Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

action thriller film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

Venkat Prabhu Venkat Kumar Gangai Amaren (born 7 November 1975), better known by his stage name Venkat Prabhu, is an Indian filmmaker, actor and playback singer in Tamil films. After completing his education, he began pursuing an acting career, with his first ...

Studio Green Studio Green is an Cinema of India, Indian film production and distribution company based in Chennai. The company was founded in 2006 by K. E. Gnanavel Raja, relative of actor Sivakumar and many of their films feature his sons Suriya and Karthi ...

Karthi Karthik Sivakumar (born 25 May 1977), better known by his stage name Karthi, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He has won three Filmfare Awards South, an Edison Award, a SIIMA Award and a Tamil Nadu State Film Award. ...

Premji Mullamangalath Parameshwaran Bhattathiripad (23 September 1908 – 10 August 1998), commonly known as M. P. Bhatathirippad or Premji, was a social reformer, cultural leader and actor from Kerala state, India. Premji joined Yogakshema Sabha ...

Nassar Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...

Ramki Ramakrishnan, better known by his stage name Ramki, is an Indian actor best known for his work in Tamil and Telugu films. He made his debut in ''Chinna Poove Mella Pesu'' (1987). He was a lead actor from 1987 to 2004. He was known for his per ...

Sampath Raj Sampath Raj (born 25 December 1968) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil language, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu films, in addition to Kannada and Malayalam films. He is best known for appearing in each film of director Ven ...

Madhumitha Madhumitha (born Swapna Madhuri on 20 August 1981) is an Indian actress who appears in Telugu and Tamil films. Career Madhumitha started her acting career under her birth name Swapna Madhuri with the 2002 Telugu film ''Sandade Sandadi'' (2002 ...

Jayaprakash V. Jayaprakash is an Indian actor and producer who works in Tamil and Telugu-language films. He ventured into film business in the early 2000s as a producer, making several films under his banner GJ Cinema and later turned actor, with Cheran's ...

Mandy Takhar Mandy Takhar is a British actress who works in Indian cinema, predominantly in Punjabi with roles in Hindi and Tamil films as well. Early life Mandy Takhar was born and raised in the city of Wolverhampton in the UK. She traces her roots to Ma ...

Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Wes ...

Sakthi Saravanan Sakthi Saravanan is an Indian cinematographer, who works in Tamil and Telugu cinema. He is best known for his hand held and gritty work with Venkat Prabhu and M. Rajesh directorials. Praveen- Srikanth handled cinematography and editing, respectively. Filming started in November 2012, lasted for over nine months and took place primarily at

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

,

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

and

Ambur Ambur is a town and municipality in newly announced Tirupattur District, Tamil Nadu, India. It is located on the banks of the Palar River between Chennai and Bangalore. Ambur has a sizeable leather industry, and is known for its spicy biryani an ...

. The film was released on 20 December 2013. The fim received mixed to positive reviews. The film was reported to be inspired by the 2004 American film ''

Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle ''Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle'' (released in some international markets as ''Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies'') is a 2004 American buddy stoner comedy film directed by Danny Leiner, written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, and starr ...

'', though Prabhu was lauded for making creative changes to the story. The film did a decent run and recovered its budget at the box-office.

Plot

The movie starts with Sugan (

Karthi Karthik Sivakumar (born 25 May 1977), better known by his stage name Karthi, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He has won three Filmfare Awards South, an Edison Award, a SIIMA Award and a Tamil Nadu State Film Award. ...

) and his friend Parasuram (

Premji Mullamangalath Parameshwaran Bhattathiripad (23 September 1908 – 10 August 1998), commonly known as M. P. Bhatathirippad or Premji, was a social reformer, cultural leader and actor from Kerala state, India. Premji joined Yogakshema Sabha ...

) being chased by cops. The flashback shows Sugan as a womanizer who has a weakness for

Biryani Biryani () is a mixed rice dish originating among the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. It is made with Indian spices, rice, and usually some type of meat (chicken, beef, goat, lamb, prawn, fish) or in some cases without any meat, and so ...

, and Parasuram, who is his childhood friend. Sugan's womaniser attitude always gets him into a fight with his girlfriend Priyanka ( Hansika Motwani). Sugan and Parasuram attend a function for a branch opening of one of their offices, where they meet Varadharajan (

Nassar Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...

