Premalu

 Again from Sreeram Sundaram 

Gireesh A D (Thanneermathan Dinangal, Super Sharanya) has directed "Premalu" which is running to packed houses all across Kerala for more than a month now. Gireesh made his debut with the blockbuster "Thanneermathan Dinangal" that did not work for me and hence, I stayed away from his next - "Super Sharanya" - which did fairly well at the BO. With "Premalu", the director has achieved some kind of a cult status if the feedback on the movie and the kind of money it is making is anything to go by. 

"Premalu" is the story of Sachin (Naslen K Gafoor at his charming, endearing best) who has managed to complete his engineering from a college in Salem. His classmate, who he had a crush on, rejects him outright. His parents do not speak with each other and his older sister is lost in her own world. He tries to get into a university in the UK but his visa application is rejected due to lack of funds. At the peak of his frustration, he bumps into his school friend Amal Davis (Sangeeth Pratap is a complete natural) who is planning to move to Hyderabad to attend GATE coaching and asks Sachin to tag along. There he bumps into Reenu (Mamitha Baiju is confidence personified) and her friend Karthika (Akhila Bhargavan, impressive) who work with an IT company and are part of Aadi's (Shyam Mohan, hilariously irritating) team. Aadi is a control freak and has set his eyes on Reenu but the girls fall for the good humored duo, much to Aadi's irritation. 

Reenu takes a liking for the confused Sachin and helps him out at every juncture as a good friend but Sachin has already fallen head over heels in love with her. Amal understands his friend and tries to help him express his feelings for Reenu directly to her. How that happens, how she reacts and what happens next is what the rest of the narrative is all about. 

There is nothing new by way of plotline here but what Gireesh and his cowriter Kiran get right are the characterization of the handful of lead and supporting characters who are today's kids and speak today's lingo. They are clear about what they want from a relationship, do not look at age-old gender defined roles and are willing to accept people for what they are. Their conflicts and confusion may sound trivial to pre-millennials like yours faithfully, but there is no denying the fact that they have a mind of their own and they do what they think is right. This filterless capture of the attitude of today's kids coupled with the freshness of the cast and the location (Hyderabad has not been explored much as a location in Malayalam cinema) keep you invested in the proceedings to a large extent (though I did yawn a few times in the first half). The pre-climax sequence at the party thrown by Karthika and her fiancée is a complete hoot and the climax sequence is also smartly (and cheekily) conceived and directed. 

The bright color tone (Ajmal Sabu), even pacing (Akash Joseph Varghese) and a good background score (Vishnu Vijay) add to the quality of the narrative and Dhanya Balakrishnan does a very good job with the costumes. 

There were times when I wondered about the silliness of what is unfolding on screen but the loud laughter and applause in the theater made me realize that the movie is working with its target audience. I was not really bored through the duration of the movie but this is not a movie that will stay with you for long after you leave the theater. 

Naslen and Mamitha have a great future in Malayalam cinema and Mathew Thomas was presented differently in his brief cameo. For the sheer energy of the makers and the cast, I go with 3.5 stars out of 5.