Biriyani - A terrific Kani Kusruti in a tale that is a grim reminder of the persistent turmoil for a section of the society! "Malayalam Movies, Music, Reviews and Latest News"

Biriyani - A terrific Kani Kusruti in a tale that is a grim reminder of the persistent turmoil for a section of the society!

PUBLISHED DATE : 03/May/2021

Biriyani - A terrific Kani Kusruti in a tale that is a grim reminder of the persistent turmoil for a section of the society!

Biriyani - A terrific Kani Kusruti in a tale that is a grim reminder of the persistent turmoil for a section of the society!

Bharath Vijayakumar

Biriyani begins with a sex scene. We see the man humping vigorously on top of a woman, who lays there with no emotion on display. A prayer song from a place of worship is emanating from the background and the guy is in a hurry to complete the act.The lady is Khadeeja and Biriyani is a film about her just as it could be a film about many such women. The disregard for the emotions of a woman and how this disregard is a part of the constructs called religion and society is on bare display in Biriyani. It is a grim reality and a reality that stings you hard.

Following the travails of Khadeeja, Biriyani is a first hand account of the kind of unimaginable turmoil a section of the society is subjected to. When we are introduced to Khadeeja, we realize that she is not on good terms with her husband and his mother. Or is it the other way round? They do not seem to care for her. Things get worse when police come knocking on their doors to investigate about Khadeeja's brother. Once this happens and Khadeeja's husband sees her as a burden, it hardly takes anything for him to get rid of her. His religion offers him this right. But you know what? The advice to get rid of her comes from an astrologer (or was he a priest?) from another religion. Divided by religion but certainly united in the disregard for women!

Biriyani is film that is bound to disturb you. The protagonist moves from one helpless position to another. Just when she has no one to hold on to, she experiences a certain freedom to explore her sexuality. But then it is not long before the society that shames her for it also tries to exploit her for the same reason. Up against a system that is designed to clip her wings, Khadeeja cannot do much. Even in the preclimax, when she kind of has a revenge, it is only in her mind that she is giving it back to the society while the intended recipients are oblivious to what is happening (This ignorance means they end up in feasting on their own sins).

Kani Kusruti is terrific as Khadeeja. This isn't a role where the actor has one or two scenes where she can showcase her histrionics. You travel with Khadeeja and after a while you start experiencing the pain that she is going through. This performance is so special because at no point in the film (save for the couple of times she cries on losing a dear one) is there an outburst of emotions on display for you to take a note of. The portrayal is of a person who has already resigned to her fate when we meet her. We hardly see her smiling. She is not even in a position to express disappointment and is only trying to hold on to and support the few dear ones that she has. This is a terrific portrayal of someone who is in a state of helplessness for no fault of hers. It is her identity that makes her go through everything that she has to.

Biriyani is a social commentary on religion, sex, gender and what not. It is no coincidence that one of the few good men (in Khadeeja's own words) in the film resorts to self pleasure while the others go about exploiting women for their flesh. The periodic interspersing of running news and debates on television gives the film a docudrama feel. The film turns out to be chilling because what we see on screen feels very real. Director Sajin Baabu makes sure he never makes a caricature out of characters that exploit Khadeeja. The film doesn't reveal if Khadeeja's brother is innocent or not. At one point we see news that a terrorist has been killed and later in another newspaper the headline says that 'alleged terrorists' have been killed. What the film shows is how a section of the society could be under constant suspicion. Entertainment would be the most inappropriate word that you could use for Biriyani. But the flavours of flesh of this Biriyani is sure to haunt you and provide enough food for thought.

PS: Streaming on https://www.caveindia.com/