BIRIYANI MOVIE REVIEW

With expectations comes great responsibilities. For Venkat Prabhu though, those responsibilities are meant to be light at heart, no matter how huge the hype is. The fifth from the 'Venkat Prabhu Brotherhood', the expectation was generally high, due to Karthi being in the cast and also for Yuvan Shankar Raja's blockbuster music, which ironically is his 100th milestone film. Produced by Studio Green, can Venkat score another super-hit, following the blockbuster success of 'Mankatha' ?

Karthi, who has been facing a career crisis with continuous flops, bounces back with a refreshing and likable portrayal. Venkat has exploited the charm factor of Karthi's and turned him into a smooth-talking, girl-magnet playboy. He wins over his legion of girl-fans with his naughty smile and good looks. He has adopted an apt body language for the role, and his dialogue delivery was spotless. More brownie points for him in terms of dancing and fighting skills, as he has shown marked improvement from one film to another. A sigh of relief for Karthi, indeed ! His partner Premgi, was at his usual best and underplays his capabilities, by allowing himself to be ridiculed all the time and be the butt of jokes. It works well for the movie and his character is the perfect foil for the hero. But typecasting will catch up with him, sooner or later ! Hansika Motwani looks ravishing and seems to have a good hold of her character. There's a big contingent of supporting casts such as Nassar, Jayaprakash, Sampath, Prem, Ramki (a good comeback - the man still looks the same !), sizzling & hot Mandy Takhar, Madhumitha, Subbu Panchu, Uma Riyaz Khan, Shanmugasundaram, Nithin Sathya, Sam Anderson, Aadhavan, Badava Gopi, Tharika, Vijayalakshmi and etc. And there's even cameo appearances of Venkat's boys such as Jai, Aravind Akash, Vaibhav, Mahat, Ashwin, Vijay Vasanth and etc. That's some star-casting, atypical of Venkat Prabhu films !

The film carries excellent technical outputs from all the technicians involved. Vasuki Bhaskar's costume designing plays a big role, in projecting the characters in a very urbane manner, while not losing the essence of the each characters. Very good job ! Silva, who also scores his 100th assignment with this project, has handled some high-octane action sequences. The car chase sequences have been very well handled and executed, while the climax fight sequence, shot in an construction site, takes the cake among all the fight sequences. Production design by Videsh is at top-notch quality, with plenty of detailing for all of the set works. The interiors of posh hotels and also of different types of homes, were well set up. The outdoor sets such as the roadside biriyani stall and etc, were very real-like and natural. Fantastic output from Videsh ! The film would not be as good as it is without the editing duo of Praveen K.L and Srikanth N.B. They have experiment with different cutting patterns, and has done meticulous work in many sequences, especially with the opening title card and also for some song sequences. They keep the story tight and gripping but at the same time, did not lose the fun elements to their scissors. Venkat's regular, Sakthi Saravanan cinematography is a big plus-point for the film. The glossy look and rich colors, with perfect lighting, brings out the joy and fun factor of the script. His Steadicam usage is commendable and adds more zing, to the action sequences. 

Yuvan Shankar Raja reserves some of his best for his cousin Venkat and 'Biriyani' is no exception. The soundtrack is a big hit and complements the script, perfectly like hand in glove. "Biriyani" title track fits perfectly as the mood-setter and has clever editing works by Praveen and Srikanth, who presents the title credits by infusing some scenes of the film, in a graphic novel style. The pick of the album, "Naah Na Naah" was shot on a beach-house party atmosphere and involves most of the star casting. The setting was glittering in glitz and glamour and has some cheeky comedy portions, interspersed. "Pom Pom Penne" had elaborate set works, such as Moulin Rouge and Mary Poppins-like setting. The lighting by Sakthi Saravanan adds more glamour to the richly produced song, and Karthi proves his mettle in dancing. "Mississippi" is the sultry song shot on Karthi, Premgi and Mandy Takhar, who was simply irresistible with her sexily choreographed dance moves ! Some light-hearted moments are there too, thanks to Premgi. "Run For Your Life" comes as a situational song, where two drastic sequences were interspersed together. One is of a clubbing scenario featuring Malaysian artistes Psycho Unit and the other, the high-octane chase sequence. Brilliantly edited by Praveen and Srikanth ! "Edhirthu Nil" is the emotional climax song, shot on the hero and other important characters, making a daring, action plan. Yuvan nails it in the background score department as well, with complementary sound effects. 

Venkat Prabhu's USP is his screenplay, and with 'Biriyani' he has managed to maintain the suspense element until the very end, by keeping the cards close to his chest. He has a very clear picture of what he wants and how he wants it from his technicians and his artistes, and that delivers most of the final output wanted. As always with Venkat, he infuses humor in the most unwanted and gravest of situations, which sometimes results in a crackling, comedy portions. Venkat has given most of the important characters, a good detailing and depth, with their identities and mannerisms. The dialogues, though are not family-friendly and incorporated lots of double entendres, which would find reception among the youngsters. For those who was expecting a different attempt from Venkat, they might find it a little tad disappointing, because the run of events, featured in the screenplay will definitely remind us of Venkat's previous ventures like 'Mankatha' and 'Saroja'. Also, some of the proceedings are a wee-bit farcical and out-of-place, but as promoted, its a Venkat Prabhu 'diet' after all and why care of logic in the first place ! And as it is always, don't forget to watch the fun and funny bloopers in the end !

'Biriyani' - A hearty meal, for those with the correct expectations !


Ratings: 3.25/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL