Anish’s Avakai Biryani…
Avakai Biryani Movie Review
I have never written a movie review! Nor am I trying now. However, I would like to share my impressions about this new movie, because I believe it is important to promote good cinema, small cinema.
So, Anish the director. He’s got a couple of odds stacked against him.
For starters, his first task was with his debut film’s content. And, since he has been a person who had been critical about others works, quite a few were waiting to see what he would do, if given a chance. Furthermore, he comes from Shekar’s school of film making. So, He had to live up that reputation.
As a film maker, it is important that the right audience watch your film, because they are the spokespersons of your film. Avakai Biryani wasn’t so lucky. It got some bad reviews prior to it’s release. A couple of folks advised me to not watch it. Even my friends who went to the theater with me were hesitant to watch it, and were ready to bolt. I on the other hand, was intrigued and keen on watching the movie, to see what went wrong.
I walked into the theater with a lot of negative talk about the film. It was an amazing two hours, as it took no time for me to get into the story.
Yes, the script had its problems, but his story telling was brilliant. It was poetry. The visuals were great. Shyam Dutt’s first film ‘Premayanamaha‘ wasn’t good work. But five years since then, Avakai Biryani demonstrates that he has evolved. One of the best parts of the film is it’s cinematography. And, I believe he has done a brilliant job.
Bindu was good, so was Kamal Kamaraju. This is their first film, and they have given a brilliant performance. Most of the cast was new and refreshing. Manikanth Kadri’s music was good.
I believe the editing could have been better. Anish should feel proud on a good job, well done. So should Shekar.
In most films, the supporting cast stay in the backdrop like cartoons, but not in the case of Avkai Biryani. There is a scene where Bindu’s father sits in the auto and has a conversation with Kamal Kamaraju. There is a third bloke in the auto, Kamal Kamaraju’s assistant. Now, he was not an important character, but his expressions during their conversation were superb. To me, that was acting, Acting without delivering a dialogue.
I would say, full marks to you Anish and congratulations on a great job.
I am not sure if Telugu audience is ready for such film. I also feel there are a lot of people who would see this film. I only wish the film is promoted better and targeted the right kind of audience.
Had he made this in Hindi, Anish would have had a huge hit.
Well, seems like I just wrote my first review….did i…hm mm.
Tags: anish kuruvilla, avakai biryani
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Oh Well… National Award Winner Satish starts with a Movie Review!!! A warm welcome and thanks for this!!!
Welcome Satish..nice to see a filmmaker reviewing or putting his thoughts on other filmmaker’s movie…
btw..Satish…did you see Anish’s Confessions of a Film-maker?….Kamal was brilliant in it…imagine just one chracter in the movie and this guy carries the whole movie on his shoulder…to act in a movie like COFM…takes lots of balls…to make it..requires more…
“There is a third bloke in the auto, Kamal Kamaraju’s assistant. Now, he was not an important character, but his expressions during their conversation were superb. To me, that was acting, Acting without delivering a dialogue.”
Kundan sir..had written a brilliant post about this on PFC..the foil…i guess that bloke was a perfect foil there…
Why d you say, it would have been better if AB was in Hindi..i havent seen the movie..but am just curious
OM
i think the audience in Hindi is more mature, more wast. it is spread all over India and the globe.
can any one dream of making a bheja fry, a black Friday, a Wednesday,a khosla ka ghonsla or a sajjan pur… no never.
simply because they are not yet ready for such movies.
Anish film falls into that group.
“can any one dream of making a bheja fry, a black Friday, a Wednesday,a khosla ka ghonsla or a sajjan pur… no never.”
