"Avakaya Biryani " Reveiw

Film:Avakaya Biryani

My Rating: 2.5/5

Music: Manikanth Kadri

Presented By: Sekhar Kammula

Cinematography: Shyam

Producers: Sekhar Kammula and Chandrasekhar Kammula

Direction: Anish Kuruvilla

Release Date: Nov 14th, 2008

Cast: Kamal Kamaraju, Bindu Madhavi, Rao Ramesh etc

My Review:

Story: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.

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.

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.

Final Analysis:

Some of us have gotten this remark forever on our report card- ‘Can Do Better’. Hopefully, Kuruvilla’s next won’t carry the same remark. There is potential. That much is obvious; we need to wait and watch. Just not Avakai Biryani-it’s not totally fullfilling.

Interview with Kamal Kamaraju

Background:
I am born in Gandhi Asramam, Sevagram, Maharashtra. I am brought up in Hyderabad. I did my schooling in LFHS and degree in Architecture at JNTC.

Entering films:
It was Aithe film that motivated me to get into films. I was awestruck with the narrative technique in that film and I became an instant fan of Chandra Sekhar Yeleti. Hanumantha Rao who works for Chandra Sekhar is a good friend of me. I met Chandra Sekhar Yeleti through Hanumantha Rao and expressed my willingness to join him. I got a call from Yeleti’s office when I went to Delhi to do practicals of Architecture. I got an offer to work in art department. Chandra Sekhar Yeleti was supposed to do a film with Uday Kiran as hero. I joined as an assistant under art director Ravinder. But that film did not take off. I worked for AOR (Anukokunda Oka Roju) film in the art department. The same team worked for Rajamouli’s Chatrapati. I acted as one of the 4 guys who follow hero Prabhas all the time in that film.

That is when I came to know that Sekhar Kammula was planning to direct a film titled Godavari. Aithe and Anand are two trendsetting films in Telugu film industry in my opinion. I went to their office in Padmarao Nagar met the co-director Praveena. I got a call from Rajahmundry when they were just about to start the shoot. I got an important character in that film.

That is when I met Anish Kuruvilla. During the time of Happy Days, Anish Kuruvilla came up with the idea of ‘Confessions of a Filmmaker’. We did that film during that time. After the super success of Happy Days, Sekhar Kammula wanted to introduce Anish as a feature film director. That is how Avakai Biryani happened. I feel lucky to have got the role of main lead in this film.

Tell us about the name of your character and specialty of it?
I can’t reveal the name of my character in this film. Avakai Biryani is about a 7-seater auto driver who has goals and ambitions. He also wants to pursue studies while working as auto driver. He is not the kind of guy who accepts defeat. He falls in love with a pickle selling girl who is also strong and ambitious.

What is Avakai Biryani?
There is always a story to the passengers who travel in an auto. But nobody has shown it from the angle of an auto driver. Avakai Biryani captures the human side of an auto driver and a pickle seller. If Happy Days is about romanticizing college life, Avakai Biryani is about romanticizing village life.

Did you do any research on auto drivers?
Yes. I observed the 7-seater auto drivers both in Hyderabad city and the villages surrounding Hyderabad. The 7-seater auto drivers in Hyderabad are very practical and they just bother about money. The 7-seater auto drivers in village are more courteous with people and they tend to have bonding with the passengers.

Any precautions for this character?
Anish wanted me to appear lean. Hence I had to shed 8 kgs of weight. I am doing the role of a guy who works hard and it should show in my appearance. And I could relate personally with the characteristic of auto driver.

Tell us about Anish Kuruvilla as a director?
Anish Kuruvilla strikes balance between art and commerce. He is also very good with actors. He narrated the film naturally without missing entertainment.

Bindu Madhavi mentioned that you are a serious actor? What is so serious about you?
I am not a guy who jokes around the set. Sekhar Kammula and Anish Kuruvilla have given me the biggest opportunity of my lifetime by making me hero in this film. I should not let them down. Hence I tried my best to be 100% dedicated to what I am doing.

Tell us about your co-actor Bindu Madhavi?
Bindu Madhavi has a tremendous potential in her as an actress. She will give Bombay-based heroines a run for their money in the future. She is an ambitious girl and she will become a big mainstream actress.

What is your gut feeling on the final product of Avakai Biryani?
It will become a classic masterpiece in Telugu that transcends all the classes.

How are you planning to mold your career?
I want to create a brand name and trust for myself that the movie should be good if Kamal Kamaraju acts in it.

Who are your favorite directors?
Rishikesh Mukherjee and Akira Kurosawa are my all time favorite directors. Asutosh Gowarikar, Dibakar Benerjee (Khosla ka Ghosla), Chandra Sekhar Yeleti, Sekhar Kammula and Anish Kuruvilla are my favorite directors among the new generation.

Who are your favorite actors?
Amitab Bachchan and Dileep Kumar from the old Hindi films. I admire Kamal Hassan and Ameer Khan for their perfectionism and the way they brought revolution in Indian films. Naseeruddin Shah is an idol for me and I remember him whenever I find a tough acting job. In Telugu, I am a huge fan of Chiranjeevi. I grew up watching his films. Chiranjeevi is the one who brought style to Telugu films.

What are your next projects?
I have five scripts with me and two of them are really nice. I will take a call on them if I could get the right people doing it.

'Avakaya Biryani' audio gets rave response

The new movie 'Avakaya Biryani' starring newcomers Kamal Kamaraju and Bindu Madhavi released its audio recently at Hotel Taj Deccan. The music by Manikanth Kadri seems to have found some pulse in the market as the tunes have been well received. While the flavour has got a lot of youthful tunes in it, the film is directed by Anish Kuruvilla and it revolves around the love story between a auto driver and a girl who sells pickles. The film has been shot completely around the Vikarabad area and its surroundings. Let us see how this one fares now.