Ingeniously Crafted And Hard Hitting

Suzhal the Vortex - Ingeniously crafted and hard hitting 

Amazon Prime Video's first Tamil web series 'Suzhal The Vortex' is written and produced by Pushkar Gayatri of 'Vikram Vedha' fame.  The eight part series is touted as the first in Tamil to be released in 30 languages and 270 territories across the world.  Whether it is worth the hype can be answered with a yes for the very relevant core issue it tackled leave alone the gripping writing and making.

The story begins in a small hill town Sambaloor in the Nilgiris where the week long Mayana Kollai festival is underway to appease the deity Angalamman.  That night a fire destroys the cement factory that provides livelihood to the residents and the prime suspect is union leader Shanmugham (Parthiban).  The next day Shanmugham's 15 year old daughter Nila goes missing.   The local police inspector Regina Thomas (Sriya Reddy) and sub inspector Sakkarai (Kathir) are burdened with the handling of the two cases.  Nila's elder sister Nandhini (Aishwarya Rajesh) arrives taking desperate measures to find her sibling.  As the investigation proceeds the town's secrets come out in the open like a ruptured old wound that bleeds literally even as the Angalamman symbolically destroys the demon.

Kathir as the grey shaded cop Sakkarai has delivered a riveting performance in his quest to find the killer even as his own character changes in the bargain.  He switches modes as the tender lover with his fiance(Nivedhithaa Sathish), doting son with his mother, obedient subordinate to his senior and at the same time a streak of a selfish man too.    Aishwarya Rajesh is subdued for the most parts as the mysterious Nandhini until the very end when her character faces her demon for the first time and she hits back.   Sriya Reddy plays the tough cop Regina earnestly and the scenes when she breaks down for her son are heart touching while she is vulnerable under the influence and turns barbaric in the end towards a presumed pervert.   Parthiban as Shanmugam the union leader is aptly cast while the bold Kumaravel as his younger brother and the most unexpected character in the series is outstanding.  The two new kids who play Aseervatham and Nila own a third of the narration by their performance and by their invisible presence.  Nivedhithaa Sathish is pleasant in the role of Kathir's fiance.  The rest of the cast including Santhanabharathi and Harish Uttaman make a lasting impression.

What works best in 'Suzhal The Vortex' is the core theme that is much needed to society at all times.  The authentic depiction of the Mayana Kollai festivities are mind blowing to say the least and the manner in which these are interspersed with the plot is laudable.  As the title suggests the viewer is sucked into the small town life where you get to follow the cops exploring every angle and suspect from the two cases parallely.  The unexpected twists and turns then drive the attention to completely different perspectives making the whole a highly engaging watch.   Finally when the devil is uncovered we are left gasping much like how every household of such victims would have missed the obvious culprit right under their noses.

On the downside though slowburn is a given in web series, the first four episodes take a lot more time than necessary in setting up the story and its characters.  The police procedural looks more from a movie than real life which could have been better if presented more life like considering the importance of the subject.  Ditto the love portions between the two youngsters that would have been better placed in a commercial movie as opposed to a gripping web series dealing with a serious issue.  The way the twin murders are committed is not all that convincing and the punishment to the monster is kind of meek.

Technically the visuals of Mukes is commendable, especially capturing the rawness of the Mayana Kollai.  Sam CS has underlined the myriad of emotions with his background score throughout.  The production design and editing are the other two pillars of the show. Pushkar and Gayatri with their writing have pulled off the near impossible of keeping the audience guessing till the very end not only whodunit but who is who.  The lifelike deceptiveness in characterizations of not only the principal players but even minor ones have made it even more compelling.  Bramma has handled the first four episodes that set up the story while Anu Charan M has provided closure with the last four and both have nailed it in regards to extracting performances and keeping the vortex spinning till the very end.

Verdict : Go for this relevant, ingeniously crafted and hard hitting web series that will tug at your heart and grey matter simultaneously.