Avakai Biryani - Review

By Super Admin

Whatever Sekhar Kammula does will have a meaning, has been proved again with Avakai Biryani. This time for a change he has chosen to remain behind the scene to promote one of his close associates Anish Kuruvilla as director. The film has no big story but a delicate, sensitive yet sensible love subject dealt with precision by the debutant director.

Akbar (Kamal Kamaraju) does many jobs to make a living; driving an auto hired by Masterji (Rao Ramesh) and distributing milk and paper. He pursues B Com (Hons) as well but has never been able to clear the exams. He is an orphan who considers everyone in Devarakonda village as his family. At this juncture, Lakshmi (Bindu Madhavi) and her father Kameswara Rao (Kameswara Rao) reach Devarakonda to start a new life as they have suffered severe loss earlier. Lakshmi's ambition is to popularize the Avakai (mango pickle) of Andhra region and her father wants to run a hotel near the highway. Due to the Hyderabad bomb blasts, Kameswara Rao is afraid to befriend Muslims. However, Lakshmi makes friends with Akbar and when he learns that she is a B Com graduate, he requests her to guide him.

Mean while a Panchayat member Babar (Varun) and Masterjee try to cash in on the Chief Minister's visit to the village, but Akbar boldly explains the situation in the village, which irks them. When the Chief Minister ensures pipeline and individual latrines in the village, Akbar becomes a hero in the village. Learning about Akbar and Lakshmi's friendship Babar tries to separate them. He threatens Akbar about revealing their friendship to her father. To save Lakshmi and the village from their clutches, he agrees to participate in an auto race. He wins the game and also clears the exams with a first class. In order to marry Lakshmi, Akbar talks to her father and helps him in setting up the hotel. But on learning that he is a Muslim, Kameswara Rao refuses the alliance. After two years, realizing Akbar's greatness, he gives his daughter's hand in marriage to Akbar and the story ends on a happy note.

PLUS: The delicate movement of the story is the highlight of the film. Though the director is a novice, the audiences would get a feel that it has been directed by Sekhar Kammula himself as the film runs along that lines. Even if the film may appear boring, the audiences cannot leave due to an unseen magic of the film. The director has succeeded in taking the audiences into the film. After a long time, the audiences have got the feel of watching a race, that too with auto rickshaws. As far as performance goes Bindu Madhavi is excellent in her role and has played the girl next door with ease. Kamal Kamaraju is okay in his role but needs to improve his body language to thrive in the industry. Varun and Rao Ramesh are okay as villains.

MINUS: The director has ignored giving a logical end to the villain's roles. The audiences might expect them to take revenge and so await some action but the director has conveniently ignored them, which is an unexpected twist. The camera work and the lighting should have been much better. Trying to search for minus points is a little hard. Music by Manikanth Khadri is just okay and it could also have been better when compared to Sekhar Kammula's earlier films. A couple of lyrics by Vanamali are impressive and on the whole it is okay.

REMARKS: Though you can't rule out entertainment completely, the entertaining values in the films are a little less when compared to routine flicks. Had the director tried to give a little more scope for comedy, it would have been better. But for the entertainment values, the film is worth watching by the family together. The movement of the film is slow and for the average audiences it may appear boring but those who expect a film with Sekhar Kammula in view, they can definitely enjoy the movie.

Cast: Kamal Kamaraju, Bindu Madhavi, Vijaya, Rakhee, Kameswara Rao, Durgesh, Praneeth, Rao Ramesh Rao, Varun, Master Pandu, Master Vinay, Charvy.

Credits: Director of photography – Shamdat, Editor – Praveen Boyina, Music – Manikanth Kadri, Lyrics – Vanamali, Presents – Sekhar Kammula, Producers – Sekhar Kammula and Chandrasekhar Kammula, Story and direction – Anish Kuruvilla

Banner: Amigos Creation Pvt Ltd.,

Released on: November 14, 2008

Advertisement

Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X