), who is the chief guest for the ceremony. In the meantime, it is shown that a CBI officer named Riyaz Ahmed (

Sampath Raj Sampath Raj (born 25 December 1968) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil language, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu films, in addition to Kannada and Malayalam films. He is best known for appearing in each film of director Ven ...

) has been deputed to track Vardharajan's illegal activities. Varadharajan gets impressed with Sugan and later decides to make him his son-in-law, and this decision gets him into an argument with his elder son-in-law Vijaykrishna (

Ramki Ramakrishnan, better known by his stage name Ramki, is an Indian actor best known for his work in Tamil and Telugu films. He made his debut in ''Chinna Poove Mella Pesu'' (1987). He was a lead actor from 1987 to 2004. He was known for his per ...

). Varadharajan later hosts a cocktail party and also invites Sugan and Parasuram, where they get drunk. Sugan, who craves biriyani after getting drunk, searches for a biriyani shop. There, they both come across Maya (

Mandy Takhar Mandy Takhar is a British actress who works in Indian cinema, predominantly in Punjabi with roles in Hindi and Tamil films as well. Early life Mandy Takhar was born and raised in the city of Wolverhampton in the UK. She traces her roots to Ma ...

), a prostitute. The very next day, they find police cars searching for Varadharajan, who is missing. Meanwhile, Sugan and Parasuram find Varadharajan's corpse in their car trunk. They are blamed for Varadharajan's death and are chased by police, which is the starting scene of the movie. Sugan and Parasu go to their friend's house, and Parasu sends a picture of Maya to his friends. The next day, one of their friends finds Maya at Egmore Railway Station. Sugan comes there, and Maya confesses that she spiked their drinks upon a police officer's orders. As Sugan tries to get more information, a female cop (

Uma Riyaz Khan Uma Riyaz Khan is an Indian actress. She has appeared in Tamil television shows and in supporting roles in a few Tamil films. Personal life Uma was the only child of her artist parents. Her father, Kamesh, was a music director and her mother, ...

) stops Maya from telling the truth and later kills her. Back at home, Sugan gets a message from the female cop, which makes him realize that she is not a police officer but an assassin. Her next victim is no one other than Varalakshmi (

Madhumitha Madhumitha (born Swapna Madhuri on 20 August 1981) is an Indian actress who appears in Telugu and Tamil films. Career Madhumitha started her acting career under her birth name Swapna Madhuri with the 2002 Telugu film ''Sandade Sandadi'' (2002 ...

), Sugan's sister. At the temple, Sugan's friend, brother-in-law Subbu (

Subbu Panchu Subramaniam Panchu Arunachalam, credited as Subbu Panchu or P. Ar. Subramaniam (born 16 February 1973) is an Indian actor and film producer. Son of noted writer-producer Panchu Arunachalam, Subbu first appeared as a child artist in the Malayala ...

), and Varalakshmi are in a car accident, and the female assassin captures Varalakshmi. Sugan gets a call from Vijaykrishna that he needs Varadharajan alive so that he can give Varalakshmi back to Sugan. Sugan decides that Parasu should impersonate Varadharajan alive, since the real Varadharajan is dead. He comes there with Parasu but finds the assassin trying to kill Sugan. Vijaykrishna wants Varadharajan back, but it was not him who called Sugan. Sugan and Vijaykrishna get into a fight along with Sampath, who gets in a fight with the hit-woman. Another police officer, ACP Vikram ( Prem), kills the female assassin and returns Varalakshmi safely. A few days later, at Varadharajan's funeral, Sugan learns the truth about Varadharajan's death. Avinash was in love with Varadharajan's daughter for money only, but Sugan and Parasu stopped their love on the way to the new branch opening. Avinash uses his brother to get his love back by bringing Sugan and Parasu using Maya, and that Maya used drugs to make Sugan and Parasu very drunk. Then, the assassin comes by, killing Maya so that she does not tell the truth to Sugan. Sugan figures out that it was no one other than Vikram, Avinash's brother, who was behind everything. Soon Riyaz and Vijaykrishna also find out the truth. Riyaz tells Sugan to kill Vikram, Sugan fights with Vikram, and they both fall from the office into the swimming pool below. What happens to either of them is unknown.

