Mugizh movie review: A touching tale of love and loss

Mugizh

Tamil (Netflix)

Director: Karthik Swaminathan

Cast: Vijay Sethupathi, Regina Cassandra, Sreeja Vijay Sethupathi

Rating: 3/5

In a typical dog film, we see the rollercoaster journey of the canine with the central character. Director Karthik Swaminathan does something interesting to the much-loved genre. In his 62-minute film 'Mugizh', he explores a family's grief of losing its pet and keeps the happy moments on the margins.

Of course he uses a song to establish the bond between Scooby (the dog) and Kavya, a 12-year-old girl. But the film quickly shifts to a grim zone when the pet dies in an accident. Right from recovering from the shock to accepting the fact, 'Mugizh' reflects people's sadness and the pall of gloom in the house in all its mundaneness without the extra melodrama.

Vijay Sethupathi, as Vijay, plays father to his real-life daughter Sreeja. The film's twist of fate lies in the fact that Vijay and his wife Radhika (Regina Cassandra) are dog lovers. Sreeja is scared for dogs, showing signs of cynophobia. The couple works hard to help Sreeja overcome the fear. Life seems Scooby enters their lives.

From that situation, Vijay and Radhika wonder if they did the right thing by making their daughter fall in love with a dog as they struggle to get Sreeja out of her grieving phase. The conversations and the moments of silence might seem a tad too plain early on but we slowly start to understand the family's plight and start feeling for the three. We relate to the emotional state of the characters.

The film shows that patience is key to move on from a personal loss and time, eventually, heals everything.