Annapoorani : The Goddess Of Food(Tamil, Netflix)
Starring Nayanthara, Sathyaraj
Written & Directed by Nilesh Krishnaa
Rating: ***
A lack of spontaneity in the storytelling doesn’t douse the sparkle in this comfort-food of a film. Annapoorani gives “Lady Superstar’ Nayanthara ample scope to shine as a dreamy-eyed girl born to a priest who is a temple cook.I loved the early father-daughter food bonding.
The opposition of priorities between Rangarajan(Achyut Kumar) and his daughter Annapoorani(Nayanathara) is clipped on to the plot like a refrigerator-top memo about daily chores .You really can’t miss the social statements no matter how hard you try.
A deeply-rooted obviousness underscores every turn and twist in the plot . Why for example is Annapoorni’s love interest namd ‘Farhan’ if not to lean into the theme of culinary liberalism?Or that whole lengthy sequence where Annapoorani(does she have a nickname?)’s grandmother urges her to run away from her wedding: highly manufactured!
As a open-and-shut treatise on designer-liberalism Annapoorani works fine. The writer-director Nilesh Krishnaa tiptoes across the tropes of the culinary romcom (think Julia & Julia, think Hunger) without tripping over in excitement. The giddyheaded tone does get in the way sometimes. But Krishnaa controls his excitement over the food templates, nourishing them like a meal that threatens to go off track.
Nayanthara has lately been a off the mark too many times. She is reigned in and charming as daddy’s pet , taking on the world of food and restauranting like an ingénue. She gets to go through the entire gamut of melodramatic emotion including a near-fatal injury which leaves her taste buds numbed.
Luckily there is almost nothing tasteless about the way the cookie(and the other gourmet delights) crumbles in this foodie’s day out.
What I found objectionable is a run-in Annapoorani has with a landlady who its seems is a North Indian.“You can’t come from the outside and treat us like this,” the heroine smirks , and tries to make brownie point from her jingoism.
Such minor slip-ups at crowdpleasing apart, there is much to be liked in this film.Nayanthara’s delightful bonding with Sathyaraj who play a head chef at a posh restaurant and mentors Annapoorani , much to the ire of his son(Karthik Kumar). The formulistic dramatic conflict between the wayward biological child and the foster child has its charms, though overused.
How I wish Annapoorani knew where to stop. It goes on buttering the platter until the cake threatens to roll off.
