Kazhugu; the name must be pretty familiar by now because of some good publicity around the film. The premise of the film is definitely interesting; of people who do the unenviable task of retrieving the bodies of people who have committed suicide by jumping off from the cliffs of Kodaikanal. Well, we can safely say that there has been no film that has revolved around such people. So, does the premise alone make the movie worth watching?

Kazhugu tracks the story of a gang of four men; you could call them corpse collectors. After introductions about the rather cringe-worthy nature of the jobs they have to do for their existence and a few one-off episodes, we are taken to the central plot which involves a crime. Being the men who track corpses from the depths of the valleys, these men somehow find themselves party to the proceedings. Their involvement leads them to big trouble. How do they come out of it?

The film is not a gripping story about the corpse collectors, but it is a crime-revenge drama. However, the revenge has not been well executed and also there is a lot more desired when it comes to the characterisation of the antagonist. You also feel that the screen play doesn’t rise to the expected level to convince the protagonist’s connection in the main plot. The romantic angle is just average.

It is a pretty straightforward plot; no suspense or guesswork is called for. The film doesn’t offer much on the entertainment part except for the exchanges between Karunas and Thambi Ramaiah. They make you sit and watch. Krishna gets to do a role that is genuinely different, but the screenplay does not allow him to excel much. Bindu Madhavi fits in the role. Jayaprakash plays the lead antagonist and makes a mark. But, his character being so key to the script, should have been given more space.

The action in Kazhugu had the potential to be literally of the ‘cliffhanger’ type, but the film has not utilised it. Songs by Yuvan have lifted the film a notch up. The camerawork takes you to the enchanting beauty of the misty location. The well shot scenes, like the one which has Krishna lying on the road in a drunken stupor, have a lot of originality.

The backdrop of this movie is genuinely interesting and the makers have done some research into knowing the ways of the men who do a thankless job. But, the script should have been more inclusive so that the possibilities of the theme can be fully exploited rather than ending up as an averagely executed revenge action film.

Verdict: Interesting backdrop; should’ve been executed better