Suzhal - The Vortex is a web series written by Pushkar and Gayatri, and directed by Bramma and Anucharan. The series is produced by Pushkar and Gayatri themselves under the banner Wallwatcher Films, and has Kathir, Aishwarya Rajesh, Parthiban, Sriya Reddy and others as its principal cast. The series is streaming on Amazon Prime Video OTT platform.
On the day of the Mayana Kollai Festival in Sambaloor, a minor girl goes missing and a factory is burnt down. While the girl's father is worried and busy in the search of the girl, the factory owner suspects that it is the girl's father who burnt the factory down. What does the missing girl have to do with the factory? The series is a thriller based on these mysterious happenings at the fictional town - Sambaloor, and it is in the hands of police officer Sakkarai to find out what happened.
To create any web series, it is very important to create characters that stand the test of time, because the episodes are going to be plenty in number, and each episode is going to be as long as a telefilm. In that aspect, Pushkar and Gayatri excel like no other previous work of theirs. Even the smallest of characters get registered in our minds despite their simple and common-man like nature.
The series covers the 8 day Mayana Kollai festival like a documentary, at the same time, weaves the elements of the festival into the plot really well. The twists are held back till the last 2-3 episodes, and when they are unleashed most of them work like a charm. This is because in the first 5 episodes, the audience would have judged their characters' roles based on the appearances or their previous films.
Among the performances, Kathir, Parthiban, Ilango, Nivedhitha Sathish, Sriya Reddy and Harish Uthaman hold their scenes solidly. However the star of the series is Aishwarya Rajesh who is almost the last principal actor to get introduced. Her intro is juxtaposed brilliantly with a scene involving Angalamman and from there on there's no looking back.
Pushkar and Gayatri's vision is translated well to screen by Bramma and Anucharan. The music composed by Sam CS is pulsating and his work in the thiruvizha portions are a delight to hear. The camera work by Mukesh is colourful and rich, capturing the milieu so perfectly. There is so much clarity in his work, and is definitely a technician to look for.
Overall, the series is a well written one, backed by top notch technical work, amazing performances. There is not a single department that looks lackluster, and that shows the effort that has gone behind in creating this universe. Suzhal entertains and engages us throughout its runtime. A must watch series for everyone.