Dridam, the 2026 Malayalam crime thriller that released theatrically on May 8, began streaming on Disney+ Hotstar on June 12, making it available to a wider audience across India and internationally just over a month after its cinema run.

The film is directed by Martin Joseph and produced by Mukesh R. Mehta and C.V. Sarathi under E4 Entertainment. Shane Nigam plays the lead — a newly posted Sub-Inspector assigned to a rural station in Idukki district, Kuzhinilam. The story begins when a severed hand is discovered in a tea plantation, leading to a murder investigation that overlaps with a robbery at a local finance company and a second body pulled from a dam.

Dridam received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Pinkvilla gave it 2 out of 5 stars, noting that while it can keep average viewers mildly engaged, it lacks the freshness expected from the genre. The Hindu’s reviewer noted the film “falters under the weight of clichéd storytelling and excessive violence.” The Indian Express was harsher, awarding 1.5 stars and calling the dialogue “soulless and uninspired.” Despite the critical reception, the film has generated significant online traffic in Bangladesh and India, suggesting strong curiosity-driven viewership on the platform.

The Malayalam film industry has had a strong 2026 slate. Dridam is among several crime thrillers that have followed the commercial success of films like Manjummel Boys and others that established a template for suspense-driven Malayalam storytelling with regional settings and tight ensemble casts. Dridam attempts the same formula but has not matched the execution that made those earlier films stand out.

Shane Nigam’s casting in the lead draws on his reputation from earlier Malayalam films where he played complex, morally ambiguous characters. The Idukki setting — a hilly, plantation-heavy district in Kerala — provides the film with a visually distinct backdrop that works better than its screenplay, according to most reviews. Supporting cast includes Saniya Fathima, Shobi Thilakan and Kottayam Ramesh. The film is available now on Disney+ Hotstar. For more Indian entertainment on streaming, Harlan Coben’s I Will Find You dropped on Netflix this week and Jennifer Lopez’s office romance is leading Netflix charts globally.

Whether Dridam finds a larger audience on OTT than it did in cinemas is the question the streaming numbers over the next few weeks will answer. Critical reception has been poor, but streaming audiences in South India have historically been forgiving of procedural crime thrillers that deliver on atmosphere even when the writing doesn’t fully hold up.