Premam

Has there been another movie that has so polarised the Malayalam movie audience in recent times? Everyone seems to either love the movie, or hate it; of course, with the resounding success at the box office, hit music and the piracy row, it is all but impossible to ignore the movie. I am firmly in the category of the former, by the way.

Please note that this review contains spoilers galore!

Premam depicts the rather simple story of George (Nivin Pauly), and the three loves of his life – Mary (Anupama) from his teenage years at pre-degree, Malar (Sai Pallavi) from college, and Celin (Madonna Sebastian) who finally marries him.  Of course, at first glance, this but seems to be a rehash of Cheran’s Autograph. However, the film is much more than the story; it is all about the mood, the ambience, the characters and the language that inevitably serves up a set of nostalgic memories to anyone who has grown up in Kerala in the 90s. In a nutshell, it is about the manner of storytelling rather than the story. Also, Premam firmly avoids the path that other Malayalam campus love stories such as Daisy, Aniyathipravu, Niram, Chocolate etc. (with the honorable exceptions of Sarvakalashala and Classmates) have traditionally tread on by being firmly grounded and not succumbing to the usual traps of designer clothes, foreign locations and melodrama.

Premam also excels in getting the authenticity spot-on in every aspect. The whole set-up of the local tution class above the tea shop and the “vaya nokkis” (loosely translated to Female Admirers, but not of the lecherous variety) hovering downstairs rings completely true, as I am sure many of my female friends will vouch for. The local college fight, set to the catchy “Kalippu” (loosely translated to Confrontational, but not really) is just right. Puthren also seems to just let Sai Pallavi be, which results in a very, very natural and likeable Malar; her gestures and mannerisms are so naturally Tamilian (for example, when she corrects herself upon mistaking a kurta for a shirt). For the record, this is something I have always hated about Autograph; the spoken Malayalam in it was just terrible.

Puthren also is terrific at the staging of scenes. For example, the scene where George and his friends are waiting for Mary to get down from her tution class and they end up asking “kas kas” in their lime soda one by one with the camera caressing the whole creation of the lime soda could so easily have been filmed as just another regular scene with the 3 friends exchanging witticisms. Another conversational scene in the canteen during George’s college days follows a plate of “fish fry” being carried by a waiter to their table, rather than concentrating on the characters and their dialogues. And how perfect is the “Java” scene – every computer science engineer surely has attended at least a couple of inane classes like this in college.

On the performances front, Nivin Pauly leads the pack with a completely natural act even as he depicts 3 stages of George’s life, subtly altering his appearances and body language across each stage.  Nivin also exhibits a natural charm that had lead to all the unfair comparisons with the Mohanlal of yore. George’s breakdown as he walks away from an oblivious Malar is a standout scene. All the 3 debutante girls do a charming job, although Sai Pallavi does steal the thunder with her screen presence and expressive eyes. Vinay Fort deserves a special mention; as the naive but likeable Java professor who nurses a crush for Malar (and even sings a Tamil song for her), he is a riot. George’s gang of friends are completely realistic too, with the actors seldom resorting to melodrama.

In the end, Premam is a truimph of the director. The staging (as mentioned above) and the detailing clearly depcit that the screenplay is a labor of love. I loved how Puthren resorts to facial hair as the depiction of stages in the protagonists’ life (there is even an offhand remark in the first segment of how George has just had his “virgin shave”), reminding me of a “beard phase” we had in college ourselves (one of the few good memories from PG, let me add!). There is good old ribbing of the Malaylee mentality as George and his gang of friends rail and rant at various societal injustices to the common man, while trashing the abusive fiance (Puthren himself). I even thought there was a “meta” reference in how Puthren snorts coke in the movie (he is a “new age” director, you see!). Above all, in grounding the film to reality, Puthren succeeds in bring a “slice of life” flavor to movie; after a while I almost felt that I was hanging out with George and his gang myself and did not even notice the 3+ hours that the movie ran.

Verdict: Must Watch!