PremiumAnnapoorani -The Goddess of Food Review: Nayanthara's film is a bland, long-drawn predictable fare
Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food could have been more palatable with some better writing, well-executed screenplay and crisp editing
Last Updated: 08.11 PM, Dec 01, 2023
Story: A young woman from a conventional household breaks many barriers to achieve her dream of becoming a chef
Review: When food has become one of the prime weapons of politics in today's India, director Nilesh Krishnaa's Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food delves into the very subject in a subtle manner trying not to offend any sections of the society. The plot delves into the journey of Annapoorani's (Nayanthara) struggles, who hails from a privileged community from Srirangam, who look down upon meat and consider meat-eating a sin. Food is so 'sacred' that the women in the house do not even enter the kitchen on 'those days of the month'.
Annapoorani has to battle against many hurdles in the runup to achieving her dream of becoming a top chef, which includes cooking meat. In fact, much of the film revolves around meat and its politics. Nayanthara is brilliant as Annapoorani and carries the entire film on her shoulders and owns the screen like a star. However, her character and the umpteen number of scenes in the film are so flimsily written that Annapoorani doesn't stay in our hearts once we step out of the theatre.
Take the scene, where Annapoorani couldn't stand near uncooked chicken and goes on to faint when she is asked to cut it. But in the very next scene, she instantly decides to cook and even taste meat after listening to a story by Farhan (Jai) when he explains that meat-eating is not wrong.
Some of the scenes are hardly believable. Under the pretext of pursuing her post-graduation in Business Administration, Annapoorani pursues catering! How does one keep such an important aspect under the wraps, that too from the immediate family? In yet another scene, Annapoorani is asked to cook for the French President, and she whips up a fish curry from the first century. The scene looks downright silly.
Likewise many aspects are weakly executed, be it the one-dimensional father-daughter relationship, the relationship between Annapoorani and Farhan (Jai) where the latter's role is to only come to her rescue everytime she is in trouble. Considering Jai also plays an aspiring chef in the film, we don't see a single moment of the duo bonding over food or Farhan stirring up a delectable spread. If you had expected to see the duo repeat the chemistry from Raja Rani,you will end up getting disappointed.
Some of the scenes are unnecessarily long-drawn and could have worked better with some tight editing. For instance, the flashback portion where Annapoorani as a child talks about her dream of becoming a cook and later learns about the difference between a cook and a chef. Likewise the scene where Sachu, who plays Annapoorani's grandmother, persuades her to pursue her dream as she missed out on hers, becomes monotonous as we have already seen such references dime a dozen.
In yet another instance, Annapoorani goes on to perform namaz (as Biriyani is the only dish she can't get it right) even as the clock is ticking fast in a heated contest for the tag of India's Best Chef. And she whips up a luscious Biriyani in a matter of minutes! And that's not all, everytime Annapoorani crosses a hurdle, the film breaks into an animation, and we are like ' oh no, not again!'
The film also delves into the class difference between a 'samaiyalkaaran' and a chef and the kind of people they both cater to. There is an angle about the skewed number of women as top chefs in star hotels, but that perspective, too, is not fully explored. The film tries to package too many elements, but ends up barely scratching the surface, be it the meat politics, lack of many women chefs at the top and women not being able to own up to their mistakes.
Yet another biggest disappointment in Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food is that the film, which talks about delectable delights, hardly has any frame with a tantalizing gourmet spread that is either enticing or mouthwatering.
As for the performances, Sathyaraj is impressive as one of the leading chefs in the country, Anand Sundarrajan, whom Annapoorani considers her idol. He even gets to pay his ode to an iconic scene from the cult film Amaidhi Padai.
Karthik Kumar, who plays his son and top chef Ashwin Sundarrajan is portrayed as an angry man whose only mission in the film seems to bring Annapoorani down. His character, who is considered a great chef, ends up as Annapoorani's arch nemesis, and is yet again one-dimensional.
Achyuth Kumar as Rangarajan tries his best to deliver a weakly written character. The rest of the star cast, be it Renuka, Jai and his friends, Suresh Chakkaravarthi, appear from time to time, without contibuting much to the narrative.
Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food is a dish that could have been more palatable with some better writing, well-executed screenplay and crisp editing.
Verdict: Nayanthara's Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food falls short of becoming a delectable spread due to its weak writing and long-drawn screenplay. A one-time watch.