Arjun eschews biriyani!
No. He is not on a special diet nor is this film trivia. This change occurred following a very heart-wrenching incident in Arjun’s life. Even the thought of this dish brings back a very depressing memory to Arjun.
Imman and Arjun share a friendship thick enough to be passed as brotherhood. And that is the way Imman’s mother (late) Manjula David treated them. She treated them like her twin children.
Whenever her newfound-son Arjun, a connoisseur of food and cuisine, would visit her and Imaan, she would cook his favourite dish – biriyani. Arjun reminisces that it was the tastiest dish he had ever eaten and likens it to the mythical “amruth”. This new son enjoyed his share of “amruth” whenever Imman visited the sets of Dhurai or worked on its music at the recording theatre; Manjula made sure she packed enough for both her ravenous children.
One day, while Imman was recording a song for Dhurai (‘Aayiram Aayiram Aasigal’), Arjun was waiting outside dreaming of the treat that awaited him. On that fateful day, instead of the servant who regularly brought their food, a very careworn Mr. David (Imman’s father) turned up and announced that Imman was bereaved of his mother.
That left both of them devastated. Ironically, the song Imman composed at that time praised the virtues of motherhood! And since it was required to finish the recording at once, Imman chose to sing it himself rather than wait for the playback singer to arrive, and holding his mother in his mind, this “momma’s boy” gave a tremendous performance. Little did he know it would turn out a eulogy for his mother. The young music director was heartbroken and was on his knees sobbing when the sad news was broken to him. He is still finding it hard to come to terms with the loss.
But thankfully, he has his friend Arjun with whom he can share his grief.
