Suzhal 2 (Tamil)
A dead man without a gun in his hand. A closed room mystery. Suspects who may or may not be connected. Suzhal 2, created and written by Pushkar-Gayathri and directed by Sarjun KM, has enough intrigue to draw us into the vortex. On paper, that is.
Season 2 picks up the plot from where the previous season ended – a survivor of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) shooting her abuser dead. Nandini (Aishwarya Rajesh) is now an undertrial, alternating between guilt and anxiety. Sub-Inspector Sakkarai (Kathir) is her lone visitor and advocate Chellappa (Lal) is her beacon of hope. But then, Chellappa is found dead and eight young women separately claim to be the killer. What is the motive behind the murder? What explains the strange behaviour of these young women? Was Chellappa really the hero that everyone thought he was?
These are the questions that the series labours to answer over eight episodes (40-50 minutes each).
Much like Season 1, this edition also blends mythology, local cultural flavours and small-town sensibilities with the thriller genre. But Season 2 is also more ambitious, delving into the dark underbelly of human trafficking. While the first three episodes are fairly gripping, with the case progressing quickly and cliffhanger endings, the rest of the series meanders through an unnecessarily convoluted plot that falls back on familiar rape-revenge tropes. Is there nothing more to women’s lives?
There is a strong sense of déjà vu that plagues the series. When a thiruvizha is mentioned, you know there will be politics over it. When the women enter the jail, you know they’ll be subjected to a brutal body search. When you see a trans woman (Anjali Ameer), you know she will have a golden heart. You know how the traffickers will speak to the victims, you know how the victims will cry. You know how the retribution will unfold. You can pretty much predict how every scene will play out because you’ve seen it all somewhere. There is a distinct lack of originality in the writing and staging, and it’s difficult to care about what’s happening, as a consequence.
Except for Moorthy (Saravanan), a cop who may or may not have ulterior motives, the rest of the characters are all one-note. The eight young women, who are each named after a form of Kali, barely get any characterisation, though the series hangs on their stories. A good question to ask during the writing process would have been – do we have the space to create eight authentic women characters in this series or are we going with the number eight only because of the ‘Ashtakali’ goddess form? Can we imagine them as anything other than bloodthirsty goddesses who have been violated?
The generic treatment of these characters means that we never really see them as real people who’ve had their lives snatched away. Their trauma is diminished or amplified according to the demands of the screenplay, with all of them having the same response to everything. Laughing happily and playing or transforming into savage zombies. Even the climax with Sam CS’s unbearably loud music that juxtaposes the fury of a powerful goddess with contemporary events leaves you feeling cold.
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Suzhal 2 is that the investigation itself falls flat. The big answers are revealed in a lengthy flashback narration and not through a painstaking police procedural. The twists appear forced and there’s more than one loophole that you are left pondering in the far-fetched plot.
Despite the efforts of its competent cast, Suzhal 2 is heavily bogged down by its done-to-death ideas. Lots of shock value, but not enough insight.
Suzhal 2 is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Sowmya Rajendran writes on gender, culture and cinema. She has written over 25 books, including a nonfiction book on gender for adolescents. She was awarded the Sahitya Akademi’s Bal Sahitya Puraskar for her novel Mayil Will Not Be Quiet in 2015.
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither TNM nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the film’s producers or any other members of its cast and crew.