Kotha avakaya does not taste as good as the old one. But it does not taste too bad either. It has a taste of its own that is liked by some. Avakai Biryani is like that – it is not the best, but it is not bad either. Debutante director Anish Kuruvilla does a decent job, but looking at the material he had in hand and the producer behind it, you just wish he would not have indulged so much in his movie.

What is it about:The film is the story of an autowallah – Auto Akbar (Kamal Kamaraju). Akbar drives an auto from Devarakonda to Vikarabad and aspires to become a graduate someday inspite of failing thrice. Lakshmi (Bindu Madhavi) comes to Devarakonda along with her family. Lakshmi makes pickles and her aim is to sell her pickles worldwide one day. Their paths collide and Akbar finds himself being attracted to Lakshmi and vice versa. How does this combination of Avakai and Biryani work out? Watch the movie and find out for yourself!

What is Good: The auto race, Kamal's results scene, the songs, the background score are all good. Anish shows of his flair for emotional moments in the film. Kamal Kamaraju is a fine actor and he performs quite naturally. He is not your conventional Tollywood hero, but he can carve out a niche for himself. Bindu Madhavi is beautiful and acts quite well too. She gets a meaty role and must say she sinks her teeth into it. Rao Ramesh gets a short role, but the spark of his father is visible. The photography by Shamdat is topnotch and the frames are all very well composed. Manikanth Kadri does a very good job of the background score and the songs come out very well on screen.

What is bad: Anish Kuruvilla indulges in his baby too much. The second half runs for too long and there are a lot of scenes that can be chopped off with minimal damage to the film. There are many scenes that go on for longer than they should have and put you off track. Also, he does try to tackle too many things at once, like Ashutosh Gowariker does in his Swades. He wants to show the characters' personal struggles, their social responsibilities, religious unity, rich-poor divide – too many ingredients are crammed in. The editor should have been stricter and that would have given Avakai Biryani the much needed life. The pace of the film, especially in the last hour should have been better.

Me Thinks: Inspite of all its flaws, Avakai Biryani is worth a watch. Way too many films take the audience for granted and dish out routine stories. Avakai Biryani tries to tread a different path and though not entirely successful, it does deserve encouragement.

Tailpiece: A quarter of a brownie point (rating) extra only because of the Telugu girl, Bindu Madhavi. She is beautiful and looked amazing in the Veerudena song.