Very interesting thought there Satish…but Telugu Cinema of 80’s and 90’s( i believe) had some of these kinda movies ad they were being made…You have made a far better Telugu movie than what an average telugu viewer deserves…so, do you think…people are not ready to watch these movies when they were watching it earlier..or is thet case were audience are not given a choice? I believe if the same movie was made with a bigger hero..people wuould have lapped it…if feel there is a huge hypocricy in a large part of telugu audience
OM
it is the mind set of the people here, more so the society we live in determines the kind of moves made and watched.
i don’t want to name any movie.. but at least the last five movies i have seen were below average… yet they became hits… why?
here no one cares for meaningful cinema any more(it is changing though)
there is a simple formula for making films in telugu,in the
first half of the movie have lots of romance,comedy and have a interval bang(this is very important) second half tell what ever little story you want to….don’t forgot about the six songs and six fights.that movie is a hit.
any other movie which dosent have this formula is a flop… for am jantha… Om this is the realty…
I totally believe about the formula..it is sooo sickening…it becomes almost impossible to remember any movie from this formula…every damn movie looks the same…and it is heart-wrenching when people pay money to watch the same shit and when asked say ” Same story…nice comedy…can watch one more time”…REALL????????
Dont be disheartend Satish…keep making your kinda movies…
Satish..good movies shall always do well. at release or beyond. Look at Manorama’s DVD sales as an example. Avakkai shall do well. All the best to you too for your forthcoming ventures.
@cowboy..why dont you submit your views on these movies via IView?
“I am not sure if Telugu audience is ready for such film”
Im sure we r not yet ready Satish. I checked out the reviews on some web sites and the comments, and was disappointed.Guess we are happy with dialogues about Vamsam, exploding Sumos, self dabba.
Honestly speakin Telugu movies have become a joke,but like frogs in a well, we r happy with the crap, we get.
- oka sagatu telugu prekshakudu niraasatho.
actually i go with OM, there were a breed of movie makers in the 80’s and 90’s, who could make movies like KKG or Bheja Fry
But in this seema, teen love story era, those moviemakers are becomming extinct.
One major issue is that the family audience don’t go theaters now a days. Tv serials have taken up that space and its mostly college going youth who frequent the theaters, so we have a surfeit of teen love stories, each one more meaningless than other.
Satish sir….swagatam….
I havent seen AB yet…so No comments…
I’m sure its just a trend that is going on for more than expected time frame….for 10-12yrs…from samarasimha reddy to kantri, indra to stalin…and people are bored to death to watch high voltage action films…this is what our directors and producers have to realize and try some thing new. But none of the producers are ready to invest time and money in low budget films….they want big hero films..untill they think about the world beyond big heros…we are going to be like this…
varun
don’t blame the producers, they are safe guarding their investment. it is the mind set of the audience which should change first. because there are few producers who are taking the risk and doing small and different cinema. we have to encourage them by going and seeing their movies.
That was the only reason for me to write here.
We always talk of wanting change and when some one is taking a step towards it, we run him down. change is a process..it will never happen in a day.
So encourage people like him.who knows his next might a bigger and a better film.
Satish, firstly welcome aboard… for this is your this post.
and thank you… for the fact that you have chosen *this* to be your first post
tells us a whole lot about Satish Kasetty the person (you could have used this time
to write a big pre-promotion for your current production, and PFC or Anish
wouldn’t know the effing difference).
truly, it’s an honor to have you here sir!
I have a detailed response to your comment.
Will post in a few hours. Gotta go now.
alright! let’s talk about the small cinema – different cinema (and finish saying what i wanted to say).
when varun says that the producers are not ready to invest in low-budget films (because of low returns, albeit the less risk factor), i agree.
and when you say that the mindset of the cinema patrons need to change, i agree as well.
because, it’s a catch 22. because, it’s not about how small your movie budget is… it’s about how big your promotion budget is.
the buyer/viewer won’t buy/watch your product/movie for two reasons: 1) when he isn’t interested in what you’re selling and 2) when he doesn’t know what you’re selling.
now whose fault is that?
whose fault is it that a great effort like *hope* didn’t make it to the theaters (or dvds)?
who fault is it that no one has heard of a poignant effort like *kamli* – hari charan prasad, in spite of his herculean efforts, can’t get it released or can’t take it to the viewers (except for festival circuit), why?
who fault is it that johnny gaddar, a wholesome entertainer, didn’t make it to the boxoffice?
producers should plan for promotion even while the movie is under concept phase. big movie producers do that.