Cast

*

Karthi Karthik Sivakumar (born 25 May 1977), better known by his stage name Karthi, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He has won three Filmfare Awards South, an Edison Award, a SIIMA Award and a Tamil Nadu State Film Award. ...

as Sugan, a worker at a tractor company who has a weakness for biriyani * Hansika Motwani as Priyanka Sharma, Sugan's love interest *

Premji Mullamangalath Parameshwaran Bhattathiripad (23 September 1908 – 10 August 1998), commonly known as M. P. Bhatathirippad or Premji, was a social reformer, cultural leader and actor from Kerala state, India. Premji joined Yogakshema Sabha ...

as Parasuram (Parasu), Sugan's best friend *

Nassar Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...

as Varadharajan, a businessman *

Ramki Ramakrishnan, better known by his stage name Ramki, is an Indian actor best known for his work in Tamil and Telugu films. He made his debut in ''Chinna Poove Mella Pesu'' (1987). He was a lead actor from 1987 to 2004. He was known for his per ...

as Vijaykrishna, Varadharajan's son-in-law *

Sampath Raj Sampath Raj (born 25 December 1968) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil language, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu films, in addition to Kannada and Malayalam films. He is best known for appearing in each film of director Ven ...

as CBI Officer Riyaz Ahmed, who has been sent to track Varadharajan's illegal activities *

Subbu Panchu Subramaniam Panchu Arunachalam, credited as Subbu Panchu or P. Ar. Subramaniam (born 16 February 1973) is an Indian actor and film producer. Son of noted writer-producer Panchu Arunachalam, Subbu first appeared as a child artist in the Malayala ...

as Subbu, Sugan's brother-in-law *

Madhumitha Madhumitha (born Swapna Madhuri on 20 August 1981) is an Indian actress who appears in Telugu and Tamil films. Career Madhumitha started her acting career under her birth name Swapna Madhuri with the 2002 Telugu film ''Sandade Sandadi'' (2002 ...

as Varalakshmi, Sugan's sister and the hitwoman's kidnap victim *

Jayaprakash V. Jayaprakash is an Indian actor and producer who works in Tamil and Telugu-language films. He ventured into film business in the early 2000s as a producer, making several films under his banner GJ Cinema and later turned actor, with Cheran's ...

as AC Sampath, Varadharajan's family police officer * Prem as ACP Vikram, a police officer and the main antagonist *

Mandy Takhar Mandy Takhar is a British actress who works in Indian cinema, predominantly in Punjabi with roles in Hindi and Tamil films as well. Early life Mandy Takhar was born and raised in the city of Wolverhampton in the UK. She traces her roots to Ma ...

as Maya, Varadharajan's mistress, accomplice to Vikram *

Nithin Sathya Nithin Sathya (born 9 January 1980) is an Indian actor, film producer. He works primarily in Tamil cinema, Tamil Cinema. He made his film debut in ''Kalatpadai'', directed by J. Ramesh, in 2003. He acted with Kamal Haasan, Kamal Hassan in a sma ...

as Hari, Sugan's friend * Uma Riyazkhan as Hitwoman, an unnamed lady who worked for Vikram *

Shanmugasundaram Shanmugasundaram was an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil films. He began his career as an actor by starring in ''Ratha Thilagam'' (1963) and '' Karnan'' (1964), and continued his career for seven decades. He is also a dubbing artist. He h ...

as Kasi Vishwanathan, Sugan's father *

J. Livingston Philip Livingston Jones, commonly credited by his mononym Livingston is an Indian actor, comedian and screenwriter who usually plays in supporting and comedy roles in Tamil films. He is credited as Ranjan in his earlier films such as '' Captain ...

as Thomas, Sugan's uncle *

Vijayalakshmi Vijaya lakshmi is a Hindu Indian feminine given name or surname, which means "goddess of victory". The name may refer to: People First name * Vijayalakshmi Atluri, Indian computer scientist *Vijayalakshmi (Kannada actress), Indian actress *Vijaya ...

as Rohini, Varadharajan's younger daughter *

Tharika Tharika is an Indian actress who has appeared in Tamil films and television serials. She first appeared in a character role in Bharathiraja's '' Eera Nilam'' before she shifted to item numbers. She participated in season 1 of the reality danc ...

