Bhaskaran (Pasupathy) is on the verge of retiring from his job in a government hospital. Bhaskaran needs to be on his best behaviour so that he can use his pension to treat his grandson Rahul (Sai Saran), who has an ailment that needs expensive surgery.
A crime in Bhaskaran’s building severely threatens his equilibrium. His neighbour’s daughter Mercy goes missing. It appears that Mercy is the latest victim of a serial killer. Police constable Gautam (Vidaarth) is eager to help, but has been banished to driving duty because of a previous act of negligence.
The possibility that Bhaskaran might be involved in Mercy’s disappearance horrifies Bhaskaran’s wife Anandhi (Lizzie Antony), especially given the anguish of Mercy’s mother Esther (Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli). The police round up a likely suspect or two, but Gautam, quietly working behind the scenes, finds something else altogether.
In the Tamil show Kuttram Purindhavan (The Guilty One), split-second decisions have lasting repercussions – all the better to lob twists at a dizzying pace. Written and directed by Selvamani Muliyappan, the Sony LIV series is in the mould of Suzhal and Maharaja. Crimes against young girls lead to revelations that complicate notions of guilt and punishment. There are perverted culprits but righteous perpetrators too.
Designed as both a thriller and a moral inquiry, the show rolls out revelations all the way until the final frame of its seven episodes. Not all the pretzel-shaped plotting works – some of the disclosures are downright implausible. In chasing the idea that one person’s act of rebellion is another person’s crime, or that some wrongs are necessary if the cause is correct, Kuttram Purindhavan overreaches itself and overly complicates its basic premise.
However, the refusal to offer a neat solution is admirable. Kuttram Purindhavan also benefits from amply fleshed-out characters who grapple with relatable moral dilemmas.
Pasupathy is utterly believable in his despair, which drives him to make questionable choices. Vidaarth is compelling as the cop who takes a risky road to redemption. There are solid turns too from Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli as Esther and Lizzie Antony as Bhaskaran’s wife.
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