A 'feel good' film is what Alphonse Puthren's 'Premam' undoubtedly is. A feel good jaunty movie that is full of fun, frolic and exuberance of the youth, laced with shades of their agonies.There is nothing extra-ordinary about the movie, but it leaves a kind of freshness in our minds. The fragrant freshness of new faces, deft handling the lead role by Nivin Pauly,amazingly mature performance by the entire acting crew and the slick treatment given by Alphonse in both direction and editing give this movie a kind of spin that engages with all sections of viewers.
The way the young cast (except for cameo performances by Maniyan Pilla Raju, Renji Panicker etc.) has handled the underlying casual tone in acting in so professional and mature a style and their natural on-screen behavior amazes us. Particularly so, when we realise that several of the acting crew including the three heroines in the ensemble(as Mary George,Malar and Celine) are relative new-comers.
Dialogues steal the show in this movie - having been deliberately kept as casual as possible, and soothingly so. Editing is deft and fast paced, so much so that despite the presence of certain situations or songs in the second half that looked unwanted, the film does not drag. At least a couple of songs could have been avoided with no damage to the plot. Cinematography (by Anand C Chandran) is of high-calibre stuff and needs a specific mention.
Those who deserve particular mention among the actors, other than Nivin Pauly, include Sai Pallavi, Madonna Sebastian, Vinay Forte, Soubin Sahir (PT teacher), Krishna Shankar, Shabareesh Varma,Wilson Joseph and even Anupama Parameshwaran, even though her role is rather short.
Of the three love plots around which the film revolves, it is the stand-out performance by Madonna Sebastian (as Celine), the singer-turned-actor, that surprised me - particularly in her dialogue delivery modulation and the control she maintained in all her frames.Sai Pallavi’s (as Malar) natural performance and her beautiful smile enhances the sheen of her character.Towards the end, Alphons Puthren too comes up in a brief role to enleaven the plot. Overall, a lightweight, humour filled, sweet movie...