as Kalpana, Sugan's friend *

Rethika Srinivas Rethika Srinivas is an Indian actress who has appeared in Tamil films. Career Rethika graduated with a degree in electronic engineering from SRM University, before pursuing a master's degree in media studies in the United Kingdom. She subseque ...

as Radhika, Varadharajan's elder daughter & Vijaykrishna's wife *

Badava Gopi Badava Gopi is an Indian stand-up comedian and actor. Career Badava Gopi is an Indian stand-up comedian, actor, singer, hailing from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He was introduced into films in 2005 in the movie ''Poi'', shot in Sri Lanka by the veter ...

as Gopi, Priyanka's colleague *

Sam Anderson Sam Anderson (born April 2, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his character roles such as Sam Gorpley on '' Perfect Strangers'', Holland Manners on ''Angel'', dentist Bernard Nadler on ''Lost'' and in film, as the principal in ''F ...

as Sam, Sugan's friend * Haanii Shivraj as Shwetha * Ravikanth as Chandrasekhar, Sugan's boss * Leena Maria Paul as Sree Devi * Sangeetha Gopal as Shanthi * Mithun Maheswaran as Kiran * Rajkumar Pitchumani as Avinash’s Friend ; Special appearances by: * Jai as Jai Kanth * Aravind Akash as himself *

Ashwin Kakumanu Ashwin Kakumanu is an Indian actor, who is best known for his role as Ganeshan in Venkat Prabhu's ''Mankatha''. Career Ashwin initially auditioned for a role in ''Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa''. The director, Gautham Vasudev Menon, was close to g ...

as himself *

Mahat Raghavendra Mahat Raghavendra is an Indian actor who works in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi cinema. He is best known for his supporting roles in the heist thriller film, ''Mankatha'' (2011), the action drama, ''Jilla'' (2014) and As lead in the ''Double XL'' (20 ...

as himself *

Vaibhav Vaibhav() is a male given name in the Sanskrit language. People *Vaibhav Deshpande (born 1987), Indian cricketer *Vaibhav Kaul (born 1991), Indian photographer *Vaibhav Madhukar Pichad (born 1974), Indian politician *Vaibhav Mangle (born 1975), ...

as himself *

Vijay Vasanth Vijay Vasanth (born Vijayakumar Vasanthakumar on 20 May 1983) is an Indian politician who is a Member of Parliament from Kanyakumari Loksabha constituency. He contested and won the bypoll that took place for Kanyakumari Loksabha constituency i ...

as himself *

Sakthi Saravanan Sakthi Saravanan is an Indian cinematographer, who works in Tamil and Telugu cinema. He is best known for his hand held and gritty work with Venkat Prabhu and M. Rajesh directorials. Venkat Prabhu Venkat Kumar Gangai Amaren (born 7 November 1975), better known by his stage name Venkat Prabhu, is an Indian filmmaker, actor and playback singer in Tamil films. After completing his education, he began pursuing an acting career, with his first ...

Production

Development

Following the release of ''

Mankatha ''Mankatha'' () is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language action crime film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu. It stars Ajith Kumar in his 50th film, along with an ensemble cast including Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Lakshmi Rai, Anjali, Andrea Je ...

'', Venkat Prabhu was reported to be writing a script for

Suriya Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known by his stage name Suriya, is an Indian actor, producer, television presenter and a philanthropist. He primarily works in Tamil cinema where he is one of the highest paid actors. He received numerou ...

. In December 2011, he was signed up by Studio Green, the production company owned by Suriya's cousin K. E. Gnanavelraja, while later the month the director informed that Suriya had agreed to be part of his next film, which he was planning to shoot in 3D. Further more, the media carried reports that it would be a

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

, made simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu, and feature Telugu actor

Ravi Teja Bhupatiraju Ravi Shankar Raju (born 26 January 1968), known professionally as Ravi Teja, is an Indian film actor and producer who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. He is known for his roles in action comedy films. He is one of the highest- ...

