Film: Avakaya Biryani
Rating: 2/5
Presented By: Sekhar Kammula
Cast: Kamal Kamaraju, Bindu Madhavi, Rao Ramesh etc
Choreography: Prem Rakshit
Lyrics: Vanamali
Music: Manikanth Kadri
Cinematography: Shyam
Producers: Sekhar Kammula and Chandrasekhar Kammula
Director: Aneesh Kuruvilla
Released On: 14th November 2008
Story:
Avakai Biryani is a strange title but it doesn’t take much time to realise why the filmmaker used it. Lakshmi is a Brahmin girl selling mango pickle and Akbar is a muslim youth who drives an auto to eke out a living. It is also a tale of a village, it’s poverty, politics, good friends and a romance. Apart from dealing with the hindu-muslim love story, it shows the fighting spirit of two characters who are thrown in adverse circumstances, each trying to help the other. A noble line but the film suffers on more than one account. The lead pair basically have a very urbane, metropolitan look and the story, setting all in a village atmosphere doesn’t suit them at all.
There are gaps in conversation, the pace of the film drags very early, yet it has a compelling look at poverty. The script doesn’t have much to look forward to, no tensions, no twists and the cast don’t quite manage to inject the energy into the film. The struggle is not conveyed as Kamal wears only two expressions throughout the film. The film bores one with the dull dialogues and it is only at the end, the film finally hits a sweet note..the result which is just mediocre, and largely underwhelming. Bindu Madhavi is pretty but the lip-synching just doesn’t gel with the dubbing work. She is capable of doing much better work. The film has lush colours, gorgeous visuals, nice hummable songs but the narrative is not likely to appeal to contemporary audiences. At two hours and fifteen minutes Avakai Biryani is not nearly as fulfilling as we have every right to expect it to be
Akbar (Kamal Kamaraju) is an auto driver in a village called Devarakonda and also works as paper boy in the early morning. He is an orphan as lost his father in childhood. He, along with other young uneducated gang lives under the rule of Masterjee (Rao Ramesh), the village head. Babar, a Muslim leader in that place wishes to divert Akbar as religious chauvinist. But Akbar follows ‘love all’ concept.
A Brahmin family newly comes to that village in exodus from another village and resides in a house. Their plan is to start a hotel business there and also sell avakaya. Lakshmi (Bindu Madhavi), the elder daughter in that family falls in love with Akbar.
How Akbar and Lakshmi unite? How the Hindu-Muslim love is accepted by Lakshmi’s father who believes in strict Brahminism? How the hotel business will be started by that family? How Akbar becomes a hero in his village from mere auto driver? All these form the rest of narration.
Performances:
Kamal Kamaraju is ok with his physique and bearing but needs to groom in expressions and other histrionics. New girl Bindu Madhavi is ok with the character she played in the film. And she too needs to groom herself to show versatility.
Music by Manikanth is good and cinematography deserves great mention. The songs ‘Mamidi kommaku maa chilakammaku’, ‘Nannu chupe addam..’ and ‘Govardhanameththaadu gopalude…’ have received good applause.
Director would have done batter work on dialogues. The required punches were lacked on a whole leaving audiences without sufficient entertainment.
Analysis:
It’s a movie that moves in a different but slow pace. Technical brilliance is seen in making with creative cinematography, worth mentioning framing, enticing music and quality RR. The tempo of the movie and also the subject chosen for it recalls the 1990s Delhi Doordarshan TV serials like Govind Nihalani’s ‘Tamas’, ‘Malgudi Days’ etc. It’s a genre of movie that would be liked and disliked in equal form. In other words to say, there would be good number of audiences on both the sides. Director Aneesh tried to balance the equation between his creativity and commercial point. But on a whole at the end, it gives a ‘boring feel’ for some and a ‘good relief’ for others.
The film aptly suits to hit the film festivals across the world. It has some message in it. Aneesh would have got better experience with the films those will be played in film festivals. Like Thangar Bachchan’s ‘Pallikoodam’, where the lead role works hard for a social cause and the betterment of a place, here the lead role in ‘Avakaya Biryani’ also does the same. That may not be taken as the only common point between the two. The way the story is narrated with remote village backdrop, limited set of characters with typical characterizations etc.
To sum up, the film has lacked in energy and audiences find it difficult to get connect to it. When story is not running at faster pace that should be filled in by comedy. Or if there is no comedy to show, the story should run. Although Aneesh has comparison with many award winning film makers, he brought some doubts in the heads of some audiences:
How a village family goes to another remote village for livelihood? Many audiences felt that it would have been convincing had they gone to city. And again why the heroine goes to Hyderabad to sell pickles?
How the village head Masterjee speaks in pure Andhra accent in Devarakonda, a Telangana village?
What is the characterization of Babar? He roams as vagabond on a motor cycle for some time and dresses up like MIM leader and sits along with CM other time and appears as ‘Mutton Shop Mastan’ in another frame. Finally he loses himself in an auto race with hero!!!
Leaving those trivial doubts aside, the film has got many concoctions that suit for Film Festivals. Religious tolerance, inter-religious love, village politics, auto race, auto driver growing as Mandal President and all. The style of narration is something different without the influences of any contemporary director. The notable minus in the movie is lack of sufficient humor and comedy. A couple scenes between village head Masterjee and an eccentric fried of hero Akbar during auto race bring laughs. Aneesh, after his blatant satire on Tollywood with ‘Confessions of Film Maker’ has made this commercial flick as his debut. Only a separate set of audience can patronize this movie.
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