular expertise in ‘hacking.’ However, his skills are not as appreciated as he hopes they are. Neither by his girlfriend nor by the job placement interviewers.
The lack of prospects starts to become particularly irksome for his girlfriend, Shilpa (Anishma). After securing a job at her father’s chit-fund company, Shilpa ponders the possibility of wriggling out of the relationship. Vishnu’s insecurity-triggered attempt to hack her Instagram account becomes Shilpa’s much-coveted trigger to break it off completely. As with most spurned boyfriends, Vishnu does not take that lightly. To his credit, he simply tries to put in one last effort. And thus he steps into Shilpa’s office, owned by her father.
Did Vishnu’s Revenge as Kathalan Go Too Far?
The father, Chacko (Dileesh Pothan) is formidable and cruel. You would think he appointed Shilpa as the Head of the IT department to give his dearest daughter a leg up. But, as the story progresses, one would wonder if he did it just to avoid the cost of hiring a properly trained IT head. So, it is unsurprising, to say the least, that Vishnu returns from Chacko’s office humiliated and physically assaulted.
Heartbroken and humiliated, Vishnu returns to his friends’ den with one thing on his mind: revenge. As with any plan, the best course of action is relying on the planner’s strengths. Moreover, with ‘hacking’ being the only thing Vishnu is good at, he decides to use his particular strength to attack Chacko. He rebrands his cyber persona and christens himself “I Am Kathalan.” With a few clicks, it becomes apparent to Vishnu that Chacko’s company has poor security policies. So, it becomes quite easy for ‘Kathalan’ to hack and delete all Chacko’s company’s records on their web server.
I Am Kathalan (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
What Does Kathalan Mean?
The name ‘Kathalan’ comes to Vishnu’s mind from his friend’s auto-rickshaw design. The auto-rickshaw has the word plastered on its front. The word ‘Kathalan’ (or ‘Kadhalan’ in Tamil) means lover, especially a male lover. The spelling of the word becomes an important aspect of the film. With the use of ‘T’ in ‘Kathalan’ reveals Vishnu’s Malayali identity.
At first, it would appear that Vishnu chose the name just to be coy. However, it can be Vishnu’s subconscious way of hinting at his identity. After all, what is the point of revenge if the person you are taking your revenge upon does not realize who is orchestrating that? He is the ‘lover-boy,’ jilted by Shilpa and humiliated by Chacko. It is quite surprising that Chacko does not make the connection when it has not been a week since he smacked the young upstart who professed his love for Chacko’s daughter. Maybe there are a little too many people Chacko smacks and humiliates in his everyday life.
How Did Vishnu Set Fire in the Server Room?
The story’s Chekov’s gun is the ‘Enter-pillow’ invention. Vishnu invented this device, which when connected to a computer, can be used as an alternative way to press the key ‘Enter.’ The device has a small pillow that one can punch and that mimics the functionality of the ‘Enter’ key. Vishnu presented this thoroughly juvenile invention to Shilpa. With Shilpa’s indifference towards the device, it finds its way to the Server room, as one of the IT staff members connects that with the main server.
With Kathalan’s second attack, Chacko files a police complaint and hires Simi (Lijomol Jose) to track the hacker down. Simi, an IT expert in her own right, lays a trap to catch Kathalan. Shilpa, who was already doubting Vishnu to be Kathalan, pays a visit to his house. She earnestly warns him to not do anything else. Vishnu stops, for a while. But the news of Shilpa’s marriage to her colleague, Mathew forces him to bring Kathalan back.
Mathew, who always wanted Shilpa to ditch Vishnu, sees the perfect opportunity to nab Vishnu. Shilpa told him already about her fears of Vishnu being Kathalan. Mathew also knows about the trap set by Simi. He senses the opportunity where he could put Vishnu out of Shilpa’s life for good measure. He meets Vishnu and goads him. Quite predictably, Vishnu takes the bait.
So, the next attack Vishnu orchestrates has all the company servers perform complicated tasks in the loop. This makes the machines overheat. As Vishnu hacks into the system to prevent the machines from shutting down automatically, the machines start to fry by the heat. Enters the Chekhov’s gun, the ‘Enter Pillow.’ The pillow, an inflammable object, catches one spark of fire and lights up, taking the entire server room with it.
Did Simi Catch Kathalan?
Vishnu’s attack becomes successful but Simi’s trap also catches Vishnu’s location. Simi notifies local police to follow the culprit’s live location. With a predictable bluff, where the film feigns as if the police are chasing Vishnu, we see the police arresting Mathew. The usual expository montage reveals how Vishnu tricked Mathew and got Mathew’s phone’s MAC address (identifier to locate any device using the Internet). Vishnu set up his final attack with the mask of Mathew’s phone’s MAC address. So, the police catch Mathew instead.
Of course, Mathew is then released as Chacko and everyone knows it’s not him. They realized that Kathalan had been one step ahead of them. Simi wishes she could meet Kathalan once. And we jump to the current time where Vishnu receives Shilpa’s text saying she knows it was him. As Vishnu enters the office of his interviewer, we see one of the interviewers is Simi. As Simi and Vishnu never saw each other, they were not aware of the significance of the meeting. Simi’s wish to meet Kathalan is fulfilled. But she remains blissfully unaware of that. Hence, she does not catch him, but she meets him.
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