,

Sonam Kapoor Sonam Kapoor Ahuja (; born 9 June 1985) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. She has won a National Film Award and a Filmfare Award, and from 2012 to 2016, she appeared in ''Forbes India'' Celebrity 100 list based on her income and ...

and

Taapsee Pannu Taapsee Pannu (born 1 August 1987) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. She is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards. After a brief modelling career, Pannu ventured into acting with the Telugu film ''Jh ...

in other lead roles. In April 2012, while Venkat Prabhu was still working on the script, giving it the final touch, Suriya chose to work with director

Hari Hari ( sa, हरि) is among the primary epithets of the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu, meaning 'the one who takes away' (sins). It refers to the one who removes darkness and illusion, the one who removes all obstacles to spiritual progress ...

on the sequel to his ''

Singam ''Singam'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Hari, and produced by K. E. Gnanavel Raja under his Studio Green banner in association with Reliance Big Pictures, and distributed by Sun Pictures. It stars Sur ...

'' first after completing ''

Maattrraan ''Maattrraan'' () is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film co-written and directed by K. V. Anand and produced by Kalpathi S. Aghoram, S. Ganesh and S. Suresh under the banner AGS Entertainment. It stars Suriya in dual roles, along ...

'', which prompted Venkat Prabhu to make another film for Studio Green instead with Suriya's brother Karthi in the lead. The film was named ''Biriyani'', and the director stated that the same team of his previous four films, comprising music composer Yuvan Shankar Raja, cinematographer Sakthi Saravanan, editors Praveen K. L. and N. B. Srikanth and costume designer

Vasuki Bhaskar Vasuki Bhaskar is an Indian fashion design, fashion and costume designer, working in the Tamil film industry. She is the daughter of film producer R.D. Bhaskar and Pavalar Creations is their own production house. Career Vasuki was born as the o ...

, would work on ''Biriyani''. The film was launched on 16 July 2012 after a small pooja, but filming did not start until November 2012, since Venkat Prabhu was reworking his script and the casting was not finished yet. He made it clear that the film planned with Suriya earlier was an "entirely different script", and that he would work on that project later, while revealing that ''Biriyanis script was initially intended for actor Vijay.

Casting

Venkat Prabhu's brother Premgi Amaren, who had been part of all his brother's ventures, was given an "almost parallel role" as the lead character's best friend in ''Biriyani''. For the lead female role, the production team first approached

Samantha Samantha (or the alternatively Samanta) is primarily used as a feminine given name. It was recorded in England in 1633 in Newton Regis, Warwickshire. It was also recorded in the 18th century in New England, but its etymology is uncertain. Specu ...

. Bollywood actresses

Parineeti Chopra Parineeti Chopra (; born 22 October 1988) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi films. Chopra is a recipient of several accolades, including a Filmfare and a National Film Award. She has appeared in '' Forbes India'' Celebrity 1 ...

and

Ileana D'Cruz Ileana D'Cruz (born 1 November 1987) is an Indian-born Portuguese actress and model who predominantly appears in Telugu language, Telugu and Hindi language films. D'Cruz was born in Mumbai and spent most of her childhood in Goa. D'Cruz made her ...

were also considered for the role, but in early July 2012, Bengali actress

Richa Gangopadhyay Richa Gangopadhyay Langella ( Gangopadhyay ; born 20 March 1986) is an Indian-born American former actress and model who predominantly appeared in Telugu language films. She resides at Portland, Oregon. She was cast along with the prominent ...

was selected for the role, who said that she played "a typical girl in it; someone who's mischievous and not-so innocent". However, she left the project by mid-October 2012 due to "changes in the role and script". After Gangopadhyay's exit, Venkat Prabhu expressed interest in casting

Nayantara Diana Mariam Kurian, known professionally as Nayanthara, is an Indian actress and film producer who is known for her work in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. She was in the ''Forbes India'' "Celebrity 100" 2018 list, with her total annual ...

for the role. while later the month Hansika Motwani was finalized to play the leading lady of the film. Motwani told that she played a journalist named Priyanka, while classifying the film as a "black comedy thriller". Sources reported that the film had two female leads and that

Neetu Chandra Nitu Chandra is an Indian actress, film producer and theatre artist. She is also a classical dancer and a sportsperson, involved in the promotion of basketball in the country through her close association with the NBA and Taekwondo, being a fou ...

had been approached to play the other lead. Venkat Prabhu was also keen on casting Bollywood actress

Diana Penty Diana Penty (; born 2 November 1985) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi films. She began her modelling career in 2005 when she was signed up by Elite Models India. Penty made her acting debut with the romantic comedy film '' ...

