Jagratha 1989

A famous actress named Aswathi Parvathi is found hanging in a hotel room and is declared dead. DYSP Devadas Sukumaran investigates the case and confirms the cause of death as suicide. However, public pressure forces the Kerala government to transfer the case to the CBI, which assigns Sethurama Iyer, Mammootty, to lead the inquiry with a tight deadline, supported by his two juniors: Vikram, Jagathy Sreekumar, and Chacko, Mukesh, a former police constable brought on deputation to the agency.

From the outset, the probe targets four suspects: Viswam, a popular actor Devan who was defamed after Aswathi detailed his extramarital affairs in a magazine; Babu, a local goon Babu Antony hired by Viswam to allegedly murder Aswathi; Bhargavan, a former minister C I Paul who had molested Aswathi in the past; and Mohan Nair, Jose, Aswathi’s fiancé who cannot provide an alibi for the night of the murder. Viswam and Babu are cleared when it turns out that Aswathi was already dead before Babu broke into her room. A late-night anonymous phone call to the hotel on the murder night also emerges as a red herring in the investigation.

As the case deepens, investigators find that the saree used to hang Aswathi is brand-new and was bought from a nearby KSRTC station. The shop owner recalls a six-foot-tall buyer and a phone call from a public telephone box at the railway station that connected to both Aswathi’s hotel and the home of Adv. Janardanan Nair, Babu Namboothiri. These threads pull the investigation toward Mohan and Janardhanan, and Mohan is arrested while Janardhanan challenges the case, insisting there is no solid evidence against Mohan. The pressure mounts when Janardhanan seemingly concedes that Mohan could not have been at the scene that night, forcing him to reveal how he knows this.

The confession reveals a shocking motive: Janardhanan had an affair with one of his clients, Rukmini, who bore Aswathi, making Mohan and Aswathi half-siblings. Janardhanan, already married, opposed the relationship and feared social consequences. Unable to compel the couple to part, he and his aide Ramesh conspired to kill Aswathi. With this confession and the accumulating evidence, Janardhanan and Ramesh are arrested, and the case is closed.