Suzhal: The Vortex
Suzhal: The Vortex is an Indian Tamil-language crime suspense thriller television series created by Pushkar–Gayathri which was an Amazon Original and premiered exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. The series was directed by Bramma G, Anucharan Murugaiyan and Sarjun KM and produced by Wallwatcher Films. It stars Kathir and Aishwarya Rajesh in lead roles.
The series features music composed by Sam C.S., cinematography handled by Mukeswaran and Abraham Joseph, and editing done by Richard Kevin. Arun Venjaramoodu was production designer for both seasons.The first season, consisting of eight episodes, was released on 17 June 2022. The second season, consisting of eight episodes, was released on 28 February 2025.
Premise
In the fictional town of Sambaloor but actually set up in Poombarai, Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu, lives a community that worships Goddess Angalamman. The community celebrates the Mayana Kollai festival over 10 days every year, and it is in these 10 days that this story unfolds. What starts out as parallel stories of kidnapping and arson of Nandhini ' and her sister, Fire Accident taking place at The Cement Factory, The Sub Inspector Chakravarthy Sakkarai ' sets out to unveil the suspense and knots tied to both the incidents, later unfolds into childhood trauma and conspiracy.Chakravarthy, being disturbed by the incidents and guilty feeling of inability of him to find Justice to Nandhini, seeks the help of Chellappa, his well wisher. Chellappa, the distinguished lawyer and senior Social activist and a public prosecutor renowned for his unwavering support in advocating for Nandini's defense, is tragically discovered dead under mysterious circumstances, Sakkarai is urgently summoned to offer his assistance to the grieving family during their time of shock and loss. As the investigation unfolds, it is set against the vibrant and festive backdrop of the grand Ashtakaali Festival, held annually in the charming town of Kaalipattanam. With each passing day, the inquiry delves deeper into the past, gradually revealing long-buried secrets and unresolved tensions that threaten to resurface, casting an ominous and unsettling shadow over the present and complicating the pursuit of justice.
Cast
;Main lead- Kathir as Sub-inspector Chakravarthy “Sakkarai”, Nandini's friend
- Aishwarya Rajesh as Nandini
- R. Parthiban as Shanmugam, Nandini's father
- Sriya Reddy as Inspector Regina Thomas
- Gopika Ramesh as Nila
- Fredrick Jhonson as Adhisayam
- Harish Uthaman as Trilok Vadde
- Prem Kumar as Vadivelu
- Elango Kumaravel as Guna
- Nivedhithaa Sathish as Lakshmi
- Indumathy Manikandan as Devi
- Latha Rao as Selvi
- Yusuf Hussain as Mukesh Vadde
- Nitish Veera as Pushparaj
- Santhana Bharathi as Kothandaraman
- Mekha Rajan as Dr. Sanghamithra
- Palani Murugan as Eeshwaran
- Soundarya as Malar
- Ajith Koshy as DSP Manimaran
- Navneeth Krishnan as Gani
- Yashwanth Babu as Mani
- G Ajith Kumar as Kandipan
- Hareesh SS as Dheena
- Sasi Kumar as Arivu
- Arun Pandiyan as Muthu
- Prasanna Balachandran as Sundaram
- Mona Kakade as a hospital doctor
- Lal as Adv Chellappa
- Saravanan as Inspector Moorthy
- Ashwini Nambiar as Malathy
- Amit Bhargav as Sundar
- Manjima Mohan as Nagamma
- Chandran as Ravi
- Chandini Tamilarasan as Prayamvatha
- Gouri G. Kishan as Muthu aka Madhubala. A stage dancer
- Monisha Blessy as Muppi. A salesgirl who works in optical shop
- Samyuktha Viswanathan as Naachi. An agriculturist.
- Harini Sundarajan as Adv.Gaandhari. A criminal lawyer
- Nikhila Shankar as Sandhanam. A trainee paramedic
- Srisha as Veera. A basketball player
- Kalaivani Bhaskar as Ulagu. A devoted girl
- Abhirami Bose as Senbagam. A ration shop owner
- Anjali Ameer as Vanaja
- O. A. K. Sundar as Thiruvengadam
- Aroul D. Shankar as Mithran
- Pondy Ravi as MLA Arasu
- Arshya Lakshman as Saroja
- S. Rajapandi as Sub Inspector
- Telephone Raj as Fernandes
- Thirumurugan as Maarappan
Music
The music is composed by Sam C. S. The first season consist of 13 songs. The second season consist of 18 songs.Release
The series has been released in over 30 languages through subtitles and has been dubbed in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Castilian Spanish, Latin Spanish, Arabic, and Turkish.Reception
The first season received critical acclaim.The second season received mixed reviews.
Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated the series 4 out of 5 stars and wrote, "The Vortex sets a benchmark that will take some doing to emulate". Logesh Balachandran of The Times Of India rated the series 4 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Suzhal is an intense investigative thriller that has a lot of surprises in store, making it a perfect bingewatch for the weekend". Divya Nair of Rediff rated the series 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Even though each episode is about an hour long, you won't even blink". Srivatsan S of The Hindu wrote, "A terrific star cast makes this layered series all the more effective", further adding that, "this is a rare series where the sum and parts are equally great". Nandini Ramnath writing for Scroll.in called the series "a nail-biting thriller about secrets & deceptions".
The series received criticism from Manoj Kumar B of Indian Express, who though praised the series for seemingly "being like a huge jump by the standards of Tamil soap operas", also criticised it for not being good enough to match the global standards & stated that the "show's creators have barely scratched the surface with this format of storytelling". Janani K of India Today rated the series 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Aishwarya Rajesh, Kathir's series sucks you right in but fizzles", though she praised the climax by writing that, "Pushkar and Gayatri's Suzhal imparts a much-needed message in the climax, which is relevant to society".