for the role, which finally went to British Indian model and actress in Punjabi films, Mandy Takhar, who said that she played a "strong, modern girl", describing her character as "sexy and sensuous", that she said was "not what I am". Takhar, who Venkat Prabhu zeroed in after seeing her photos from her Hindi film '' Bumboo'', added that she had allotted 20 days of shooting for the film, had to put on weight for the role and had done a

pole dance Pole dance combines dance and acrobatics centered on a vertical pole. This performance art form takes place not only in strip club, gentleman's clubs as erotic dance, but also as a mainstream form of fitness, practiced in gyms and dedicated da ...

in the song "Mississippi". Further more, sources indicated that the newly married couple Sneha and Prasanna had been roped in for the film, although Venkat Prabhu refused to comment about this. Later, in an interview to ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'', Prasanna stated that he played an important role in it. Ramki was recruited in November 2012 for an important role.

Meena Meena () is a sub-group of Bhils. They speak Meena language. They started adopting the Brahmin worship system. Its name is also transliterated as ''Meenanda'' or ''Mina''. Historians claim that they belong to the Matsya tribe. They got the sta ...

was also approached by the director to play a pivotal role, but she declined the offer. Nithin Sathya and Sampath Raj, two regulars in Venkat Prabhu's films, joined the cast in December 2012. Later additions to the cast included Prem, television actor and mimic Badava Gopi, playing the role of a cameraman, Uma Riyaz Khan, Madhumitha,

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

socialite Sangeetha Gopal, and

Sam Anderson Sam Anderson (born April 2, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his character roles such as Sam Gorpley on '' Perfect Strangers'', Holland Manners on ''Angel'', dentist Bernard Nadler on ''Lost'' and in film, as the principal in ''F ...

. Reports suggested that Canadian film critic

Review Raja Davis Courneyea, better known by his alias Review Raja, is a Canadian film critic, who reviews Indian films from the Tamil film industry. He became popular through his YouTube channel "ReviewRaja", where his team regularly posts film reviews in ...

had done a dance number choreographed by Shobhi during his visit in Chennai.

Filming

The film's

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

was to start in August 2012, but was delayed because of changes in the script and the cast. It was then supposed to begin by early October 2012 in Ambur, but was officially commenced on 5 November 2012, following a test shoot on 1 November. The first day of shoot involved scenes between Karthi and Premji, which was carried out on a set inside a house near the

Kodambakkam Kodambakkam (also known as K-Town or Kollywood) is a business and residential neighbourhood in Central Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The neighbourhood is served by Kodambakkam railway station of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network. Kodambakkam h ...

railway station in Chennai. The short Chennai schedule was followed by schedules in Senji, Ambur and Pondicherry. A set of a hotel worth 1 crore was erected in Chennai, where action scenes and songs were shot for the film.

Motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...

technology was used to film a fight sequence involving Karthi, Nitin Sathya, Murugadas and Panchu Subbu which was shot with a multiple camera setup at

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry t ...

. The unit then took a break as Karthi moved on to shoot his other film ''

All in All Azhagu Raja ''All in All Azhagu Raja'' () is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by M. Rajesh. Karthi in dual lead roles with, Kajal Aggarwal and Santhanam in the supporting roles. It marks the second collaboration betw ...

'' simultaneously, and filming was continued on 30 March 2013 in Hyderabad. 60% of the film had been completed at that time, according to the director. Vijay Vasanth, Vaibhav Reddy, Ashwin Kakumanu, Aravind Akash and Mahat Raghavendra, who had all been part of Venkat Prabhu's ''Mankatha'', dropped by Hyderabad for a day to take part in the shooting. Although a 14-day schedule was planned in Hyderabad, the unit returned within three days to Chennai, after facing with opposition from the stunt union of Andhra Pradesh. The crew was allowed to shoot a fight sequence on a train, for which 40 lakh had been paid in advance, after which they returned to Chennai and resume the shoot there, where new sets had been created at the AVM studios, the

Binny Mills Binny and Co is a shipping, textile, banking and insurance firm based in the city of Chennai, India. It is one of the oldest business firms in Chennai city. History Binny and Co was founded in Madras by John Binny as a general, clearing and ...

and the

Rajiv Gandhi Salai State Highway 49A (SH-49A) also known as Rajiv Gandhi Salai and Rajiv Gandhi IT Expressway or just IT Expressway is a major road connecting Chennai, Tamil Nadu with Mahabalipuram in Chengalpattu district, Tamil Nadu. It is 45 km long and ...