yes, it’s true that the big producers do that because they need to sell the *areas*. but don’t you think every producer should be the same?
and how many small producers do you see doing that? gunnam gangaraju is one name that comes to my mind (case in point: aithey). anyone else?
then, there is this annoying school of thought which makes a small budget film synonymous to an award film…. and, that unwritten edict follows, which defines an award film as a sad, dry, far from entertainment kind of fare – why?
is it necessary that every movie need to have a message? perhaps. but is necessary that the message be doled out in spades, garnished with tears, sweat and other discharges?
can’t we make an award movie which doesn’t necessitate the viewers to bring their own tissue boxes? BN Reddy did, ramoji rao did, edida nageshwara rao did, jayakrishna did, and rama naidu did.
why can’t we start making simple, down to earth, entertainers – they can be small budget, they can be different, but entertainment being the key word – and then complain if the viewers are refusing to accept it?
case in point: vishwanath made subhodayam (kaamchor in hindi), which was a small budget message oriented movie, but – it was an entertainer first.
whenever some asked him “what is the latest production”, late BN Reddy used to say “there are no producers now, we have only reproducers”.
so the producers who don’t want to make small movies can continue making biggies starring vamshams, sumos and hummers.
but those who are passionate about small cinema should start looking at 1)entertainment (going close to the viewer the way hrishi da, basu da, et al. did) and 2)promotion (making the viewer come close to them – the way hollywood does it).
oz has given some excellent tips here about the promotion part – and there is a lot of talent on PFC to help the producers, who are truly passionate about it, with the entertainment part.
Good review! Saw this today and I kinda liked it. It was a bit predictable but I liked it for its honesty. Also, Bindu really impressed me. After a long time, we have actually a Telugu girl acting in telugu movies. Kudos to the cinematographer as well, the movie is beautifully shot. I could watch it again just to enjoy the sight of the beautiful fields.
Aside: What makes you think that Telugu audience is not ready for such a movie? The movie itself isn’t anything pathbreaking. Also, there have been some refreshingly different Telugu films of late and most of them have been very well received. I’m sure Avakai Biryani will do well, it’s a feel-good film.
wb
You are right it is a catch 22. Situation. I also agree about your two points about the buyer/viewer.
You rightly asked whose fault is it.
I will try and explain how it works here.
First understand who the small producer is.
He is a guy who has been doing ‘B” grade “c’ grade films for 1.5 crores and at the end making or losing some money
Then you have this new NRI producer who have made some money and wants to be seen in the film circles and wants to be known as producers.
There is a third kind these days. People who had a wind fall because of the real estate boom. Now these guys have loads of money.
Forget the first kind they are in the league of their own, the next two kinds of people know little or nothing about film making or marketing or publicity. But they want to make a film. Without knowing these fundamentals they make movies.
All these producers spend little or nothing on publicity. So no one knows when the movie came, how the movie was and when it went off the theaters. This is the reality and we have to live with it for the time being, till guys who understand come by.
So how do you promote your film? So how does a small film survive or make money. Mouth publicity, yes…that is the biggest and the best.
Stand in front of a theater and watch people coming out. Almost everyone who is coming out of the theater is on the cell phone and giving his verdict.. Hit… flop.. Two weeks.. 10 weeks. Everyone wants to be an expert,,
If a wrong guy has come to your film you are finished. That’s why I say, telling about your film in advance (Small film makers). Prepare the audience about the kind of film they are going to watch it, will get the right kind of people to watch your film. These are the people who will go out and talk good about your film.
Your next point.. “then, there is this school of thought which makes a small budget film synonymous to an award film…. and, that unwritten edict follows, which defines an award film as a sad, dry, far from entertainment kind of fare – why? Annoying”
You are right entertainment is important. Small movies also should have entertainment values. There are no two opinions about it.. But sometimes the subject you choose and the budget you have in hand makes them do their films in that format.
about my film “hope”, how I made it the way i made it. read my post in a couple of days.
Lastly you talked about “there is a lot of talent on PFC to help the producers, who are truly passionate about it, with the entertainment part.”
I need help can you please get a few names.
