Ulavacharu Biryani is the official remake of the hit-Malayalam film “Salt N Pepper” directed by Aashiq Abu. The movie has been in the news since a long time due to Prakash Raj’s controversies off screen.
Here is the Ulavacharu Biryani Movie Review
Plot :
Kalidasu(Prakash Raj) is a 45 year old archaeologist, who is a die hard foodie, and can go to any lengths to taste good food.
His uncle(M S Narayana) is always behind him and keeps bugging him to get married.
One day Kalidasu’s nephew(Tejas) gifts him a phone, and the first call he receives is a wrong number from a dubbing artist called Gauri(Sneha). The conversation on the phone starts with a small fight, but after several calls, Kalidasu and Gauri become thick friends.
Both of them share the same interests on food, and exchange recipes over the phone.
Confusion erupts when instead of meeting each other, they send their cousins. Watch the movie to find out what exactly happens later.
Performances and Technical Aspects :
Prakash Raj is the backbone of this movie. His acting, direction and treatment of the subject forms the soul of the movie. His depiction of Kalidasu looks effortless and believable. The only drawback however, is his age. He looks too old to play the character which he does. However, he makes up for that with his impeccable dialogue delivery and acting skills.
Sneha too, delivers a power packed performance. She overshadows Prakash Raj in some of the sequences which is great. The way she has shown the displeasure in the life of the character is too good. Her role has been executed to perfection. Her innocence and childish charm is sure to earn her a lot of accolades and offers in the near future.
Debutant Tejas impresses with his acting skills. He looks a master. To a lay man, he will not come across as a debutant for sure. Such is his acting prowess! With amazing screen presence and seamless transition in expressions, he is sure to go a long way.
Samyuktha is good in her role and skims through the part given to her.
As mentioned earlier, Prakash Raj is indeed the backbone of the film. His presence in the project makes the film bearable to an extent. His direction is just about average.
The camera work of the film is amazing. The way the archaeology surveys and government buildings have been shown is impressive.
Ilayaraja has composed the music for the film. And the soundtracks are decent. The song describing food,with ironical and hilarious lyrics, is a pleasure to the ears.
The background score, also composed by Ilayaraja, keeps the film simple at heart and is one of the few very good things about the film.
Kishore’s editing is average. The movie should have been shorter by another 20 mins for sure.
Hawk-Eye Analysis :
Ulavacharu Biryani has its moments. The film is good in bits and pieces which frustrates the audience because there is no stable flow of story at all.
As the name suggests, ‘food’ plays an important role in Ulavacharu Biryani. The story of the film revolves around foodies.
The biggest drawbacks of the film are its story and pace. The story of the film has been seen on the screen too many times. The story has a stark resemblance to the plot of “Mujhse Fraandship Karoge”.
The movie progresses at a painfully slow pace.
From the very first scene, the movie is slow. For those who enjoy dramatic melodies, you’ll like this one.
The director Prakash Raj has made suitable changes in the screenplay of the film when compared to the original screenplay of “Salt N Pepper”. But the changes itself spoil the mood of the film as the entire product looks half-cooked and the audiences fail to understand what really happens at the end.
Prakash Raj starts off with an interesting set up in the love story, but loses the plot half way through.
The slow pace and drab editing makes the film painfully unbearable 10 minutes after the interval.
The film becomes predictable after the interval and as expected, there is the same-old happy ending to the movie.
The cast of the film slips in easily. But the slow pace of the movie ensures that they dont get their credit. Young actor Tejas is someone to watch out for.
Ilayaraja’s music and background score makes the movie bearable but at the end of it all, it just doesn’t work.
Decent entertainer values of “Salt N Pepper” had also driven the Malayalam audience crazy towards theatres to watch Ulavacharu Biryani. But they were sorely disappointed, I’m sure.
Overall, the film is good in bits and pieces but it’s definitely not the ‘Typical weekend entertainer’.
