
Sorgavaasal
Action Crime Thriller Drama Tamil
A common man imprisoned in a corrupt system questions whether jails truly rehabilitate or push individuals deeper into crime's abyss.
Cast: | RJ Balaji, Selvaraghavan, Natarajan Subramaniam, Karunas, Saniya Iyyappan, Sharafudheen |
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Director: | Sidharth Viswanath |
Writer: | Ashwin Ravichandran |
Editor: | R. K. Selva |
Camera: | Prince Anderson |

Guild Reviews

Terrific performances keeps this meandering prison thriller within its boundaries

Prison films are tough to crack, but the allure of this genre is understandable. It is essentially a chamber drama where every character is unpredictable, and the audience is tuned to expect them to get violent at any time. These characters are ticking time bombs, and the setting allows the writers to explore the human psyche and deliver a solid character-driven drama. With this base in place, one can add the required flavours like romance, sentiment, revenge, and even comedy, and a prison film will have the space for it all. What really matters is the proportion of each, and for the longest time in Sorgavaasal, debutant director Sidharth Vishwanath, along with his co-writers Tamizh Prabha and Ashwin Ravichandran, get it right. However, despite perfectly building a Virumaandi meets Vada Chennai narrative to a crescendo, they falter at the end. But the characters, and its effective portrayal, ensure Sorgavaasal escapes without crashing and burning.

A Crime Thriller That Delivers Gripping Drama Despite Familiar Tropes

“The funny thing is… on the outside, I was an honest man, straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook, “Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) says with his sarcastic wit which leaves Red (Morgan Freeman) cackling in one of many incredible scenes of The Shawshank Redemption. Pathiban (RJ Balaji) says almost the same lines in Sorgavaasal but no one’s laughing here, because Sorgavaasal is a bleak world with no room for such humour. Here things are bloody and violent, and unlike the Hollywood classic, there’s no room for home in the pessimistic world of Sorgavaasal.

RJ Balaji Stars In A Largely Compelling Update Of ‘Virumaandi’

There couldn’t have been a more fitting title for the film that Sorgavaasal has turned out to be. When translated, it could be read as “At Heaven’s Gate”. This isn’t merely ironic, given how almost the entire film is set within the walls of a high-security prison. But the idea of being at arms length from heaven, as close as you are far, gives Sorgavaasal the illusion of it taking place in some sort of a purgatory. For some inmates, this idea of heaven is the day they’re released back into the outside world. For others, the exit sign points only towards death. But then there’s the third kind, like the man they all lovingly call ‘Cooker’ (Balaji Sakthivel), whose belief falls somewhere in between. When Parthi (RJ Balaji, as never seen before) cooks a delicious meal for the inmates, he asks Cooker why this isn’t the norm. Cooker replies, “If you start enjoying the food you’re being served here, you will feel no need to leave.”

RJ Balaji's prison drama falls short of brilliance

Over the years, actor-director RJ Balaji established himself as a creator with a defined vision. As an actor, he explores different genres, and despite his limitations, Balaji pushes the boundaries with the scripts he chooses. Director Sidharth Vishwanath’s Sorgavaasal is one such film that highlights the 1999 riots and presents a gripping prison-break drama. Parthiban (RJ Balaji), hailing from a lower-economic background, runs a food cart. Shanmugam (Param), an IAS officer who frequents Parthiban’s food cart, helps him secure a loan to open a hotel in his locality. However, Shanmugam’s untimely death and circumstantial evidence send Parthiban to jail.
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