There
is a certain expectation you have for films by first-time filmmakers,
as you assume they would have toiled hard on the script of their first
film, having lived with it for the most part of their lives, polishing
it day in and day out, and truly grabbing the chance when they get to
make it into a film. Curiously, most often, these films end up as
disappointments and R Jayakumar's Suzhal is the latest in the list of damp squibs from debutant directors.
Direction: R Jayakumar
Genre: Thriller
Duration: 2 hours 2 minutes
Cast: Fariz, Atul Kulkarni, Prathap Pothen, Hemachandran, Nizhalgal Ravi, Kadhal SukumarBoth the script and its execution are immature to say the least and what should have been a tense cat-and-mouse game ends up as a joke that tests your patience. Jayakumar has a premise that can make for an edgy thriller but he falters in turning this into an intelligent script that shows how desperate young men take the wrong route in the hope of a glorious future.
Throughout the first half, we are presented with cliched scenes of college students having fun (with songs that try so hard to be cool and are anything but hep), peppered with dialogues (by Pradeep Sivasankar and Raveendranath) that are straight out of 80s melodramas. And, when movie turns into a crime thriller in the second half, we are told the unsuspecting hero is being led into an international arms and drug cartel which can destabilize nations, but are actually shown a bunch of cheap-looking extras betting on hapless victims taking part in a Russian roulette. And, this segment is staged so badly that it feels more like a farce.
