IFFM-2021: Biriyaani - Flavors of Flesh, Malayalam : Revenge feast
MELBOURNE, 30 August 2021: Khadeeja, suppresses her emotional desires in marital life. Relations with her husband's family are not good and grapples with a traditional family situation. As if family issues were not enough, her brother is reported in the media as a religious extremist. She and her mentally upset widowed mother are excommunicated from the community and her husband divorces her.
The movie portrays the agony a woman faces in a patriarchal society. A woman journalist helps her and does a story on how the mother and daughter connected to the alleged terrorism accused (her brother) are suffering and help arrives.
TV debates on the subject are plenty but a young abandoned woman in misery is easy prey. The rather tough day-to-day happenings make Khadeeja strong. Sympathy arrives from Bijil (a priest) and she fights back. Decides to host a feast to remember her late brother and father. The feast is her revenge where Biryanni is served.
The movie created controversy in Kerala as the scenes of sex, circumcision... hit the moralists strongly. The movie breaks the fake silence that suppresses a woman, in a man's world. Using one's own personality as an equal human to fight against gender injustice is no easy task. But this happens as the movie culminates into the Biryanni feast.
One can say that the film is a bold take on faith and gender issues not before experienced in Indian cinema. Iconic performance by Kani Kusruti (Khadeeja) is flawless and others add to the movie's hard-hitting narrative. Well done, Director Sajin Kusruti.
I give it 4 out of five stars.
Name- Biriyaani
Duration- 96 minutes
Country- India
Cast- Kani Kusruti, Surjith, Anil Nedumangad,
Shailaja Jala
Director- Sajin Baabu