Un Samayal Arayil (2014) Online

Beautifully written & taken. Though I haven't watched its original (Malayalam version), its been a long time that Tamil cinema has had a delicacy of this kind. A very light comedy and pleasant romance that makes you want the two people to unite. Prakash Raj may have this repetitive actions, but that's just his style. He's one actor who's surely versatile the way he fits into characters. And he's proved that again. Made me realize i was so wrong in trying to get my head around which Hollywood drama to watch, when there's one right at home. Drama is not everyone's cup of tea, but if you are willing to educate yourself as a viewer it set's you in the right path. If you are up for a romantic-drama-comedy at its lighter best, you don't want to miss this drama.

Did not find a page for this when I watched the movie a few months back. By now, this has come and gone, and has not made much money, since the blockbuster-watching crowd has their plates full, and their palate ruined. That's not to say this one's a masterpiece, but it's deffo much better than all the fried food out there in the form of celebrity watch in all those mainstream flicks.

Most detractors would say that the focus should have been on the kitchen, and on the protagonists' love for hole-in-the-wall locations to find their delicacies. And I'd agree, while also hoping that more attention was paid to those places, along with making it a meal of most of the leads' conversations on food, and experimenting with recipes - that was the same thing on my mind when I watched the original with Lal and Shwetha Menon. Sadly, other than Ilaiyaraja's score and an improvement on all the technical values from the original, the threads I wanted expanded have not got their due.

I do have to say that, over the past couple of years, my opinion has changed on that. If a movie is about real people, why not make it about their lives, in which many things keep going on at once, and not just 1 theme (which is what each movie with a lazy screenplay focuses on). Therefore, while I revise my opinion on the original, I also appreciate the remake's guts in sticking to all the side/sub- plots that were risky in the first place, and sticking to them, though none of them have any kind of payoff in the commercial milieu.

This one, boldly (yet disappointingly), treads the same path as the original, keeping its (few) strengths in place, other than Menon herself, and retaining its weakness as well, even in the characterization and performances of the supporting leads. The supporting cast, however, is decent.

Where this one scores over the original, though, is in the technical aspects, most notably (go ahead, guess away) the (Red) cinematography, making all the delicacies come alive, and if the focus was on that over the rest of the movie, all of us in the audience would have been in the throes of multiple foodgasms. However, Prakash Raj goes the PG13 route on that and shifts focus to the protagonists loneliness instead. Ideally, I should've singled out the fantastic foreground score by Ilaiyaraja, but I did notice the quality of the soundtrack deteriorate with each track. However the first two tracks, esp. the one rendered by Kailash Kher during the titles, stand out for their melody, as well as picturization.

The bigger question that this story (none too subtly) asks is if all oldies who're lonely are foodies, just 'cause they're not getting' any. Or is it just one of those things, like, are they lonely because they're foodies, and do not appreciate the other 'finer' things in life?

This movie does not bog one down with all those questions, though, going for the predictable and mundane on those aspects.

All in all, worth watching once at the multiplex, and do not miss the beginning (that title melody and its rendition/picturization is worth the price of admission alone).

A dish that's tasty in the beginning but starts to turn bland by the mid way.

If ever you meet a girl for the first time in your life, can you hug her very fondly publicly? I doubt that and that's what the protagonist Kalidasu (Prakash Raj) does. He plays a 49 year old archaeologist who has been alone for a very long time in life. He has come to terms with loneliness and starts living with it, only on a day, there is tryst and there seems to be an affair that blossoms well. Now this man named Kalidasu, seems mature, humane, sincere and even has that tiny flaws which are common to humans. Yet, there is huge contradiction in the way he perceived love and that was disappointing to me. A man who has been through most part of life, could have behaved in a different way instead of listening to what a youngster tells.

For the sake of building up a story, one can write anything. Now, how interesting will that be depends on many factors. This story was merely cooked up with uncalled for subplots and an age-old main plot. In Telugu itself, we have many reference of such plots like "Rajahamsa" and "Ashta Chamma".

The acting was commendable by the main leads Prakash Raj and Sneha. The other pair have just fit the bill but did not contribute much. I liked Brahmaji and M S Narayana. Others were just okay. I wish the acting could have been much better than what it actually is, at least that would have added depth to the otherwise shallow script.

The title itself I thought was misleading as there is neither and Ulavacharu nor a Biryani. There are delicacies for sure but they are something else but not the ones mentioned in the title. The writing is too weak at places. Example, the whole explanation of recipe of a cook is too long and uninteresting for me. Though the cinematography and production design was considerably okay, the biggest disappointment came in the form of editing. The cuts are either too sharp or too weak. I suppose, a few sub plots could have been easily edited out. The usage of the music is seriously questionable. Ilayaraja gave good music, but I thought that was not effectively used.

Prakash Raj gave a tailor made film typical to multiplex audiences but fails in adding some interesting aspect and instead gives a half baked dish. The intent can be appreciated but the execution is way below par.

A promising trailer need not transpire into a good movie. A rule that's proved with this film again. It's an average 2/5 film that is for audiences who want to taste something different just for the sake of trying.