This movie is proof that #Alphonseputhren knows how to harness the visual media to weave sheer magic on screen. He was well complimented by all his cast and the crew especially the cinematographer Anend Chandran and Rajesh Murugesan with music. I have translated 5 songs here and was awestruck by the quality of composition. Rajesh Murugesan, you should give us more of your creative best in Malayalam movies and hopefully other languages
There are many things which appealed to me in the movie and that is not the entire scope of this post. So will restrict to only few scenes which reveals more about the man behind the camera, than the visuals seem to convey-
The other being the Lemon Juice being made by the deft hands of the vendor, while the conversation is happening in the background as if to suggest that life offers more interesting snapshots than the adolescent banter of young boys about their crushes!
In twitter there were commentators who thought Autograph of Cheran said this story long ago. Might be storywise, but i fail to recollect even a single scene vividly, where he took that extra effort and inventiveness by exploiting the rich canvas of film roll that can unleash to create something like what Puthren could do with Premam. The one scene which i remember though from Autograph, is his ode to Tamil language, when Gopika shares an apple with him, he imagines both of them as Adam and Eve in his thoughts, where he responds in Tamil, while she replies in gibberish! This was clever, as he alludes to the fact that Tamil precedes even the times of Bible! Apart from such cinematic contrivances, visually it was not remotely appealing as much as Premam.
Agree with the male point of view, but had it been more inclusive of the other genders perspective, I think the movie might have shaped in a different way and be slightly less palpapble. Regarding the caste prejudice, its a very subtle one and you are spot on. But I must say compared to many other industry, Malayalam movies are far more representative of the minorities and fringes over the course of its existence. But yes, there is certainly an overtone if you consider the vast majority of films.
It is only in the second section, with the full beard and the manly walk, that he confidently moves onto real love. His pursuit of the teacher is contrasted with multiple other romances. His house is filled with young men whispering sweet nothings into cell phones, we see longing glances and giggling conversations through out the dining hall and classrooms, and of course there is his romantic rival, the teacher. Through out this section, it comes out that our college student hero is in fact more mature than his adult male rival. Because of how fearless he is in love. He actually talks to the teacher, tells her how he feels, confidently calls and walks and talks with her. And she responds. In contrast, his teacher asks for others to speak on his behalf, constantly needs his fellow teacher with him for moral support, has not fully matured and therefore cannot fully complete his love story. Or is it that he has not completed his love story and therefore cannot be mature?
Is this movie saying that part of growing up and becoming a fully mature man is falling in and out of love? Is having that initial cowardly crush, the first passionate romance, and finally the comfortable marriage the essential markers of male maturity? This would go against the established film policies I outlined above, unlike the action films where the love story is just a distraction on the way to the resolution, or the comedies where falling in love makes a man a figure of fun, and most dissimilar, the misogynistic version of this story where falling in love is making them weaker.
This is also why the humorous character from the first segment returns here, the boy who was unafraid to approach the girl as a teenager, but has not progressed past that since. He is flirting with every woman, not interested in settling down or in finding an appeal beyond the surface. While he may have been ahead of our hero when first we saw him, now he has fallen behind. True maturity is not the ability to flirt and attract, but the ability to commit.
This is the final stage of love, not the immature cowardice of boyhood, or the wild disorganized euphoria of young manhood, but the confidence of knowing what you want and how to get it. And that is why this is the love story that succeeds. Because there is no more doubt or confusion or fear. He goes from a first meeting to a proposal with no time to spare, and his final ramshackle group of friends all support him, having made the same journey themselves.
2. Innale (Yesterday) (1990) starring Jayaram and Shobana.Directed by the great Padmarajan it narrates the story of an amnesiac girl and the men in her life- one from her past and the other from her present.
4. Kireedam (Crown) (1989) starring Mohanlal and Parvathy (directed by Sibi Malayil) about a young man who aspired to be a police man and ended up as a goonda.Contrary to what you might think it has nothing in common with a typical masala bollywood movie from the 70s.The treatment is definitely different.As is common in Malayalam movies, the focus is on the family especially the relationship between the son and the father.
Here is a much delayed review of a block buster Malayalam movie, Premam, released in the year 2015. That was a nave period in the life of a 24 year old girl like me. Little did I know that the movie is mere glorification of stalking culture which is much prevailing in our culture then and now.
Malayalam movies went through a break out hit period in 2015. Premam, a low budget movie directed by debutant with a cast of relatively unknown faces did the impossible. It became a pan-india movie. I was a fresh btech graduate facing the real world for the first time. All of my friends were crazy about the movie. They said it was the ultimate coming of age movie, which will define our generation.
I remember sitting in the theatre and unable to understand what I was feeling. Movie starts with a group of three boys religiously stalking a girl. They call her on her phone, they walk behind her and they hangout outside her house. Multiple boys are fighting for her attention. Meanwhile she is shown enjoying all of it in the backdrop of serene backwaters of Kerala to the tunes of melodies praising her beauty. The song depicts the plans of the guy to marry her. The minute they find out that she already has a boyfriend, there is a sad song. One of them goes on to declare that she is not pretty.
The young man goes to college. Meets another girl (actually his teacher), now repeats the stalking cycle. He has to his aid, slow motions of fights and cool alcohol consumption. Then stalks her and is crazy because a man visited her in campus. Sadly, she meets with an accident and forgets about the stalker. He goes to meet her and after seeing this person going through the worst part of her life, comes out crying. He cries his heart out because he lost a non-existent relationship. But leaves her there with no explanation to deal with everything.
Life comes to a full circle when he meets the destined heroine, a much younger girl when he is 30 years old. She was just 8 years old and used to know him during his initial stalking days. They laugh about it and moves on. They have met literally twice and as soon as he finds out she is engaged, he goes into his devdas mode. Throws a fit and gets drunk. His friends sing in the background about women and woes of dating. They finally comes to the conclusion that half of the population is just insignificant. Life is so much better without half of human race. Thanos will be proud!
Now enters the long lost love of his life, the teacher. She remembers him all of a sudden and has come to him. But seeing that he is happy decides not to tell him the truth. She sadly walks away as the hero is dancing with his heroine.
I personally think that if this love story cannot not unite one billion people nothing can. My initial confusion had vaporized in the success of the movie. As I am walking in the campus of the best engineering college in the country, scared of the master stalker maybe I should rethink. This stalker has gone after almost all of my batch mates. Has followed them to their hostel, labs or homes. He has threatened people to give their phone numbers. As I recall Premam, maybe he is the hero. Actually a step above the hero, because he can stalk men also.
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