Hi everyone…
About Avakai…more then anyone i want the film to do really well, i hope it does. Whether anyone liked it or not i liked confessions and i had expected this to be far better. Confessions was more direct and hard hitting, no waste of time…it was like take it or leave it. Avakai is neither commercial or art, it was far less fulfilling, i mean na ghar ka na ghaat ka. kamal’s height was a turn on but he is stiff and bindu with her dimples was beautiful, i expected more fusion of avakai and biryani.
@satish: hey what is this interval bang?????
WB: thanks for all the moral support
@ Satish
“So how do you promote your film? So how does a small film survive or make money. Mouth publicity, yes…that is the biggest and the best.”
I am not sure, if the Word of Mouth plays that big an impact, especially when we hardly have any single screen theatres, except for some interior regions…well i could be wrong if we are talking about only Telugu movies…It would be great if we can find some data of, what are the number of Big-City Audience, like Hyderabad, Vizag, Tirupathi, Nellore, Warangal, Guntur and small City audience, like Nizamabad, Dichpally, Ongole, etc.. The reason is…i dont think word of mouth is a big factor in multiplex’es as, you hardly get many sceenings..and if ours is a small budget movie..by the time the word of mouth spreads around..the movie is out theatres..and it is time for other big budget movie to hit the mqrquee and people forget about the good word of mouth..would rather watch it on TV when it gets screened…
I am not sure..how the Ego( not in a malign intension) of the director of this small budget movie works? Cause, say for instance your movie has got a good word of mouth..but didnt play for long in theatre..will be “ok” to market the movie via different channels..and make money out of it..and also get bigger audience..like Satellete Rights..DVD…Pay-per-View Online, etc,etc..after all he too wants a bigger audience..and e is getting it…but the setback i can thjink of in this case is, he might not get a producer to invest in his next project.
The other question i wanted to ask you, satish is…Do producers feel scared to appraoch a National Award winning director for his next project? Does the producer feel/have inferiority complex about doing the next project of a National award winning director? This is something i would love to read, in case you would want to write an article on it…I know Sekhar kammulla went thru this hell after his Dollar Dreams won a National
OM
Answer to your first question, you are right about the movie going out the theater by the time people come to know of it. That is the risk lot of small films take. By the way I was talking only about Telugu films. The data you asked for I will get it for you.
About your next question, about the ego.
I will explain how things works here in Telugu industry. First A director takes a subject to a producer. Then they sit and decide the cast along with the budget. Then they start seeing on the paper what they will recover, by way of satellite rights, DVD rights, and audio rights. At the end the Producer calculates, what is the amount he is risking. if this amount is not huge, they go ahead and do the film. Leaving rest to god and audiences, that is it.. If the film loses little the director will be lucky to get another film. If not it will be tough.. about the producer, if he has more money he will make one more or learns his lesson and closes shop.
Om, the major problem with the new producers is they know nothing about film making, they make mediocre films and scare away audiences.
Here audiences go to theaters mostly based on names of stars or few directors, or few producers.
So the lesser known producers and new Producers take a risk, some win, lot loose.
So it is very important you get a good talk. I will tell you a example. I saw ashta chemma first day morning show. The theater was half full. When I came out, I bumped into the manager. He asked me how is the movie sir.. I said you will have house full’s from evening show. He called me and told me the first show went full, from then onwards the film ran for 5 weeks house full. Now tell me Om what was the promotion the producer did from morning to evening.. nothing. Then what worked .. mouth publicity.
The look of the ads were good, the girl was a known face( hosted TV shows). But not many people risked going to the theaters. But once the reports came .. the producer was counting money.
Om the biggest past time people have here, is to comment on a film and spread it like wild fire. On a Friday a evening I get at least 10 calls to find out how that weeks movies were. (I have a mini film festival every Friday at prasads Mulitiplex.) The word spreads like wild fire..
Very few people know how to promote a film here. It is an art .. an expensive art.. who has the money to spend to learn…
About your last question, Om I will write. Give me little time.
