'Suzhal' (Tamil)
Director: R Jayakumar
Cast- Atul Kulkarni, Pharis, Pratap Pothan, ‘Nizhalgal’ Ravi, Minal
A simple youth getting caught in a web of his own making, and reaping the consequences of his thoughtless action forms the crux of the plot.
The narration moves on three tracks, shifting base from Chennai to Puducherry and then to Kochi. A Chennai cop (Kulkarni) sets out to unravel an illegal racket by an international gang of criminals. Mathews, a drug addict in Puducherry (Pothan) — almost on the verge of a nervous breakdown, talks of getting his hands on crores of rupees. And there is Prabhu, a colleger and a part-time electrician, and his group of 10 friends, who get entangled in the affair.
The three episodes converge when Prabhu, doing some repair work at Mathew’s home, hears the latter talking about some big money he expected. And when opportunity beckons, he enters the fray, oblivious of the dangers. What emerges is a horrifying tale where human lives are numbered and gambled on. A whirlpool (the title) from which there is no return.
An interesting tale, if only it was original. A straight lift of the chilling French thriller '13 Tsameti', the film faithfully followed the original with only minor changes for nativity. The 10 friends going for an outing to Prabhu’s village, and the innumerable song-dance numbers are part of the new scenario. This episode is a tad distracting and slackens the pace. The action too here shifts from the remote den of the original.
In 'Suzhal', it is at a ship docked in the faraway waters of Kochi, where a clique of crazy sadistic men execute the horrific ‘game of death’. Incidentally, 'Laadam' had borrowed a scene from this ‘game’ too. The rest of the film is a frame-to-frame copy of the original, whether it’s the ambience of the interior of the den, or the characters, their mannerisms and their lines. But this is a different viewing experience for a Tamil viewer, no doubt. But the chill factor and the edge-of-the -seat experience is missing in this diluted scenario.
Atul Kulkarni returns to the Tamil screen after a long gap. But the talented actor is wasted in a role that hardly gives him any scope for histrionics. As the cop who sets out to track the mysterious criminal outfit operating in the country, it’s a character that goes with the flow of events, with hardly a scene to establish any individuality or professional prowess.
Prathap Pothan as Mathews, a drug addict waiting in frenzied anticipation of an event that will change his life, is a convincingly portrayal. The film has little-known faces and first -timers donning the roles of the 10 friends who go on an outing that ends in a tragedy.
While the guys like Pharis do a neat job, the four female leads are a neglected lot, and lack in screen presence too. Imitation is the best form of flattery, they say. And when big names unabashedly borrow from foreign films for their plot, what can one say of a debutant who finds an ‘inspiration’ the best way to start his career?