Ulavacharu Biryani Review – 2.5/5

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Rating: 2.5/5
Cast: Prakash Raj , Sneha , Tejass ,Samyuktha and others

Directed by : Prakash Raj

Produced by : Prakash Raj

Music by : Ilaiyaraja

Release Date : 2014-06-06

Your Rating: [ratings]

Ulavacharu Biryani Movie Review

Actor turned director Prakash Raj’s latest offering Ulavacharu Biryani is a remake of Malayalam film Salt and Pepper. Prakash Raj promised a feel good romantic entertainer with this film. Did he keep his promise?

Story:

Kalidas (Prakash Raj) is a middle aged bachelor who is archeologist by profession. He gets introduced to Gowri (Sneha), a dubbing artist through a wrong number. Gowri is also a spinster in mid thirties. They fall in love but couldn’t dare to face each other due to fear of rejection. Kalidas sends his nephew Naveen (Tejass) and Gowri sends her young friend Meghana (Samyuktha) when they plan a meeting. Naveen and Meghana fall in love and what happens to Kalidas and Gowri’s romance?

Performance:

Prakash Raj is at his usual best as the middle aged bachelor. He is simply superb in the scenes where he converses with Sneha on phone. He is supremely believable during the climax scenes where he lit up the screen with his superb performance. Sneha is good in the role of Gowri. She occasionally breaks down due to her situation and she draws sympathy for her character by her superb portrayal. Tejass and Meghna are alright in their respective roles. Brahmaji and MS Narayana provides the much needed relief with funny dialogue.

Technicalities: 

Direction: Prakash Raj has shown glimpses of good director in Dhoni itself. Here he has done his best work as a director, but still has to get it right to make his films work with the ticket paying public. His direction is extremely good in dealing with matured romance. But he failed with the romantic track involving young pair. There are some unnecessary tracks in the film that are left unsolved. He could have done much better especially in the second hour.

Music: Ilaiyaraja’s songs are alright and they are shot well. Backrground score stands out in few scenes.

Others: Cinematography is pleasant and one of the major assets of the movie. Editing is not up to the mark. Production values are good.

Thumbs Up:

  • Prakash Raj performance

  • Prakash Raj – Sneha romantic track

Thumbs Down:

  • Second half

  • Tejass- Samyuktha track

  • Climax

Analysis:

Ulavacharu Biryani starts off with a song sequence where various food items are shown. This sequence is mouth watering and shows the director’s love for food. The story takes some time to unfold and after the first confrontation of Sneha and Prakash Raj on phone, it gets interesting. There are some very good moments that will impress the lovers of romance genre.

That cake sequence in the first half is not so impressive. It not only breaks the flow of the film but also bores you to the core. Film reaches the interval point with a nice twist. Second half is the key for this film to work and Prakash Raj failed to get it right. Viewers gets disconnected with the characters in second half and the director never makes an attempt to get things back on track.

The story moves to the climax abruptly and the meeting of Prakash Raj and Sneha fails to impress. This is the key moment in the film and due to bad screenplay in the second hour it didn’t turn out as expected. This Ulavacharu Biryani can only be relished if you are starving for past few weeks. Otherwise it wouldn’t taste good as Prakash Raj didn’t get the ingredients right. You may wait for the Home Edition.

Verdict: Spiceless Biryani!