I am in the middle of finalizing a project. I have a few days to wait so I am writing here.
satish: your classification of a producer (low budget telugu) is spot on. thank you. that explains a lot. so it is not about educating the viewers/buyers – it is about educating the makers to socialize their product with the viewers/buyers.
om: satish is right about the *talk*. in places like ananthapur, tirupati, nellore, vijayawada, the FDFS (first day first show) talk can make or break a movie. i have once seen two big movies literally getting killed on day two – one nagarjuna’s and the other ntr’s – just because they got released on the same day as another small budget movie, which happened to be a full time family entertainer. it’s all because of the word of mouth.
sunita: i am glad it helped.
Satish
There is another kind of producer – D. Out of passion and love of (’telugu’) cinema wants to make engaging telugu films.
I partly agree that audience need to be prepared. I do not agree that audience mindset need to be changed. My firm belief is audience are looking for change. Audience are giving fair chance to every film as long as it hits theaters (Ex.Gamyam, HappyDays). Audience are stating it loud and clear by rejecting big star names at box-office(Ex: Kantri, Don – though not the producer, someone lost their money). But film makers are disppointing and letting them down, in many instances without any novelty in story, narration, or presentation.
Remember, earlier I said as long as it hits theaters, this is the crux of telugu industry problem. These so called distributors do not have any clue of what audience like. They do not have a way to assess cinemas value except based on Names or Force. These distributors are ill informed and advised, not at risk takers – ironicaly they are not realizing not taking risk itself is a type of risk (the fundamental riskmanagment principle)
We need to come out with an alternative model to distribute films (may be hometheaters in good restaurants)in telugu.
I have not seen any indsutry so many dissatisfied customers (cinema lovers) as in Telugu (Indina) film industry. This is a great oportunity to create good films and make money (fun and profits)
I firmly believe it is the primary responsibility of film maker (director) to come out with a novel, realistic, engaging and entertaining product – latest ex: Slumdog..
Satish: Last time I tried but I could not meet you persoanlly. Let us meet and do something :-)
Hari Charan Prasad
nice to see you at PFC, we will surely meet some time when you are in India.
@Hari…Very interesting website..can you educate us a bit more about your work?
Satish
I am a regular visitor at PFC and Navatarangam.com
I lookforward to meeting you.
OM
By profession I am Treasury/Financial Management Consultant.
By Passion, an avid film buff. I was very disappointed and frustrated with Indian, particularly Telugu films. I decided to do something in that area which gave me so many memorable moments in my life.
Started Apoorvachitra on 75th year of Telugu Film making and produced KAMLI-My Daughter. It gave immense pleasure and great understanding of practical film making.
Kamli (telugu and Lambada languages) was official selection in 11th Pusan International film festival, Competetive section Third-Eye, AP State Best Actress Award2006, National Award-Best REgional Film 2006, Best film and Best Actress-Russia, Official Selection-Brisbane to name few
We produced our second film (telugug) in 2008 – Shh..Idi Chala Manchi vooru (Its a good neighborhood)- Its a thriller based on a 1958 novel. I directed it and making arrangements to release.
As we said in our Apoorvachitra’s mission statement, we are looking for original stories and ideas to make engaging films.
OM
First look at my next project..
Only On PFC I am posting two song promos. Let me know your thoughts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4eoBRIzPco
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCa1tnq8IyY
Hari Charan Prasad!!
Welcome to PFC. It’s a pleasant surprise to see you land here, as it was just a week ago when I remembered Kamli (and therefore you) while responding to Satish’s comment.
I haven’t watched Kamli, but have heard so much about it through friends who’ve seen it.
BTW, I’ve read KNT Sastry’s comments on some site, a while ago, about how the producers DID NOT interfere with the storytelling, his creative process… and all that. I think it’s the best compliment that any producer can get.
I empathize with you when you say that “We need to come out with an alternative model to distribute films”. I also totally agree with your comment about how “it is the primary responsibility of film maker (director) to come out with a novel, realistic, engaging and entertaining product”.
All I can tell you is that PFC has started working on a few ideas that can definitely improve if not fix this situation.
Again, it’s a pleasure to see you on PFC. Hope you’re enjoying it.
