Offtopic: I saw Premam because someone praised it in this thread. It was a terrible, terrible movie, IMO. Malayalam directors seem to be getting praise for what Tamil directors did two decades ago. I wish you review it just to read what you think about the general trend to praise anything Malayalam.
Yeah Brangan, do watch premam. if you thought that neram was brilliantly conceived and staged, just wait till you see this one. Alphonse putharen and the photographer has out did themselves especially scenes shot in natural light and real locations. brilliantly acted again by nivin Pauly.
Very true BR. I canot recollect any recent movie where the casting (all debutants except very few), editing (director himself), cinematography, sound design (this is no sync sound) et al gelled so well.. I got goosebumps in the initial cycle chase.. I could feel the heart beat racing.. killer cinematography.. The actors make it feel very real, camaraderie is real.. organic.. The recurring motif in butterflies.. The leading ladies are the ones you see, come across in your life (malar is already a sensation..) These all make the film a very personal experience that each one of us can relate to.. The success is no fluke.. This is the success for real cinema
However, it is impossible to give it the credit of originality. You are right in saying, Autograph doesnt have a single frame which could match Premam, but Autograph was made long back and at that time was very fresh too. Premam only have improved Autograph in many ways, in tune with the passage of time.
Not to mention why would one go through all the trouble to make sure that one of the lead lady has a pimpled face through the film, all i can think of is to make a statement, beauty is not just about perfect face or looks.
For me, a large part of the success of this movie goes to the character of Malar. She has simply charmed out every viewer. Even an old woman, my friend, who didnt like the movie at all, mentioned she would wait for the dvd release just to rewatch Malar scenes! My friend who pushed me to watch this movie, had also asked me to watch just for one heroine.
@Mank, thanks for saying the obvious about the state of Malayalam cinema.
Just have to disagree with the brilliance of N.P. Exactly the same kind of role in every cinema, isnt it, none of which requiring wonderful acting moments.
superb write up. Sir, whenever I see your post about a Malayalam movie I get super excited. But what is your take on the performances? You never mentioned much about the performances when you talk about Malayalam films be it Bangalore days or drishyam or premam. bangalore days had nothing to boast about performances but I felt drishyam and premam were backed by the strong performance of the lead actors.
To add to the point, I know for the fact that Malar was cast just as she is.. I read that even Malar had reservations about her appearance and voice but Alphonse was pretty insistent that she is best fit for her character and will walk away with the laurels.. How true..
Cheran spent almost a year scouting for someone else to star in that movie. A lot of stars were tried out and either walked away or chickened out in the middle. He starred in Autograph not because he wanted to but because he had to.
Talking about People here saw some movies which is focussed just on People and their behaviour put into situations. Amazed by these movies and the story telling aspect. Some of you might have seen it but nevetherless my recommendations are below.
We complain movies lack drama /conflict to makie it interesting most of the time. Amazing movie from britain. Just one Character on Screen driving the car throughout the movie and the drama pulls you in! Tom Hardy is amazing.
The hailed new-age mallu movies are all good while it lasts. But I doubt whether they will stand the test of time like Kireedom, Bharatham, Amaram etc. Waiting for a consitent new-age Padmarajan/Bharathan/Sibi Malayil (past)/ Priyadharshan (past)/ Sreenivasan (past) to give any strong hopes (Lal jose seems to be getting there).
Coming to Cheran, it is the success of Solla Marandha Kadhai that probably made him think that he could be a mainstream actor. Thangar Bachan cast him in a role that suited his limited acting abilities since the story and other characters, Pyramid Natarajan especially, made it up successfully.
First of all, I must say I didnt intend to insult anyone, even if its Mr. Rangan, may be its because of my lack of putting my thoughts in good English like all fellow commenters here. But I think I have the right to say that Mr. Rangan is biased.
BR: Yeah. A post (Bitty Rumination or some such) of TV please. Yeah you may not be a regular of any particular show, but still can still form opinions with small snippets and channel browsing. Maybe something regarding the current debate shows, reality tv and stuff.
So, there I was. Braced for the anger to follow, directed at the Tamil speaking girl for daring to cut in in a language other than the local dialect. Therefore, I was quite surprised and even amused by the subsequent reaction.
