General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Mathagam

Mathagam (மத்தகம்) is an Indian Tamil-language crime drama web series created and directed by Prasath Murugesan, starring Atharvaa as a police officer and Manikandan as a gangster, released on Disney+ Hotstar in 2023.¹^•² The story follows the conflict between DCP Ashwath Rathnakumar and the gangster Padalam Sekar and its impact on the city of Chennai, with the entire narrative unfolding within a span of 30 hours.²^•³

Key fact	Detail
Format	Tamil-language crime drama web series, 9 episodes, released on Disney+ Hotstar¹^•⁴
Release	Part 1 (5 episodes) on 18 August 2023; part 2 (4 episodes) on 12 October 2023⁴
Lead cast	Atharvaa as DCP Ashwath; Manikandan as gangster Padalam Sekar, his first role as an antagonist¹^•⁵
Premise	A sincere IPS officer takes on a crime syndicate led by a gangster; events span 30 hours³
Title meaning	"Mathagam" denotes the forehead of an elephant³
Languages	Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi⁶
Reception	IMDb rating of 6.3/10⁷

Spoilers

Cast and characters

Atharvaa plays the earnest cop DCP Ashwath Rathnakumar, while Manikandan plays Padalam Sekar, a gangster; the series marked Manikandan's first role as an antagonist and his debut as a lead in a web series, as well as Atharvaa's web series debut.⁵^•⁹ The supporting cast includes Gautham Vasudev Menon as Thirumaaran, Nikhila Vimal as Vaidehi, Dhivyadharshini as Safia, Dilnaz Irani as Police Commissioner Sayanthika Biswas, Ilavarasu, Vadivukarasi, Aruvi Thirunavukkarasu, Munnar Ramesh, Sarath Ravi, Rishikanth, and Murali Abbas.³^•¹⁰

Murugesan tailored parts of the script to the actors' real traits: Dhivyadharshini's character has rheumatoid arthritis, and Manikandan's philosophical streak was amplified for Sekar.¹ Nikhila Vimal's Vaidehi, a new mother dealing with post-partum stress, an identity crisis, and her own struggles apart from the main conflict, was written as a multi-layered character rather than only the protagonist's wife, and became a stand-out role for many viewers.¹^•¹¹

Story and themes

The plot centers on a cat-and-mouse game between the police and a crime syndicate, building toward a party thrown for Sekar's associate Choolai Babu that serves as a cover for a major financial crime involving truckloads of money moved into a farmhouse.³^•¹² In the final episodes, police led by Commissioner Sayanthika and Ashwath raid the farmhouse sheltering much of the city's criminal underworld; Sekar is arrested, and a mole within the police force is exposed, but the mole reveals that someone more powerful than Sekar has been controlling events, a question the season leaves unanswered.¹²^•⁴

Murugesan described the series as a slow-burn crime drama best consumed as a binge-watch, and acknowledged that its mature content, including violence and profanity, is not suitable for viewing with children.¹ On whether the story is factual, sources disagree: actress Dilnaz Irani said in an interview that Mathagam is based on a real-life story and that she spent a day studying the incident, while the listing site Webisoda describes it as fictional.¹⁰^•¹³

Production

The series was written and directed by Prasath Murugesan, previously known for the films Kidaari and Queen, and produced by Screen Scene Media Entertainment as a Hotstar Specials title.⁵^•³ Atharvaa said at the launch event that the project began in 2018 and that director Gautham Vasudev Menon had introduced him to Murugesan; the story first took the form of a film script and went through several changes before Disney+ Hotstar picked it up.⁸

The technical crew included Darbuka Siva for music, Edwin Sakay for cinematography, Praveen Antony for editing, stunt choreography by Dhilip Subbarayan, and art direction by Suresh Kallery.⁵ Atharvaa stated that the entire series was shot at night, with artificial lighting, and called it his best performance to date.⁸

Release

Disney+ Hotstar released the first five episodes on 18 August 2023 and held back the remaining four until 12 October 2023, splitting the nine-episode season in the middle without announcing this to viewers in advance.⁴^•¹ The decision was criticized by a section of the audience, since the first part ended just as the face-off between Ashwath and Sekar was set to begin. Murugesan said the streaming partner believed holding back the second half would amplify hype, and that the strategy worked by the numbers, though he would have reworked the screenplay so every episode ended strongly had he known the plan.¹

The series was streamed in seven languages: Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi.⁶

Reception and future

The series holds a 6.3/10 rating on IMDb based on about 750 user votes.⁷ At the launch event, Atharvaa said that Murugesan had written stories for successive seasons and that the series would continue across multiple seasons, in the manner of English-language series.⁸ As of late 2023, no second season had been officially confirmed, and the unresolved identity of the figure behind Sekar was widely seen as the hook for a continuation.⁴^•²

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › South and Southeast Asian serials › Tamil serials

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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