Beyond one’s own conception of religion and spirituality, the world has a distinctive and shared vision of heaven and hell. When it comes to the real world, a prison might represent the closest environment to an infernal abyss. But why are prisons such dark and terrifying places? Is it because of the criminals that inhabit them or the corruption that lurks in the people who are supposed to look after them? Sidharth Vishwanath’s debut film “Sorgavaasal” , currently screening on Netflix, bravely attempts to answer those questions.
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The story starts with the Superintendent of Police at the Madras Central Jail Kattabomman (Karunas) sharing an important message: “There are only two paths in life. You can either be on your knees in heaven, or you can be the king in hell. […] The choice is yours.” While setting the direction for Vishwanath’s prison drama, the quote also purposely hints at the intent behind the film’s title, which translates into ‘Gate of Heaven’.
2000. Officer Ismail (Natarajan Subramaniam) is tasked with investigating an infamous riot at Madras Central Prison. The bloodbath, which took place in 1999, followed the death of Sigamani (Selvaraghavan), an infamous ruthless gang leader. The latter transformed the prison into his kingdom thanks to the help of his right-hand men, Tiger Mani (Hakkim Shajahan), a Sri Lankan inmate named Seelan (Antonythasan Jesuthasan), and Kendrick (Samuel Abiola Robinson), an African-American religious detainee.
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One day, a new inmate, Parthiban “Parthi” (RJ Balaji), is falsely accused of murdering an IAS officer named Shanmugam, who Sigamani was tasked with getting rid of. Consequently, the film follows the police investigation into what happened at the Madras Central Jail and who is the culprit. As the film continues, more characters and plot twists are introduced, in an attempt to give shape to a world where hell and heaven coexist, as the difference between the people who committed the crimes and those supposed to protect us from them slims down. While doing so, the writing is embellished with philosophical questions of a religious nature about society’s concept of what’s morally good and bad.
Prince Anderson photography and Selva RK editing are captivating, involving the audience during crucial moments effortlessly. Let alone the main characters’ convincing performances, which show natural chemistry on screen. Concerning its technical aspect, “Sorgavaasal” almost presents itself as a perfect action film, thanks to its detailed hellish scenery and use of colors, let alone the smooth and engaging editing.
Vishwanath clearly shows a thorough vision of his characters, where they are destined to work as puzzle pieces that, once put together, embody the grayish and incoherent moral compass of the human soul. Each of them, with their weaknesses and strengths, works as a symbolic means to capture mankind’s limits. In comparison to popular prison films, “Sorgavaasal” doesn’t believe in redemption arcs. Instead, the film is more focused on attempting to understand the dark sides of humankind, and how corrupted a man can become out of desperation.
On one had, this project is clearly an original and unconventional take on the genre, but on the other hand, the screenplay isn’t sufficiently cohesive, leading to inevitable confusion about its attempted message. In fact, the director’s vision might seem, at times, overindulgent and overwhelming, with many elements all over the place that do not get sufficiently analyzed throughout the story. Multiple characters are introduced one after the other, not leaving enough space to enrich their backstory or development arch.
Although a truly remarkable debut, “Sorgavaasal” might leave the audience hungry for more. The intent is pure at heart, but not artistically mature enough to cover so many topics. However, its unconventional stance on prison action films and social themes is remarkable enough for a deep dive into it.