Hari Charan Prasad – My layperson feedback on the Shh… songs.
Evaro: The music is fantastic! The song is soothing, except for the way the male singer pronounces evaro as YEVarO. Little annoying, that. Still, the song has every potential of becoming a hit.
Oohala pallaki: Wow! Be ready to see this being a chart buster when the audio hits the market. Wouldn’t surprise me if every other kid picks this song on those socalled singer game shows on TV going forward. The rendering is perfect, the music… again… is awesome! For lack of better words, let me say that I see shades of Ilaiyaraaja and Keeravani in the song.
Who is the MD?
Is the audio out??
@Satish& WB: Guys can u do me a favour. Can u put up a small post on my chadavalaniundi network. the academic year begins in march/april next year and I would love it if u help me sensitise people on each one sponsor one programme. Shashank, Sharvanand, varun sandesh, D Ramanaidu from the moviesare already part of my network. Wud u care 2 join?
WB
Appreciated. MD is Vasanth-Shh is his debut film. He is Manisaram’s assistant and Satyam’s (old) grandson.
Both songs penned by Veturigaru and Male singer is Karthik. I tried for Hariharan but he was not avilable. I agree with you comment and we did that songs several times. Female singer is Chitra.
I am debating whether to do audio release because we got only two songs.
Sunita
Very recently only I came to know about your blog. One the few blogs I followed is sunitablogs.com I enjoy reading it.
Chadavalanundi is a great thought and effort. I made a note to meet you and do whatever I can.
WB
Though Shh..is Vasanth’s debut film as MD, his second film One already released.
WB: Thank you so much, looking forward 2 meeting u.
Hari: Oops the above message was for Hari but I wud love 2 meet both of u.
Hari – Vasanth is late (great) Satyam’s grand son!? Wow. So the saying is true – creative genes do skip a generation. I request that these songs be taken to the people – one way or the other. Please. It’s worth the effort, if you’re willing to take it. For example, PFC will be glad to stream these songs on the site with a write up from you about Shh.. if you like.
Sunita – Cool. Need some details re chadavalani-vundi. Will email you.
I dont think so we can compare with shekar kammula
He tried to copy shekar kammula’s direction
always think on your own
WB
Let me know the process to post songs on PFC. tks.
Madhusudhan Bheemireddy!
How does one copy others’ direction?
Being someone’s aide and assistant director, there is bound to be some influence initially. So don’t insult the intelligence of the director here by dismissing it as “copying”? Can’t two people be on the same wavelength?
Anyway, we should all mail Anish Kuruvilla asking to think on his own next time. This time pardon him.
I didn’t liked Avakai Biryani. movie pace was very slow. Artists performance was not good. Only plus points were few visuals and good music. Disappointing to see a formula movie from same guy who gave beautiful quoatations in “Confesssion of a filmmaker”.
Lot of hype getting created around Amigos and Shekar K. I agree that he is trying to make different movies. Personally I like Godavari and Anand. But looks like Amigos is falling into trap of regular movies (Happy Days..)
“I am not sure if Telugu audience is ready for such film.”
do I hear something called “stereotyping”here?…
hindi movies are watched by a huger number than telugu, so its the law of large numbers that makes sure that black friday, bheja fry etc survived!….
yes..telugu audience is ready for these kind of movies…they showed that with all shekhar’s movies and also “anaganaga oka roju” and of course some of the early RGV movies.
When film makers come up with what THEY want to make then let the markets decide!…if film makers always make films which THEY think the audience will like, then why blame on audience?
coming to hindi movies(or I should say punjabi movies…since most of the songs and dialogues are in punjabi)….the share of “commercial” segment is huge…black friday kinda movies get very low response.
Satish-
Finally saw the movie today ( was on pending list for a long time) & I must say I had a good time for the 2 hrs of its run.It was sheer poetry & very realistically portrayed.Just a correction though- I think Kamal Kamaraju debuted in Shekhar’s Godavari & not with Avakai Biriyani.
i meant as a hero, if not he did his first appearance in chatrpathi which came much before Godavari.( it was a small role)