The fact that you’re reading this article means that you have watched episodes 1–7 of “Suzhal: The Vortex.” You know that all your theories about Nila’s (Gopika Ramesh) kidnapping, Adhisayam (FJ) and Nila’s elopement, Eswaran (Palani Murugan) being the killer, Trilok Vadde (Harish Uthaman) being a child molester and impregnating Nila, Nila and Adhisayam’s death by suicide due to said pregnancy, everything has turned out to be wrong. And now you are here, after watching the final episode of Season 1, to unpack what really went down. If you haven’t, well, sorry for the spoilers. Watch the show and come back here again. If you have, read on.
Spoilers Ahead
Regina and Shanmugam Admit The Crime They Have Committed
The episode opens with a flashback at the cemetery, near the monument of the protective demon, with Adhisayam recording the lines Nila has written for him to throw Regina (Sriya Reddy) off their trail. Nila is seen toying with a machete. After asking him about the duty of a protective demon, she tells Adhisayam that he is her protective demon. Then we cut to the present day, where Nandini (Aishwarya Rajesh), after recovering from her latest seizure, is talking to Dr. Sangamithra (Mekha Rajan) about the reason why Nila never confided in Shanmugam (Parthiban Radhakrishnan) regarding her sexual abuse. Sangamithra says that there are limits to a person’s ability to open up during a time of great distress. She draws attention to the fact that there are gaps in Nandini’s memory because, like Nila, she has gone through a traumatic period and suppressed it all. The senior doctor (Logananthan) and Sangamithra talk about the fact that Nandini is more worried about Nila’s sexual abuse than her own state of mind. Sangamithra even says that it’s clear that Nandini is a victim of sexual abuse too. Nandini’s nightmare confirms that as she sees herself in Nila’s position, being touched by an elderly man, thereby insinuating that the criminal in both cases is the same person. Nandini realizes that the brutal incident she had suppressed for so long has surfaced.
Kothandaraman (Santhana Bharathi) inspects the jeep that Sakkarai (Kathir) and Regina usually use and finds some kind of stain on the rubber rugs. He touches and smells it too, and reacts to the revelation with a wry smile. He goes to meet the union lawyer (Amarendran) of Vadde Cements to talk about the fire. The lawyer says that in his twenty years of service, he hasn’t seen any major conflicts between the workers and the management. They only started in the last three years. Kothandaraman understands that the lawyer is referring to the point at which Trilok took over the company. The lawyer says that it’s a coincidence that when Trilok came in, things were already going downhill. Kothandaraman infers whether that’s the reason why the workers went on strike. The lawyer says he is unaware of the reason why they went on strike on that particular day. He pulls out a file to show that he and Shanmugam had foreseen the company’s future and renegotiated the workers’ contract.
Mukesh (Yusuf Hussain) sits by an unconscious but recuperating Trilok and remembers a time when he said that he didn’t want to be a part of his father’s factory’s legacy. Mukesh scolded him for wanting to work for someone in a big city instead of being an integral part of a small town. Mukesh scoffed at this remark and told him that the people see the two of them as the villains of the town. As he exits the hospital room, he comes across Kothandaraman asking around for Trilok. Mukesh tells him that he’s incapacitated for the time being and has nothing to do with the fire. Kothandaraman says that he knows that. Kothandaraman pulls out the contract he has retrieved from the union lawyer and tells Mukesh that, according to it, the workers are entitled to at least a year’s compensation, regardless of the condition in which the factory was shut down. He further explains that during fire accidents, there are usually casualties. But when the factory went up in flames, the workers were on strike. Hence, no one died. Mukesh asks if Kothandaraman would’ve been happy if someone had? Kothandaraman says that he’s merely pointing out a coincidence. He mentions how, unlike every other time, the diesel room was locked from the outside. He says that he tried to prove that the fire was caused by faulty maintenance. But that was sidelined by Trilok sending the police to arrest Shanmugam.
