Kazhugu (2012 film)

Kazhugu is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language comedy thriller film written and directed by newcomer Sathyasiva, starring Krishna and Bindu Madhavi. The film, produced by Krishna's father K. K. Sekhar along with K. S. Madhubala, features music composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja. The story revolves around four persons, referred to as "Kazhugu", who recover the bodies of suicide victims who jump off a cliff. The film, based on real-life incidents, has been shot in real locations, including Kodaikanal, Theni, and Munnar. It had been in making since late 2010 and eventually released on 16 March 2012, to mixed reviews and became a sleeper hit.

Plot
Sera (Krishna) is a man who earns his living by retrieving dead bodies from Kodaikanal's Green Valley View suicide point. Nandu (Karunas), Shanmugam (Thambi Ramaiah), and a mute friend are part of Sera's crew. Sera meets Kavitha (Bindu Madhavi) when he and his crew retrieve her sister's body from a gully after her sister had committed suicide with her boyfriend. Kavitha falls in love with Sera. A parallel plot is of Ayya (Jayaprakash), who trades in stolen tea, with corrupt officials turning a blind eye to his activities. Ayya's gang kills four police officers during a raid and throws the dead bodies from the suicide point. Ayya, who knows Shanmugam, threatens him not to retrieve the bodies of the police officers. Fearing for their lives, Shanmugam tries to convince Sera not to retrieve the bodies. Brushing aside Shanmugam's fears, Sera's crew retrieves the bodies. After retrieving the bodies, Sera informs the police of the murder by Ayya, resulting in Ayya's arrest. Ayya comes out on bail, and his men kill Shanmugam, Nandu, and Sera's mute friend. Sera kills Ayya's henchmen. Kavitha consoles Sera, and they both decide to run away from Kodaikanal to lead a peaceful life. They both board a jeep, and on the way, Ayya arrives with his men, and they start attacking Sera. Sera kills most of them and also Ayya. He rushes back to the jeep but is shocked to see Kavitha dead. Sera understands that Kavitha was accidentally stabbed to death during the fight. Sera cries loud, jumps from the mountain, and kills himself along with Kavitha's dead body.

Cast
Special appearances in promotional songs by (in alphabetical order):


 * Aarthi
 * Arya
 * Divyadarshini
 * Ganeshkar
 * Jennifer
 * Jiiva
 * Kala
 * Keerthi
 * Linguswamy
 * Oviya
 * Pandiraj
 * Perarasu
 * Premji Amaren
 * Priya Anand
 * Pushpavanam Kuppusamy
 * Radhika
 * S. J. Surya
 * Sanjeev
 * Sivakarthikeyan
 * Thaman
 * Venkat Prabhu
 * Vijayalakshmi
 * Vishnuvardhan

Release
The satellite rights of the film were sold to Sun TV. The film was given a "U/A" certificate by the Indian Censor Board.

Critical response
The film, upon release, fetched mixed reviews. A reviewer from Sify.com said Kazhugu was a "realistic romantic thriller that seldom loses its grip on your attention. Credible performances from its leads, a nail-biting screenplay along with a fresh milieu makes it an engaging film". The Times of India gave it 3.5 out of 5, claiming that it was "gripping from start to finish". Indiaglitz.com noted that it was a "bright film with a dark theme". Rohit Ramachandran of Nowrunning.com rated Kazhugu 1/5 calling it vile. Malathi Rangarajam from The Hindu wrote: "It's heartening to see young filmmakers daring to steer clear of stereotypes. S. Sathyasiva who makes his bow with Kazhugu is the latest in this category". The critic further cited that director Sathyasiva was "a director to watch out for". Kannan Vijayakumar of Moviecrow rated it 3 out of 5, and labeled it "Above Average" stating "Kazhugu is a well-researched unique attempt with an interesting backdrop, but failed to fully utilize its potential due to shaky screenplay".

Pavithra Srinivasan from Rediff.com gave the film 2.5 out of 5 and commented: Kazhugu starts well but the extreme predictability of the screenplay makes sure that tedium sets in, leading to a rather tame climax". Behindwoods.com gave it 2 out of 5 and said that the backdrop of the film was "genuinely interesting" while criticizing that 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".