(OMR). Venkat Prabhu further said that the crew would be heading to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in May to shoot two songs involving Karthi and Hansika. By mid-June, the entire talkie portion had been canned. The final song, choreographed by Kalyan, was shot in July 2013. Although the team had planned to shoot the song in a foreign country, it was eventually filmed in

Meenambakkam Meenambakkam is a southern neighbourhood of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is home to Chennai International Airport, the Airports Authority of India regional office, and the DGQA Complex. It was under the reign of the Pallava kin ...

, Chennai, where two sets had been created, with Venkat Prabhu intending to shoot the song in the style of a

Broadway musical Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

, who went on to add that "the backgrounds in the song will keep changing throughout".

Soundtrack

Yuvan Shankar Raja composed the soundtrack and film score for ''Biriyani'', continuing his association with Venkat Prabhu, which will be his 100th film. Prabhu has stated that the soundtrack album will have "at least 8 to 9 songs". Besides poet Vaali and the director's father

Gangai Amaren Gangai Amaran is an Indian music composer, singer, lyricist, writer, film director and actor in Tamil films. Personal life Gangai Amaran was born in Pannaipuram in Theni district, Tamil Nadu in December 1947, as the youngest son of Daniel Ram ...

, who regularly work in Prabhu's films, Niranjan Bharathi, who penned the song "Nee Naan" in the director's previous venture ''

Mankatha ''Mankatha'' () is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language action crime film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu. It stars Ajith Kumar in his 50th film, along with an ensemble cast including Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Lakshmi Rai, Anjali, Andrea Je ...

'', and

Madhan Karky Madhan Karky Vairamuthu is an Indian lyricist, screenwriter, research associate, software engineer, and entrepreneur. A holder of a doctorate in computer science from the University of Queensland, Karky began his professional career as an ass ...

were brought on board to write the lyrics, the latter collaborating the first time with Yuvan Shankar Raja. After being convinced by the director, film's lead actor Karthi agreed to sing a song titled "Mississippi" for the soundtrack, making his debut in

playback singing A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

, which was recorded in December 2012. In late July 2013, four leading contemporary music directors, G. V. Prakash Kumar,

S. Thaman Ghantasala Sai Srinivas Thaman (born 16 November 1983), known professionally as Thaman S, earlier as S S Thaman, is an Indian music composer, professional drummer, and playback singer who predominantly works in Telugu films and Tamil films. Th ...

,

Vijay Antony Vijay Antony (born 24 July 1975) is an Indian music composer, playback singer, actor, film editor, lyricist, audio engineer, and filmmaker working predominantly in Tamil cinema. He made his debut as music composer in 2005. He is the first India ...

and

D. Imman Immanuel Vasanth Dinakaran (born 24 January 1983), better known as D. Imman, is an Indian film composer and singer, predominantly working in Tamil cinema. Also worked in Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, and Hindi film industry. His first film as mu ...

, were roped in to sing the number "Thirumbi Vaa", which was termed as a "motivational song" by the director. Two remixes were produced by Yuvan Shankar Raja himself, for the first time remixing his own composition, and Premgi Amaren, respectively. The audio rights of the soundtrack were acquired by

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

in May 2013. On 16 August, the audio tracks were leaked online causing an uproar from the team. It was later announced that, due to the leak, the planned audio launch was subsequently cancelled and that the album would be directly released to stores on 21 August 2013. But the audio launch eventually happened at an undisclosed

FM station FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...

on 21 August. The audio received positive response from critics as well as audience.

Marketing

Although costume designer Vasuki Baskar wrote on her social media account that the first look of the film would be released on 13 November, during the

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is ...

festival, it was unveiled on 15 December 2012 at Yuvan Shankar Raja's concert in Malaysia. A 75-second teaser of the film was released on 25 May 2013, on the occasion of Karthi's birthday.

Release

The satellite rights of the film were sold to Sun TV.

