CAST: Parthipan, Sriya Reddy, Aishwarya Rajesh and Harish Uthaman
DIRECTED BY Bramma and Anucharan
BLUF
The series is about the ripple effects when an underage girl, Nila, goes missing on the first day of the Mayana Kollai festival, which is celebrated to worship goddess Angalaamman.The eight-episode series created by Pushkar and Gayatri, the main story arc is about the small-knit community.
A microcosm thrives in this fictional town called Sembaloor, where everybody knows everybody. There is also a grave danger in knowing too much or knowing too little less — Suzhal lies somewhere in between. At least three characters find this closeness of the community claustrophobic and want to leave for a big city. And all three of them share a deep secret buried within their heart. But Sakkarai aka Chakravarthy (an excellent Kathir) savours this knowledge — of knowing too much about the people and how they behave. This makes sense in his line of work. He is a police officer who is now in charge of the case of a missing girl. Shouldn’t it be a cakewalk? As Sakkarai digs deep, he uncovers the sides of the town he wasn’t aware of. “I thought I knew them,” rues Sakkarai at one point.
THE MEAT AND THE POTATOES
Small town stories have been often romanticized on screen but then there are many that show you the imperfections of small, close-knit communities.Fried Green Tomatoes, The Wicker Man, all three seasons of Dark are all in this category but Suzhal: The Vortex is a remarkable, brave, and absolutely well-deserved new entry in this genre. Created by Gayatri and Pushkar and directed by Bramma and Anucharan Murugaiyan, “Suzhal: The Vortex” takes place in a small town in Sambaloor. The story opens at the Vadde Cement Factory, owned by the father-son duo of Trilok (Harish Uthaman) and Mukesh Vadde (Yusuf Hussain). The workers of the factory, led by Union leader Shanmugam (Parthiban Radhakrishnan), Guna (Kumaravel), and Dayalan (Purushothaman), are staging a protest against Trilok’s bad management. The local police, led by Regina (Sriya Reddy) and Sakkarai (Kathir), who are under Trilok’s thumb, disperse the crowd by brutally beating everyone up. Later, the factory goes up in flames and Trilok accuses Shanmugam of doing it. While the police question him, Shanmugam’s younger daughter Nila (Gopika Ramesh) goes missing. This causes his estranged wife, Devi (Indumathy Manikandan), and elder daughter, Nandini (Aishwarya Rajesh), to return to Sambaloor after many years.
Socialism, capitalism, police brutality, bribery, sexism, religion, the discrimination against people who identify as LGBTQ and the trauma that comes with it all is snugly wrapped into this eight-episode series. People are divided due to their religious beliefs, their occupations, their gender, their sexual preferences, their professional motivations, and most importantly, their personal aspirations. Sakkarai thinks that his juxtaposition to the town gives him a vantage point because he can traverse the dynamics of the case better. The problem with that thinking is, unlike Nandini, he has seen the town through only his limited perspective. He finds each revelation shocking as his incredulity moves from disbelief to anger. The same can be said about Shanmugam and Regina, two characters whose lives are so interwoven with their motivations that by the time they realize the world around them has changed, it’s too late.
IN THE KNOW
The Mayana Kollai festival makes for a mesmerizing, appropriate backdrop, and the story of Angala Parameshwari runs parallel with that of Nila and Nandini. However, when you see how it ties into the main antagonist’s dualism, it becomes a treatise on how monsters use religion to appear devout while being utter demons. The fire in the factory looks like a red herring. And it both is and is not, as it factors into the story in a significant manner. Sakkarai’s transformation of belief and emotions is very well documented.
The show is spectacular to look at. The wide shots, the indifferent lighting, the festival scenes packed with people, the kinetic camera movement, the unctuous smooth editing, the resided-in sense that every street, building, and object gives off, the color grading, and the costumes make for such a satisfactory viewing experience. The bg score offers an immersive experience especially when some of the percussion is thrown in with the trance dancing sequences. Hats off to cinematographer Mukeswaran, editor Richard Kevin, production designer Arun Venjaramoodu, costume designer R. Poornima, and sound designers Sachin Sudhakaran and Hariharan M for this amazing job.
The performances from the cast are excellent. Parthiban Radhakrishnan, Sriya Reddy, Kathir, and Aishwarya Rajesh are the faces of the show. All four of them get their moments to shine, and they make the most of it. But the supporting cast is equally mind-blowing. Prem Kumar, Harish Uthaman, Kumaravel, Indumathy Manikandan, Latha Rao, Venkatesan, Yusuf Hussain, Prasanna Balachandran, Santhana Bharathi, Soundarya, literally everyone is excellent. However, it’s Gopika Ramesh as Nila and FJ as Adhisayam who win the show with their extremely layered performances. The narrative of this show is extremely layered, detailed, and nuanced depictions of every aspect of the small town.
Highly recommended
