# Sabdham

Sabdham (transl. Sound) is an 2025 Indian Tamil-language horror thriller film written and directed by Arivazhagan Venkatachalam. The film is jointly produced by Siva and S. Banupriya Siva under 7G Films and AAlpha Frames and stars Aadhi Pinisetty and Lakshmi Menon.
The film was announced in December 2022, along with the title of the film. Principal photography commenced the same month in Munnar along with a schedule in Chennai later in Mumbai and wrapped by late-September 2023. The film has music composed by S. Thaman, cinematography handled by Arun Bathmanaban and editing by V. J. Sabu Joseph.
Sabdham has released in theatres on 28 February 2025 to positive reviews from critics and was a hit at the box office.

## Plot

The film revolves around paranormal investigator Ruben from Mumbai and his case involving the deaths in a medical college in Munnar. His belief system and scientific proofs clash and what happens further forms the whole of the movie.

## Cast

* Aadhi Pinisetty as Ruben
* Lakshmi Menon as Avanthika
* Simran as Dr.Diana
* Laila as Nancy
* Arthi Ashwin as Swetha
* Redin Kingsley as Arogiyam
* M. S. Bhaskar as Casket Maker
* Rajiv Menon as Dr. Daniel
* Vivek Prasanna as Deepak
* TSR Srinivasan

## Production
### Development

On 14 December 2022, Arivazhagan Venkatachalam announced that he was collaborating with Aadhi Pinisetty after Eeram (2009) for his next directional. Touted to be in the horror genre, Venkatachalam stated "After Eeram, I've done films mainly in the thriller and action genres, and now, with this film, I'm returning to horror." He described that "adventure horror" is more suitable for the film than "comedy horror", "thriller horror" and "romantic horror". Siva of 7G Films and S. Banupriya Siva of AAlpha Frames jointly funded the film. Venkatachalam and Pinisetty would be reuniting with Thaman S, as he also was part of Eeram. Arun Bathmanaban of Magamuni (2019) fame was roped in to handle the cinematography, while National Film Awards winner V. J. Sabu Joseph was crewed to edit the film. Venkatachalam further stated "We will be shooting it in Tamil, but will simultaneously be released with a dubbed version of Telugu.", doing the same after Eeram.

### Casting

On 27 February 2023, it was announced that Lakshmi Menon was cast to play the lead actress role in the film, pairing opposite Aadhi for the first time. Venkatachalam stated "All I can reveal is that it [her role] will be a performance-orientated role, something we haven't witnessed before." On 4 March, Redin Kingsley was announced to have been cast as a comedian in the film. Five days later, Laila was announced to be part of the cast, while Simran was also announced as other important character as Laila, seven days later. Venkatachalam described them both as "Very professionals and co-operative." And stated "As performers, they are single-take artistes, who absorb the character's requirements before we shoot and are fully focused during their shots."

### Filming

Principal photography commenced on 14 December 2022, with the first schedule in Munnar. A college set was erected in the schedule, spending around ₹1 crore for it. The schedule concluded by 14 February 2023. The second schedule in Chennai began in late-February, with Lakshmi Menon joining the sets by 24 February 2023. Simran and Laila began filming their respective sequences by 18 March 2023. The third schedule, which was filmed in Mumbai, concluded by 16 May 2023. On 27 September 2023, principal photography for the film was wrapped.

## Music

The songs and background score are composed Thaman S, in his fourth collaboration with Venkatachalam after Eeram (2009), Vallinam (2014) and Aarathu Sinam (2016); third with Aadhi in a lead role after Eeram and Ayyanar (2010). The first single "Maaya Maaya" released on 13 February 2025. The second single "Grandma Song" released on 23 February 2025.

## Release
### Theatrical

Sabdham released in theatres on 28 February 2025 in its original Tamil language, and in Telugu. The film was certified U/A 13+ by the Central Board of Film Certification.

## Reception

A critic of Dinamalar rated the film 2.75/5 stars and wrote, " Despite having a innovative idea, the film lacks the emotional connection. However praised the cinematography, music and background score. M Suganth of The Times of India gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Sabdham remains intriguing until the first half when along with its protagonist, we, too, remain puzzled about what's happening.[...] the post-interval portions soon devolve into something that's fairly generic. The writing doesn't build up on the mysteries and turns very convenient and routine" Anusha Sundar of OTTPlay gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Sabdham is a technically strong film which sets a great premise for a horror film. If you go past some cliches, you begin to feel the film is getting somewhere. But falls into the pit of stereotypes with no extraordinary choices, and becomes a regular template-adhering story."
Gopinath Rajendran of The Hindu wrote "In an attempt to be safe and sound with its concept, Sabdham misses the high notes it requires to work, making us a mute spectator of director Arivazhagan’s most underwhelming feature film outing yet." Prashanth Vallavan of The New Indian Express rated 2/5 and wrote, "Even though the film has a number of interesting ideas, they do not rise up in coherence to create a pleasing symphony. Instead, all we get is a discordant cacophony of several story elements forcefully made to fit together." Kirubhakar Purushothaman of News 18 rated 2.5/5 and wrote, "The technical brilliance of Sabdham is resounding. The sound design of the horror sequence reveals immense dedication. The interval sequence is perhaps the boldest and most experimental attempt in Tamil horror and that alone warrants a watch."