Nayanthara’s 75th film is an unpretentious feel-good family entertainer written and directed by debutante Nilesh Krishna. The supporting cast includes Jai, Sathyaraj, KS Ravikumar, Karthik Kumar. Achyuth Kumar, Veteran actress Sachu, Redin Kingsley and Parvathi T.
Born with a heightened sense of taste, Anna Poorani – played initially by Ovi Bandarkar and then by Nayanthara, develops a love and passion for cooking. She is determined to become the top chef in India, deeply inspired by Chef Anand – played by Sathyaraj. One of the hurdles that Anna Poorani faces is how to achieve her dream without showing disrespect to her Brahmin upbringing. This, however, turns out to be the first of many challenges in her quest to achieve her dream. Whether or not she succeeds forms the rest of the story.
Nayanthara shines brightly in the role of Anna Poorani although she is a tad old to be playing the character. She conveys the dilemmas and angst convincingly and is more expressive than her other roles of late. Jai seems to have been an odd choice for the role but he does justice to what should have been a more rounded character. Karthik Kumar is unable to shake off the runner-up label he has always had in the industry but Sathyaraj is simply magnificent in his role as Chef Anand, bringing style and finesse to his role.
Veteran actress Sachu delivers an endearing performance as Anna Poorani’s grandmother while K.S. Ravikumar. Achyuth Kumar and Parvathy T are the best of the others.
It is an impressive debut for writer-director Nilesh Krishna who has done some research for the script. However, there are far too many liberties taken with the logic factor, many of which contradicts the earlier narrative or common sense. Despite these flaws and the predictable nature of the screenplay, Nilesh Krishna must be praised for providing wholesome family entertainment which makes a welcome change to the blood, gore and scares of recent films.
Thaman S is very impressive in the songs and his background score does an excellent job of supporting the narrative, particularly in the film’s first half.
Cinematography by Sathyan Sooryan is adequate, but there is no attempt at innovation in the lighting or angles.
Anna Poorani provides delightful viewing for the whole family and its entertainment factor makes ita minor flaws pardonable.
Anna Poorani scores 8 points out of 10.