Sorgavaasal Review - Engaging enough but falls short of being impactful

Ashwin Ram

Sorgavaasal is a prison drama starring RJ Balaji and Selvaraghavan in the lead roles. The film is directed by debutant Sidharth Vishwanath.

Premise:

RJ Balaji is an innocent who owns a roadside food shop. He goes to jail as a prisoner under investigation in a put-up case for murdering an IAS officer. How a series of events turn his life upside down forms the remaining story.

Writing/ Direction:

The narrative style is messed up, the order gets fumbled and the presentation of the on-camera scenes offer a documentary feel. Yet the interesting stretches in the screenplay let us travel along with the happenings. The basic intention of the first act is to establish RJ Balaji as an innocent and there are enough elements to showcase so. We do feel pity for him for being wrongly accused, but do we get a sense of relief at the end, No. And, it is due to the half-baked ending that barely conveys anything well. The jail setup is strongly done, the characters have dynamic backstories, the writing is appreciable in these portions despite them being showcased as animation visuals. The whole God aspect, how a foreigner makes a huge impact and gives an entirely different perspective to the subject is commendable. Many philosophical and political dialogues are bravely penned, mainly the transgender one is a banger. The second half is predominantly action-driven, the drama behind it is solid, but the flow is stagnant and does not move forward the story. Pretty much engaging, sadly the wow factor is missing. No issues it being on the lines of Vada Chennai and having traces of Virumaandi, the problem is the lack of emotional depth, we don’t really feel for the losses.

Performances:

RJ Balaji’s look set for his character is befitting, could witness a big leap in his performance too while comparing to his previous works, the areas he struggles are during the loud screaming and crying. Selvaraghavan gets a very interesting character arc and he has played quite convincingly in many portions, he suffers from performing action sequences and his hairstyle is weird. Many new faces in supporting roles, they all have done a solid job and given life to the situations. Karunas add up to the positives as well, clueless why they randomly made Natty a person suffer from acidity throughout the movie.

Technicalities:

Technically a tidy film, top notch camera work with great quality in the visuals. The fine framing and apt lighting especially for the night sequences. Music is on the satisfying mark, not as intense as could have possibly been, yet no big complaints. Neat editing that is in sync with the narrative choice, sticks to the mood of the film. Action is efficient for the storytelling here, has a few worrying rope shots, apart from which the rawness kicks in.

Bottomline

There are a truckload of intense situations that keep the film very much alive. Would have been better with a live narrative and finesse in the emotional points. The flat moments in the last hour and a lackluster climax leaves only a minimal mark.

Rating - 2.75/ 5