As per Kothandaraman, Trilok accidentally did the right thing by getting Shanmugam arrested because he’s the person responsible for the fire in the factory. He says that Shanmugam used thinner to do the deed and that thinner was acquired by none other than Regina. He then points out that the workers’ contract was signed by Mukesh himself, which means that Shanmugam, Regina, and Mukesh orchestrated a bogus strike to clear out the workers and then burn down the factory. Shanmugam agreed to take the blame and get himself arrested. And if he had done so, the insurance company would have compensated the Vaddes. But he couldn’t because Nila had disappeared, and he had to get out of jail to find her. Mukesh admits that he underestimated Kothandaraman. He tells him to take the next step because the villains of his deduction are in front of him. Kothandaraman says that he knows that all of them are in the wrong, but they aren’t villains. He says that the factory was losing money, and the three of them knew that the families in the town would suffer if the factory shut down. So, they did all this to pay out the employees with the insurance money. Mukesh contradicts that by saying what Kothandaraman is saying is partly true. The whole truth is that they did it to secure their children’s futures, as Trilok would receive Mukesh’s share of the money, Adhisayam would receive Regina’s, and Nila would receive Shanmugam’s. But all that went nowhere.
Mukesh says that he isn’t actually angry with Regina and Shanmugam for beating the living hell out of Trilok. Because, at the end of the day, the child has to pay for the sins of the parents. And now both Regina and Shanmugam have to pay for their sins. Vadivelu (Prem Kumar) leaves Regina. Devi (Indumathy Manikandan) assures Shanmugam that his actions can be good or bad. But he’s not a bad man. Shanmugam says that he believed that too. However, he isn’t sure about that anymore. Sakkarai regrets sending Shanmugam and Regina after Trilok, while Sundaram (Prasanna Balachandran) tells him that anyone in his place would’ve committed the same mistake. Sakkarai appears to agree with Sundaram. But he says that means there’s no difference between him and any other cop. He says that they profiled Eswaran and Trilok based on their looks. Sundaram justifies it by saying that it’s the only way to do the job. Sakkarai admits that, until now, he thought that he could tell what people think, and that’s not the case anymore. Sundaram receives a call that Shanmugam and Regina are surrendering to the police. On their way to the jail, Regina tells Sakkarai to not reveal his involvement, while Shanmugam tells him to find the killer of the children.
Guna Reveals How He Killed Adhisayam And Nila
Sakkarai returns to the police station to go through the facts again. That’s interrupted by Kothandaraman’s arrival, as he requires Sakkarai’s signature on the insurance report for the factory fire. Sakkarai realizes that Kothandaraman hasn’t named Shanmugam, Regina, or Mukesh Vadde as the co-conspirators of the incident. Not just that, he has recommended the insurance company to compensate the affected party. Realizing that he has done them a solid (albeit an illegal one), Sakkarai immediately sings the insurance report. Vadivelu tries to get through to Sakkarai, but he hangs up on him. Nandini (Nivedhithaa Sathish) arrives at the police station to tell Sakkarai that Nandini is missing from the hospital and she has switched off her phone. Sakkarai idiotically tells her to check the CCTV cameras, and Lakshmi says that the hospital doesn’t have any. So, Sakkarai goes to the hospital and orders the doctors to tell him about Nandini’s whereabouts. The doctors say that they can’t do that because it’ll breach her privacy. Sakkarai threatens them with legal action. That’s when they tell him about Nandini’s past with sexual abuse.
Sakkarai wonders if Nandini and Nila’s abuser is the same man, and after figuring out that Nandini is going to spill the truth, he has kidnapped her. He receives a call from his mother’s (Eashwari) caretaker, who is refusing to stay the night. Lakshmi says that she can stay with her mother. So, they leave for Sakkarai’s home. On her way out, the caretaker says that she saw Nandini come in there a little earlier to tuck Sakkarai’s mother in. The caretaker didn’t think too much about it and let her be. Sakkarai figures out that Nandini hasn’t been abducted. She’s out and about on her own. He also deduces that Nandini has taken his service revolver to kill her abuser, just like what Nila tried to do.
We see Nandini, revolver in hand, standing at the edge of the cemetery and looking at the town. The proceedings of the final day of the Mayana Kollai are going on. As described by the announcer, it’s the day when the Goddess finds and eliminates the demon, before resting on her cradle. A shrouded figure approaches Nandini while Sakkarai goes to her house to check if someone’s there. Although it’s locked from the outside, Sakkarai sees someone moving in there. So, he breaks in and finds only Selvi (Latha Rao) in there. She talks about her affair with Pushparaj (Nitish) and Devi, attending Mayana Kollai. Sakkarai brings her back to the point about Nandini’s location. She tries calling Devi. She doesn’t pick it up. Then she calls Guna (Kumaravel). He doesn’t pick up either.
