Cast : Krishna Sekhar, Bindu Madhavi, Karunas, Thambi Ramaiah
Director : Sathyasiva.S
Producer : K.K.Sekhar, K.S.Madhubala
Music : Yuvan Shankar Raja
Lyrics : Na.Muthukumar, Snegan, Eatnath
Rating:

One of the best things about Talking Times Movies' Tamil film Kazhugu is that it takes a very interesting premise as its plot-point: the lives of men who routinely climb down steep mountain slopes, 3000 or 4000 feet down, and scrounge around for dead bodies usually of those who have committed suicide from the summit.

A horrifying job, and a dangerous one given the sheer difficulty of trekking in virgin forest, looking through the undergrowth for decomposing bodies that are frequently wedged between rocks or have fallen into pits.

Director Sathyasiva has certainly chosen a novel story. As to whether it satisfies its very promising start, is something else altogether.

The beginning is interesting: Sera (Krishna), Shanmugam (Thambi Ramaiyya), Nandu (Karunaas) and a friend are all involved in the aforementioned job of retrieving corpses of those who have fallen or leapt to their deaths. A good deal of their time is spent drinking and trying to forget the horrors of what the see. They try to deal with this by referring to the bodies as 'pieces' and entertain extremely cynical notions about life and love in general.

Meantime, there's Kavi (Bindhu Madhavi) who is fond of Sera, despite his drunken fits.

At the other end of the spectrum is the factory owner Ayya (Jayaprakash) who is engaging in illegal activities and you know straightaway that they're going to tangle later on.

So far, so good. But from here, the screenplay starts wobbling. The dialogues are all right and there's a thread of realism that anchors the characters, but the extreme predictability of the screenplay makes sure that tedium sets in, leading to a rather tame climax.

Bindhu Madhavi is a ray of sunshine in the story, and Krishna does a fairly good job, while Thambi Ramaiyya adds a good deal of humour in the scenes he's in. But the real hero in many ways is P Sathya's camera, which zips and zooms through the forests and hills and takes you close to the tragedies.

Yuvan Shankar Raja's music is melodious and adds depth.

Had Sathyasiva managed to keep proceedings as interesting as he does in the first hour, Kazhugu would have turned out a classic.

Review 2

Sera(Krishna), is an orphan and vagabond, who along with three others Nandu(Karnas), Chittapa(Thambi Ramaih) and a mute guy live in Kodaikanal. They are experts in finding dead bodies of people who jumps from the notorious suicide points and handing it over to police and relatives for a price. And the beauty of it is that they are a set of happy people who drinks, smokes and have a gala good time during their job. They have no emotion and more than the pittance they earn it is the gold jewellery on the dead bodies that fetch them that extra buck.

In one his assignments, Sera recover the body of a girl whose sister Kavi(Bindu Madhavi)develops a bond with him. The hard boiled moron Sera gets attracted to Kavi who works in a tea factory. Then there is a local big shot (Jayaprakash) who smuggles tea from a rival factory with the help of the estate manager. How Krishna and his gang get entangled with the thugs and his life takes a U turn which ultimately leads to a gory climax forms the rest of the story.

Kazhagu is convincing for the performance put in by the lead actors. Krishna fits the role of Sera and he approaches his part with restraint and minimalist fuss. Bindu Madhavi with her expressive eyes is perfect while Thambi Ramamiah and Karnas provide some light moments without being crude. The other heroes of the film are Satya with his eyecatching and efficient camerawork especially the misty night effect shots. Yuvan's rousing music and background score enhances the story telling and the song he sings “PaathagathiKannupattu...” is a beauty.

On the whole, a good attempt by the team to come out with something new and refreshing. Satyasiva and the team deserves a pat on the back for coming out with a story that is packaged well with the right mix of commercial elements.

Verdict : Kazhugu disappoints due to shaky screenplay