Premam! what a misnomer. The image that this word generates had me convinced that the movie by that name would not be much more than a sappy love story, albeit with high production values. Well, that taught me, didn't it? Saw the movie and was overwhelmed by how wrong I was in my assumptions. Premam is a modern, light, funny, breezy look at life and love. Ostensibly, it tries to reason out the meaning of love, but it ends up talking about everything around as well.
To summarise the plot to a sentence, it is a story of a young man who falls in love, loses it in crushing manner, almost to the point of thinking life was over, only to find it again, and discover that one love is not the only thing in life. I would be tempted to call it a common of age movie but that's not quite it. Yes, it delineates the trials of love in three distinct stages of his life. The school romance, the college love that seemed to be 'the one', and then the one he engages in at a more 'mature' stage. The film doesn't make judgments, no messages about maturity being the final catalyst of true love, it just takes us through the journey of this particular young man. His life may or may not be the norm, it may not reflect everyman's journey, but it belongs to George, it involves his friends at every stage, it showcases the change in the thought process (though many things remain the same) as he ages. As a young boy studying for his plus 2 (11th to 12th-not clear which), his love for a girl he sees in one of his rare forays into church is childish, innocent, and impossible to all but him and his do-all friends. This is the one phase of the film itself that drags a little, even though it does introduce some interesting characters, generates situations that are identifiably amusing, and lends our hero his first taste of rejection. The second phase sees George bulldozing his way through college, then stumbling into love, this time with a substitute teacher. At least this time, there is reciprocation, and everything is hunky dory, nice and pink. The end to this love story is not pleasant, a lot more crushing to the spirit than George had ever bargained for, and this seemingly toughens him for the next phase of life - one where he is more responsible, less of a 'bore', as his childhood buddy remarks. This love seems destined to fail too, unless...
I liked this film a lot, not having had a lot of expectations, even though this has been uniformly well received -both a commercial and critical success. I can see why though. There is a nice young feel about the movie, a certain freshness that emanates from every gesture, every song, every irreverent dialogue. It feels real, though not when when you stop to think about it. It makes no heavy conclusions, the director keeps it light at all times, even with the seemingly serious stuff - like that interaction between a drunk George and friends when they argue energetically about his plan of going back and declaring his 'truth' to his amnesia struck 'true love'. And when (in what is a delightful little cameo by the director himself) an abusive ex fiancee receives his comeuppance from George and co, and is not sure what he's got it for at the end of it. There are many moments like this, several cameos, and so many small sub-plots that you could get distracted easily. But I think that was the point Alphonse was trying to make. Love isn't the be-all and end-all. Life goes on all around it. The little events that keep happening around him are not distractors, they're just there. George, and his friends and love at the time aren't the only things that happen in George's life. Speaking of which, some of the stuff felt anecdotal - the balding inept professor, the PE instructor with a large appetite, the long list of suitors for one girl (she's not that hot either), the unrequited loves in college, the cool father - all felt a little personal. And not out of place - though that bit about the love-lorn suitors milling around the gate of the young school girl was pushed almost to the level of creep.
So, good film, one I've enjoyed in this language after a long time. Alphonse did Neram before this, which was quite a good effort, and now this, so this makes me hopeful of more to come. With that thought then...
To summarise the plot to a sentence, it is a story of a young man who falls in love, loses it in crushing manner, almost to the point of thinking life was over, only to find it again, and discover that one love is not the only thing in life. I would be tempted to call it a common of age movie but that's not quite it. Yes, it delineates the trials of love in three distinct stages of his life. The school romance, the college love that seemed to be 'the one', and then the one he engages in at a more 'mature' stage. The film doesn't make judgments, no messages about maturity being the final catalyst of true love, it just takes us through the journey of this particular young man. His life may or may not be the norm, it may not reflect everyman's journey, but it belongs to George, it involves his friends at every stage, it showcases the change in the thought process (though many things remain the same) as he ages. As a young boy studying for his plus 2 (11th to 12th-not clear which), his love for a girl he sees in one of his rare forays into church is childish, innocent, and impossible to all but him and his do-all friends. This is the one phase of the film itself that drags a little, even though it does introduce some interesting characters, generates situations that are identifiably amusing, and lends our hero his first taste of rejection. The second phase sees George bulldozing his way through college, then stumbling into love, this time with a substitute teacher. At least this time, there is reciprocation, and everything is hunky dory, nice and pink. The end to this love story is not pleasant, a lot more crushing to the spirit than George had ever bargained for, and this seemingly toughens him for the next phase of life - one where he is more responsible, less of a 'bore', as his childhood buddy remarks. This love seems destined to fail too, unless...
I liked this film a lot, not having had a lot of expectations, even though this has been uniformly well received -both a commercial and critical success. I can see why though. There is a nice young feel about the movie, a certain freshness that emanates from every gesture, every song, every irreverent dialogue. It feels real, though not when when you stop to think about it. It makes no heavy conclusions, the director keeps it light at all times, even with the seemingly serious stuff - like that interaction between a drunk George and friends when they argue energetically about his plan of going back and declaring his 'truth' to his amnesia struck 'true love'. And when (in what is a delightful little cameo by the director himself) an abusive ex fiancee receives his comeuppance from George and co, and is not sure what he's got it for at the end of it. There are many moments like this, several cameos, and so many small sub-plots that you could get distracted easily. But I think that was the point Alphonse was trying to make. Love isn't the be-all and end-all. Life goes on all around it. The little events that keep happening around him are not distractors, they're just there. George, and his friends and love at the time aren't the only things that happen in George's life. Speaking of which, some of the stuff felt anecdotal - the balding inept professor, the PE instructor with a large appetite, the long list of suitors for one girl (she's not that hot either), the unrequited loves in college, the cool father - all felt a little personal. And not out of place - though that bit about the love-lorn suitors milling around the gate of the young school girl was pushed almost to the level of creep.
So, good film, one I've enjoyed in this language after a long time. Alphonse did Neram before this, which was quite a good effort, and now this, so this makes me hopeful of more to come. With that thought then...
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