Studio Green Studio Green is an Cinema of India, Indian film production and distribution company based in Chennai. The company was founded in 2006 by K. E. Gnanavel Raja, relative of actor Sivakumar and many of their films feature his sons Suriya and Karthi ...

initially finalised 6 September 2013 as the release date, to be coinciding with the 2013 Vinayagar Chaturthi festival. The makers then planned to release the film on 11 October 2013 coinciding with

Dusshera Vijayadashami ( sa, विजयदशमी, Vijayadaśamī, translit-std=IAST), also known as Dussehra, Dasara or Dashain, is a major Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Navaratri every year. It is observed on the tenth day in the Hindu ...

festival But the date was changed to January 2014, and later to 20 December 2013. In early August 2013, ATMUS Entertainment announced that it had acquired the US theatrical screening rights for the film. The film was given U/A certificate by the Censor Board. The film's producer initially went to the revision committee to get a U certificate to enjoy the benefit of entertainment tax exemption, but the committee rejected the appeal and awarded the film with a U/A certificate. ''Biriyani'' released in 1050 screens worldwide on 20 December 2013 with tough competition from ''

Dhoom 3 ''Dhoom 3'' () is a 2013 Indian Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, e ...

'' and ''

Endrendrum Punnagai ''Endrendrum Punnagai'' () is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy drama film written and directed by I. Ahmed starring Jiiva, Trisha, Vinay, Santhanam, Andrea, and Nassar. The film has music by Harris Jayaraj and cinematography b ...

''.

Critical reception

''Biriyani'' received positive reviews from critics. Among the positive reviews were from ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' gave 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Venkat Prabhu definitely knows how to have a cake and eat it too. Fun is certainly the core of all his movies, even when the genres are varied. That is the case with ''Biriyani'' as well. It is essentially a murder mystery but Venkat seasons it with his brand of wink wink nudge nudge filmmaking, and turns it into an engaging entertainer". Behindwoods gave 3.25 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Venkat Prabhu's ''Biriyani'' while adhering to the director's recipe, has humor, suspense, music, action and glamour in delectable portions resulting in a delicious product".

Rediff Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

gave 2.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Though the film takes its own sweet time to get a move on, once it gathers momentum, there is no stopping till the end, where there is an exciting climax, as well as an anticlimax, in typical Venkat Prabhu style", calling it "a fun-filled thriller". Indiaglitz gave 3.5 out of 5 and wrote, "Through the first half the ingredients make up a commercial pot boiler and the build up to the story is slow and steady. The last 20 minutes serves the twist in the tale, and a round of applause to the director to have correlated the events of 2 hours in the final climax". The Hindu wrote, "Intelligent line, sensible humour, particularly at the most unexpected moments, Sakthi Saravanan's contribution with the lens, Silva's noteworthy action choreography and Karthi's energy are scoring points of this Venkat Prabhu offering. Youth should find the ''Biriyani'' quite tasty".

hindustantimes ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

wrote, "this Biriyani is hard to digest."

Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...

wrote, "''Biriyani'' is the blandest one you must have had in recent times. The larger problem here is that this film doesn't have the crackle and pop of a rom-com, a thriller or even cleverly written comic lines".

IANS Indo-Asian News Service or IANS is a private Indian news agency. It was founded in 1986 by Indian American publisher Gopal Raju as the "India Abroad News Service" and later renamed. Their main offices are located in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The ser ...

gave 2.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Venkat Prabhu's ''Biriyani'' despite being fairly satisfying is not excellent because it gets too starchy due to unwanted ingredients. While the use of situational comedy works to some extent but what we see in some scenes is not humorous but downright awful and the double entendres directed at women are uncalled for". Another reviewer from The Hindu wrote, "It's (the) irreverent fun that makes this film different from regular thrillers. Despite some good ingredients and reasonably good cooking methods, there's something that doesn’t come together and stops this from being a delectable meal".

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...

wrote, "Venkat Prabhu's ''Biriyani'' falls flat and struggles to make an impact with the audience with a nonsensical love story and even worse thriller plot. The director's attempt at infusing some comedy as well, fails, with crass jokes on women that are almost nauseating to watch".

References

External links

*
More Video Of Biriyani
{{Venkat Prabhu 2013 films Indian action comedy films Indian comedy thriller films Indian black comedy films Films shot at Ramoji Film City Films shot in Chennai Films shot in Andhra Pradesh Films scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja Films directed by Venkat Prabhu 2010s Tamil-language films Films set in Tamil Nadu Films shot in Tamil Nadu 2013 action comedy films 2013 action thriller films 2013 black comedy films