While thinking about Nila, Selvi randomly says that if Guna had stayed home on the day of Mayana Kollai’s flag hoisting ceremony, she would’ve definitely told him before leaving. Something clicks inside Sakkarai’s head. Selvi says that Guna carries the skull every year. Sakkarai remembers that the priest (Venkatesan) was carrying the skull that day, which means that Guna lied about going to the festival. Selvi remembers that he returned the next day looking very exhausted. Sakkarai realizes that Guna wasn’t there at the factory fire either. He connects the dots as Selvi says that at the age of 12 or 13, Nandini and Nila stopped coming to Guna for protection from Sanmugam’s scolding. Sakkarai looks at a very old photograph of Guna holding Nila and Nandini. He turns and stares at Selvi until she realizes that Guna is the abuser. As Selvi breaks down, Sakkarai asks her to tell him where Guna could’ve gone because Nandini’s life is in danger. Realizing that Selvi is too shaken to help, Sakkarai tells Sundaram to trace Guna’s phone. Guna appears before Nandini and (after seeing the gun in her hand) admits that Nila’s death was an accident. He says that just like Nandini had called him to meet, Nila had done the same on that fateful night. When he got there, Adhisayam attacked him with the machete. But before he could land a fatal blow, the explosion of the tanker knocked them all out. When they regained consciousness, Guna slit Adhisayam’s throat and then “accidentally” slit Nila’s throat as well. Then he threw them into the pond in the quarry.
‘Suzhal: The Vortex’ Season 1: Ending Explained – Does Sakkarai And Nandini Reveal The Truth To Sambaloor? Will There Be A Season 2?
Nandini is visibly shaken by the revelation and falls to her feet. Guna explains that he called the cops that night in order to confess and surrender himself. But he couldn’t go through with it. So he hung up. Sakkarai gets the information that Guna’s last tagged location is near the old cemetery. So, he rushes to that spot. Guna tries to console Nandini, but she pushes him away. She points the gun at him but fails to riddle him with bullets. Guna continues, explaining that he didn’t want to kill Nila. He says that his love for Nandini and Nila is pure. Nandini ridicules Guna for calling it “love.” She talks about trusting Guna so much and how she can’t be normal around anyone because of the abuse of that trust.
Guna switches gears and starts emotionally manipulating her by asking her why she never told her father about what he did. He asks her why she left Nila alone. Seeing Nandini break, even more, Guna tells her that she abandoned him when she left the town. He talks about feeling lonely, Nila’s death, and feeling the pain of her death. As Sakkarai rushes to Nandini’s rescue, Guna quietly takes the gun away from her. He then starts talking about leaving this life of lies and living together somewhere else. Right when he gets way too close to Nandini, Sakkarai finally arrives and faces off with Guna (the scene is aptly juxtaposed with the mythology of Mayana Kollai). Guna briefly gets the upper hand over Sakkarai, but he overpowers Guna and nails him down. Nandini seizes that moment to kill Guna.
Sakkarai tells Nandini that she has been through a lot. That’s why he is going to take the blame for Guna’s death. He says that no one should know what happened to her and Nila. Nandini interjects him by saying that everyone should definitely know the truth. Sakkarai says that the Goddess Angali awoke the sleeping demon at Mayana Kollai and slaughtered him. And now, she rests. As Sakkarai assists Nandini out of the cemetery, the following words appear on the screen: “More than 90% of sexually abused children have been abused by someone they know and trust.” Child abuse casts a shadow the length of a lifetime.” Given the conclusive and poignant nature of “Suzhal: The Vortex,” it’s safe to assume that Season 2 (if there’s going to be one) will not follow this story and will take on a new one. Hopefully, it’ll live up to the quality of this season while highlighting another important societal issue.
“Suzhal: The Vortex” is a 2022 Indian Drama Thriller Series created by Gayatri and Pushkar.
