Suzhal Review: This Tamil intense investigative thriller has a lot of surprises in store that makes it a gripping watch
Suzhal Web Series Rating: 3.5 Stars
Just watched Suzhal:The Vortex Web Series in Hindi on Amazon Prime Video. Let’s analyze the cast, release date, story, positive/negatives and at last my personal view on this web series.
Cast: Kathir, Aishwarya Rajesh, Radhakrishnan Parthiban, Gopika Ramesh and Sriya Reddy
Director: Bramma and Anucharan M
Release Date: 24th June 2022 (Sony LIV)
Duration: 8 Episodes/ 40 Minutes
Story: Series is set in the rural town of Sambaloor known for Mayana Kollai, a nine-day annual temple festival attended and revered by almost everyone in the town barring a few non-believers. It begins on a promising note with Shanmugam (Parthiban) headlining a protest at a factory. He is the union leader who is taking on Trilok Vadde (Harish Uthaman) who is the owner of the factory. In a fit of rage, Shanmugam says that the factory will burn if he doesn’t give in to the demands of the workers. The same night there was a fire in the factory but with no casualties. Naturally, Trilok suspects Shanmugam.
There’s police inspector Regina Thomas (Sriya Reddy) and sub-inspector Chakravarthy AKA Chakkarai (Kathir) investigating the case. Meanwhile, Shanmugam’s youngest daughter Nila (Gopika Ramesh) goes missing. There’s a link between the fire accident and Nila’s abduction. Shanmugam tries to locate her with the help of his co-brother Guna (Elango Kumaravel) and other friends.
Nila’s elder sister, Nandhini (Aishwarya Rajesh) returns to the village to find her sister. At the very same time, they come to about Nila’s missing case and that becomes the talk of the village. Soon, Chakravarthy gets hold of a CCTV footage which reveals that Nila has been kidnapped. After quite a lot of investigations, it is found that Adhisayam (Fredrick Jhonson) the only son of Regina is the main culprit behind the crime. Digging deeper into what would have actually happened, families of Nila and Adhisayam find out that both of them eloped but pre-planned this kidnap scene to fool their parents.
But the cops, who are trying to know their whereabouts, find nothing but their bodies in a quary. This isn’t a suicide but murder but the twists don’t end here. Their investigation unearths many dark secrets. What happened next is all about the series.
Positives
1. Excellent Performances
2. Story
3. Direction
4. Cinematography
5. Background Music
Negatives
1. Length
2. Stretched
3. Unnecessary Sub-plot
Durgesh Tiwary’s View : I had not watched the trailer of this Tamil series so not planned to watch but after hearing its review watched the trailer decided to watch this series.
In the fictional town of Sambaloor set in Nilgiris District, Tamil Nadu, lives a community that worships Goddess Angalamman. Together they celebrate a festival called Mayana Kollai and it is in these 10 days that a story unfolds. Someone is kidnapped and the rest get on board to find them.
Suzhal is a Tamil word which translates to a vortex in English. This is synonymous with the screenplay, which takes you on a whirlwind of emotions. While the first episode runs for an hour, the rest of the episodes are at 40-45 minutes. Suzhal’s story goes back and forth and the initial sets of episodes are intriguing and suck you into the world. Along with the proceedings, we also see the Mayana Kollai temple festival, which goes on for nine days. Each day of the festival, the police find something that takes them one step closer to the killer. The festival is more like a metaphor in Suzhal.
It spends a lot of time establishing the characters in an interesting way. And hence, we understand the psyche of the characters and why they do what they do. The characters, especially Shanmugam, Regina and Sakkarai, are wonderfully grey and they propel the story forward. However, the story fizzles out mid-way once they reveal Nila’s whereabouts. After that, it is just overstretched and makes you guess the twists and turns from a mile ahead. That said, Suzhal still holds your attention for the most part.
Overall, It is a brilliantly written and made crime thriller series that has set a new benchmark for the regional web content. The top-notch performances by the lead cast make it an absolutely engrossing watch. Pushkar and Gayatri’s imparts a much-needed message in the climax, which is relevant to society. It also makes the show a must-watch for parents and children to know more about each other. My view on this series Highly Recommended.
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