On my recent visit to Kerala, I found the hotel staff enjoying a Vadivelu comedy scene from Aditya TV, while I dont know when the last time I have stumbled on to Surya TV while changing the channels. Or is it Udaya TV? Sorry. I cannot tell the difference. I find it interesting that Tamil movies are released in Kerala, as it is, without even being dubbed like the Telugu market. They seem to understand Tamil quite easily, but for us Malayalam is still a type of jalebi.
Definitely old Malayalam movies have a lot of patriarchy but not all of them surely? The action movies and some family dramas, yes. I used to have a mild crush on Jayaram once but it quite evaporated after some movies he chose to make : I particularly remember that in one scene, he slapped his wife after she argued with him and the predominantly male audience burst into cheers. Cant remember the movie (was it Verudey oru bhaarya?) But I have never found anything to cringe about in any of those delightful comedies of the eighties. Though there is a slight objectification of the leading lady in the otherwise delightful Maanaar Mathai comedies.
On the other hand, suppose we had never been exposed to these sort of western influences, would we also not be getting outraged at (and stoning theaters that play) movies that mock religion and would we not also not be ok with making fun of LGBTs? This is all a little complex and confusing ?
Hi, The Entire package was 5/5 for me, simple story, but creative geniuses converted it into a Nostalgic Magnificent movie, and yeah we tend to forget the Music, especially the Background music is such energetic and soulful. If not watched this one, do go and have a great 2.5 hours. ?
guys, kick starting the premam train again. lot of interviews of the team (pallavi, nivin, alphonse, shabareesh, rajesh, anupama, et al) available on youtube now. throws lot of light into the unique methods they used in making the movie. contributes a lot to the Premam experience
And then a couple of days ago I watched it again, straight through, with my sister. And it was like a whole new movie! Partly because I was watching it with someone else, partly because I was watching it after having seen soooooooooooooo many other Malayalam films, and partly because I was just paying a little more attention this time!
When I watched Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, I talked about the particular agony of being ready and mature and in love and wanting to be married, and being forced to wait because of circumstances. The hero and heroine were in love, they were committed, they were at the right time in their life and the right age. But he was working crazy hours and living with his parents or on the road, and her family would never approve, and despite their maturity and independence, they would be literally homeless if they ran off together. The same agony was a minor plot point in Kireedam and even in Kammatipaadam.
And then we have the third story, where Nivin is still kind of an idiot. Sweet, but dumb. Yes, he has his own cafe now. Yes, it seems fairly successful and he manages it well. But, when he sees a pretty girl, he falls in love just as fast as before. And he bellyflops just like before.
At the very very end, there is a tossed off line by one of his friends that he knew Celine was the girl for Nivin, because the note she left for him was just as poorly written and confusing as the love notes he used to write. The first time, I just heard it as a kind of funny line from a friend, but this time it hit me a different way. What if Celine had the same kind of unlucky/dumb in love fate as Nivin? What if this is a miracle for both of them?
I only got maybe 50% of the humor, and I knew I was missing a lot of it. I could get the general sense of a funny scene through the body language and the tone of voice, but as you say, the details of the wording was lost on me. And references to any other films went right over my head.
So I laughed, for instance, at the very end when the friends find out that Nivin has just had his heartbroken again and they call for a drink right away. Because the facial expressions and stuff was telling me the joke of how alarmed and urgent they were about getting alcohol into him, like it was a medical emergency.
The women were so amazing! Especially in this kind of a film, where it would be so easy to just make them tools to help Nivin on his journey. But instead we saw how they affected his life, but we also got a real sense that they had lives of their own, they were about more than just being there to change him. If that makes sense?
Angie, I still love the Malayalam original best, but the Telugu remake of Premam did address the the abrupt third romance, which I also had issue with. The third girl gets a song, too. They used the same actress for the first young romance, but the second actress in the Telugu cannot match Sai Pallavi at all. Shruti Hasan is just not her equal in any way. Some things were better in the Malayalam, but giving full weight to the final romance left me more satisfied about that part in the Telugu: -naga-chaitanya-shines-in-this-telugu-remake-of-the-malayalam-blockbuster/
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