Kadaseela Biriyani is a film written, directed and produced by Nishanth Kalidindi under the banner Maestroes and Panoramaas Production. It is distributed by Sashikanth under his banner Y NOT X Studios. The film has Vijay Ram, Vasanth Selvam and Hakkim Shah in the lead roles while Abdool and Augustine play crucial supporting roles among others.
Chikkupandi (Vijay Ram) is a 15-16 year old youngster who belongs to a family where his mother, 2 elder brothers and grandfather are violent people. Fearing that he'll tread the same path, Chikku's father separates him from the family and takes him away to a faraway place. A few years later, his brothers force him to come with them and involve him in a murder. How Chikku overcomes his timid nature and how he manages to get himself out of the problems forms the story.
The film starts with a voiceover by Vijay Sethupathi, and in his usual, casual style introduces us the characters. The film takes its own time to tell us the backstory of all the characters that matter, setting up the foundation for the story to unfold. Director Nishanth, despite being a debutant shows no signs of nervousness, and is in no mood to hurry, which is great.
The film itself doesn't care much about external factors like economics or business. The sole intent behind the film seems to relish the pure joy that cinema is. There's not a single commercial compromise, at the same time, the dialogues and a few scenes end up being really humorous. For instance, take the scene where the brothers keep nicknames for all the people they don't like - they're innovative and outrageously funny.
These humourous scenes aren't just written to evoke humour, but they all have a pay back at the end. Some dialogues like the nickname for the villain have a callback at the most unexpected places and it is well intertwined with the plot. All this means only one thing - the director has put in sublime effort to make sure that the writing is solid - both the screenplay and the story.
The writing is complemented by some terrific performances by the leads, especially Vijay Ram. His character arc is well defined and his transformation scenes are consistent. The emotional base that his character has forms the crux of the plot and the film's title is also apt, considering his sole need in life. Among the supporting actors, Augustine appears in a crucial role in the second half, and his counters and one liners also look effortlessly funny.
More than just the narration and dialogues, the film follows the popular 'Show don't tell' rule. Since the film is set near a forest in Kottayam, the director and cinematographer together use all the elements of the forest to support the film. At times, the insects in the rainforests end up as metaphors and during other times, it adds on to the raw aesthetics of the film.
The film depends on the sound design and uses minimal background score. Or rather, the sounds of the forest are used as the background score in most places and it works very well. Credits to sound designer Vinoth Thanikachalam for pulling this off. It's a smart decision to edit the film based on the background score, as it offers a novel feel and keeps us engaged.
The film does have its share of flaws but they're minuscule in nature. The general audience might have engagement issues with the film, but once you cross that barrier, there's a Biriyani feast awaiting you from Nishanth and team.