Biriyani - Tamil Movie Review - A Half Cooked Venkat Prabhu Diet

Biriyani - Tamil Movie Review

 

 Directed by     Venkat Prabhu

Produced by     K. E. Gnanavel Raja

Written by     Venkat Prabhu

Music by     Yuvan Shankar Raja

Cinematography     Sakthi Saravanan

Editing by     Praveen K. L, B. Srikanth

Studio     Studio Green

Release dates   20 December 2013

Running time     149 minutes

Country     India

Language     Tamil

 Cast

    Karthi as Sugan
    Hansika Motwani as Priyanka Sharma
    Premgi Amaren as Parasuram
    Ramki as Ramakrishnan
    Mandy Takhar as Maya
    Nassar as Varadharajan
    Prem as Vikram
    Jayaprakash as AC Sampath
    Madhumitha
    Nithin Sathya
    Subbu Panchu
    Uma Riyaz Khan
    Sampath Raj as Riwaz Khan
    Shanmugasundaram as Kasi Vishwanathan
    Vijayalakshmi
    Tharika
    Sangeetha Gopal
    Leena Maria Paul
    Badava Gopi

 

 'Biriyani' is the story of buddies Sugan & Prasuram, whose life goes for a toss after a visit to a hotel to have 'Biriyani'. They get trapped in a situation and its a run to to save themselves with a race against time.

Each Venkat Prabhu movie will be waited with beated breaths, same was the case with 'Biriyani'. when the film was pushed from Diwali to accomodate Azhagu Raja many were disappointed. After a long wait, and a long gap since Mankatha, finally the Venkat Prabhu got released.

First things first, Biriyani is Venkat Prabhu's weakest work till date. It is a multi genre film starts as usual Karthi film, family, job, lover, comedy, turns naughtier and then enters thriller mode. The actual story begins only towards the interval, once they enter the 'Biriyani' shop & Mandy Thakar's character enter. Till then nobody had a clue what the hell was going on. Felt like lots of irrelevant, uninteresting scenes sewn together to reach the pre-interval portion. Even the twists and turns in the second half are very much predictable and the movie ends in a lame climax (followed by a twist and then the real climax, which was also ZZzzz). It would be better if you keep your brain locked up in the house before going to watch Biriyani as many scenes don't have any explanations.

 Karthi tried hard to shed the boy next door image/looks to get into the Casanova avatar, and succeeded to a large extent. He was good in the sister kidnap scene, other than that it was blant, nothing special. Premgi Amaren unlike Mankatha got a throughout role and raised few laughs. Actor Riaz Khan's wife Uma who played a conract killer was impressive. Nassar's Premgi act was howlarious. Among the ladies in the film its Mandy Thakkar who gets noticed, who fit he bill perfectly. Hansika's character just comes and goes, nothing special. Rest of the cast were okay, nothing worthy of mentioning.

Its Venkat Prabhu's half cooked recipe (script) that spoiled this 'Biriyani'. As a director he still showed his caliber, but as a writer he failed. Camera work was very good, tried to make it appear rich and peppy. Editing was crisp, prevented fast cuts and no lag helped prevent further embarrassment for makers. 

Songs & BG were the 2 major points of Mankatha( apart from the outstanding act by Thala). Except 'Na naanah' were disappointment when saw in the film, acting like speed breakers. Was disappointed with the way 'Na naah' was shot & choreographed. BG wasn't that exciting either.

So in all 'Biriyani' is a half cooked diet, spoiled by too many cooks (genres)

Rating: A generous 2.5/5

Verdict: Average

Last Word: Statuatory Warning :- "Half  cooked 'food items' are not good for your health !!!! "

PS:  There is a sequence in the film where popular stars from previous VP movies are seen doing a flash mob to Mankatha title song celebrating Thala B'day

Arrambam - Exclusive Music Review

 Arrambam - Music Review

Any Yuvan Shankar Raja musical is waited with bated breaths & if its for an Ajith film the hype even increases. Ajith-Yuvan combo have always given hits, Yuvan is also on a roll with super mega success of Biriyani, so lets see how this one turned out.

 Track List

  

 1. Adada Arambame

Feels like the Intro/opening song for Ajith. Its a festive mood song. It has got that zip and energy that should be associated with such songs. Shankar Mahadevan's voice should match like anything with Ajith. This is the song in the album that's gonna be an instant/first hit. With visuals the impact of the song is surely gonna grow

3.25/5

 2. Stylish Tamizhachi

 Song begins in super style with English rap portions that are simply rocking. It makes one feel that if we are listening an 'English' track for real. The energy gets transferred to the remaining portions of the song too. Its an out and out party blast track, this one is my favorite pick of the album, even though didn't like much after first listening. Singing, Instrumentation, lyrics, rap everything is Kick-Ass

3.5/5

3. Melala Vedikuthu 

A typical friendship song, might be picturised on Ajith-Arya-Nayanthara. This is the Holi song in the film.. Loved the lyrics of the song, 'messages infused' one. A particular portion in the music is also quite infectious. An above average song even after multiple listening, may be the video could change the opinion.

2.75/5

4. Hare Rama

Te song begins with high energy, but it soon fizzles out. The instrumentation is once again good but wish if the punch was carried throughout the song. The song has '50 Cent: Candy shop' inspirations here and there I think. Singing is energetic and apt for the song

2.75/5

5.  En Fuse Pochu

Looks like a fun romantic duet picturised on Aarya & Taapses. Has got funky lyrics too. Didn't like the song too much. Considering the theme of the movie a song like this could also end up as speed breaker. The only song in the album that i didn't like. But its not completely bad, liked in bits and pieces, but as a complete song its not up to the mark.

2.25/5

Arrambam in total is a Good, different album but definitely not an instant hit. It lacks that one 'blockbuster track' which can sell the entire album and even the film. Its a complete youth/urban album, maybe specifically orchestrated to cater the theme of the movie. It takes atleast 2-3 listening before you start to get a liking towards the songs. Its everyone's cup of tea and there is very little for the masses.

But for those who like a bit of difference and are fans of Western songs, this one should definitely work for you. I seriously think that once videos are out the songs are gonna be liked even more.

So all in all Yuvan fails to meet the humungous expectations that everyone had for the album. If you have no expectations you might like the album very much, for others I recommend you wait till the video promos are out or listen to song promos multiple times before buying it.

Rating: Above Average to Good

Rating: 2.9/5*

Last Word: Mixed BAG !!!

Buy/Download/Listen Songs Officially from following links

Nokia Music

iTunes

 Saavn

YouTube

* ([3.5+3.25+2.75+2.75+2.25]/5) = 2.9/5