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Believe it or not, I have spent sleepless nights wondering what on earth a ‘yadukula kamboji’ is in the iconic ‘Ya Ya Ya Yadava’ number for Devaragam. When director Girish A D threw it back as a gag in Premalu, I heaved a massive sigh of relief. After all, I am not the only one struggling with this bizarre conundrum. The Hyderabad-set charming romantic comedy is everything a regular viewer would ask on this date – a young, breezy, relatable film with its heart and brain in the right place.
Premalu is about Sachin (Naslen) – an engineering grad born in an unaffectionate family and forever scorned in love. The lad’s dreams to migrate to the UK lie shattered when the consulate rejects his visa. Circumstances take him to Hyderabad to coach for the dreaded GATE exam. Giving him company is Amal Davis (Sangeeth Prathap) whose sole mission is to sneak into his girlfriend’s hostel room in IIT Roorkee. Together, the duo engages in a slew of misadventures with the most eventful one being breaking a statue at a wedding venue where they meet Reenu (Mamitha Baiju). It’s love at first sight for Sachin.
Girish A D’s film is equally about his leading lady who is way richer, sophisticated, and has her life planned until 30. A newly joined trainee at a software company, the girl is the object of attention to her calculative and bizarre team leader Aadhi (Shyam Mohan). Following a wedding encounter, a road trip, and a city tour, Premalu becomes a love story that warms the cockles of your heart.
The film plants a familiar trajectory of a love story of two unalike people in a fresh and relevant context. The humor is crackling and is filled with nostalgia-tinged punches that will have the late millennials and Gen-Z in splits throughout. Yes, the puns, at times, are a little too Kerala-specific which reduces the fun for non-natives by about 20%. It is their loss because some of the biggest gags are around the peculiarities of Malayalam’s regional variations. When Sachin says, “athu kazhikkenda Pappa, athu appiyaanu” to Reenu’s father, the viewers laugh uproariously because of the line’s unique meanings in different regions of Kerala. Likewise, Amal Davis becomes an exceedingly funny character primarily due to his accent and delivery, and not always because the dialogues are independently hilarious. The writers also add slight touches in the way they employ dialects. For instance, when Reenu invites Sachin to her birthday party, she says it in his dialect. It is not the most essential tweak in the screenplay but is a lovely touch in a romantic film.
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The film runs at a thumping pace with one sequence melding smoothly into the next. The writing fulfills the need for teen and early youth representation on the big screen that’s otherwise hogged by fantasies and testosterone-filled actioners. The soundtrack by Vishnu Vijay does not linger and the earworm, predictably, is the reused MM Keeravani number which knocks the ‘Yadukula Kamboji’ off your senses.
The actors fare exceedingly well in Premalu. Naslen is a proven talent and a superstar in the making. With performances of this quality, the young lad is on his course to create a niche that Rahman enjoyed in the late ‘80s. Mamitha Baiju is equally fantastic with a spirited turn rendering Reenu a girl you’ve seen and interacted with all along. Shyam Mohan as Aadhi is a bona fide scene stealer and he deserves extra credit for pulling off the quirky humor with his very conventional, hero-like appearance. Sangeeth Prathap is fantastic with his well-timed counters which adds a lot to Naslen’s performance. The chemistry between the two nearly topples the vibe between the romantic leads. Among the supporting players, Shameer Khan’s timely sarcasm, Mathew Thomas’ superb geek act, and Althaf Salim’s poker-faced candidness add oodles of humor to the proceedings.
Already a blockbuster, Premalu signals India’s filmmaking industries to bring out more teen and youth stories on the silver screen. With this age demographic being the most active ones to visit the cinemas, it would be opportune to cater to their entertainment needs which certainly isn’t watching beefy, larger-than-life heroes in tan makeup bashing other burly men to a pulp. Much like Girish A D’s earlier ventures, Premalu is an adorable slice of our lives that is hugely entertaining and has the merits to become a nationwide rage. I do not remember the last time I described an Indian film this way.
Rating: ★★★★ 1/2
