Premalu

Premalu
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Girish A. D.
Written by	Girish A. D. Kiran Josey
Produced by	Fahadh Faasil Dileesh Pothan Syam Pushkaran
Starring	Naslen K. Gafoor Mamitha Baiju Shyam Mohan Sangeeth Prathap Mathew Thomas
Cinematography	Ajmal Sabu
Edited by	Akash Joseph Varghese
Music by	Vishnu Vijay
Production companies	Bhavana Studios Fahadh Faasil and Friends Working Class Hero
Distributed by	Bhavana Release (Kerala) Phars Film Co (Overseas) Sri Venkateswara Creations Annapurna Studios Showing Business (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) Red Giant Movies (Tamil Nadu)
Release date	9 February 2024 (2024-02-09)
Running time	156 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Budget	₹3 crore
Box office	₹120 crore

Premalu (transl. Love Stories) is a 2024 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Girish A. D. The film stars Naslen K. Gafoor and Mamitha Baiju in the lead roles. It also features an ensemble cast including Sangeeth Prathap, Shyam Mohan M, Meenakshi Raveendran, Akhila Bhargavan, Althaf Salim and Mathew Thomas did an extended cameo appearance. The music was composed by Vishnu Vijay, while Ajmal Sabu and Akash Joseph Varghese handled the cinematography and editing of the film.

Premalu was released on 9 February 2024 to critical acclaim from critics for its story, music, humor and cast performances. The film, made on a budget of ₹3 crore, became a blockbuster at the box office, and went on to become the fifth Malayalam film to gross more than ₹120 crore (US$15 million) worldwide. It is currently the fifth highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time, and the second highest of 2024. The Telugu-language dubbed version was released on 8 March 2024 and the Tamil dubbed version was released on 15 March 2024.

Plot

On the last day of college, Sachin Santhosh finally confesses his love to his classmate Anjali, who rejects him. After college, Sachin plans to move to the UK for higher studies, leaving all troubles behind, but his visa application gets rejected, leaving him with one more chance to apply after six months.

Meanwhile, Sachin is aimlessly living his life, helping his father with deliveries from his bakery. On one such delivery, Sachin meets his old friend Amal Davis and rekindles their friendship. While Sachin is still contemplating what to do next, Amal suggests joining a GATE course in Hyderabad with him, until Sachin can apply again for a visa and also as a backup if the application fails. Sachin agrees to it and moves to Hyderabad with Amal.

In Hyderabad, Reenu, a girl in her early twenties, has just joined the development team of an IT company, where a pompous man named Aadhi is the senior developer. After joining, Reenu moves in with her friend Karthika and another roommate Niharika to an apartment. Aadhi has a crush on Reenu, but he parades himself as her "bestie" (best friend). Sachin and Amal meet Reenu and her team at a wedding, where the former are the groom's guests and the latter are the bride's guests. Sachin falls for Reenu. They all strike a friendship during the wedding. Due to unexpected circumstances, Reenu and Karthika choose to return to Hyderabad with Sachin and Amal.

Reenu is very comfortable with Sachin and finds his antics funny and friendly. Sachin finds a job at a fast-food restaurant to stay in Hyderabad as he drops the GATE course and wants to find out more about Reenu. Amal tries to hint to Reenu about Sachin's crush through Karthika at a pub, but she shoots him down saying Reenu is looking for someone mature and accomplished and not someone like Sachin, who does not have a plan even for tomorrow. After a lot of soul searching, Sachin decides to confess his love to Reenu, but she says she wants someone who is mature and settled in life.

Sachin dejectedly decides to leave Hyderabad and move to Chennai with his friend from college. However, Reenu also develops feelings towards Sachin, but she is unsure of them. She tries to convince him to come back, but Sachin does not respond to her calls or messages.

After a couple of months, Karthika invites Sachin to her engagement party in Hyderabad. Reenu tries to talk to him, but Sachin acts like he has moved on and informs her that his visa application has arrived and he is leaving for the UK the next day from Hyderabad.

Aadhi accosts Sachin and Amal and demands to have a conversation with them. Sachin and Amal, both being very drunk, take the mickey out of Aadhi, remarking that Reenu will reject him as well. To prove Sachin and Amal wrong, Aadhi asks Reenu in front of everyone at the party whether she loves him, and she brusquely replies 'no', sparking further taunts and horse laughs from Sachin and Amal. Humiliated by this, Aadhi vows to exact revenge on Sachin and Amal, and leaves the party. Sachin is still not interested in talking to Reenu and sleeps at the party.

The next morning, Amal and Sachin leave for the airport and Reenu joins them. En route, Aadhi and his goons ambush them, but Reenu saves Sachin and Amal by incapacitating Aadhi with the pepper spray that Aadhi himself had given her and the other female staff in their office for self-defense. Reenu confesses her love to Sachin and says "From now on, we are in a long-distance relationship. Let's see how that goes" and bids farewell.

Cast

• Naslen K. Gafoor as Sachin Santhosh
• Mamitha Baiju as Reenu Roy
• Mathew Thomas as Thomas (extended cameo appearance)
• Shyam Mohan as Aadhi
• Sangeeth Prathap as Amal Davis
• Akhila Bhargavan as Karthika
• Meenakshi Raveendran as Niharika a.k.a. "Wanderlust"
• Althaf Salim as Shobi Sir
• Shameer Khan as Subin
• Ranjith Narayan Kurup as Thomas' Fried Chicken manager
• AR Rajaganesh as Colleague
• K.S. Prasad as Sachin's father
• Gopu Kesav as Reenu's father
• Syam Pushkaran as Pampa Vaasan (cameo appearance)

Production

Premalu is produced by Fahadh Faasil, Dileesh Pothan, and Syam Pushkaran under their production company, Bhavana Studios. The film captures the essence of Hyderabad's vibrant culture and picturesque locales, providing a visually captivating backdrop to the romantic narrative.

Music

The film's musical score and songs are composed by Vishnu Vijay. Academy Award winner MM Keeravani's superhit number 'Ya Ya Ya Yadava' by KS Chithra and P. Unnikrishnan from the 1996 film Devaraagam was reused in the film to subsequently become a rage upon the film's release. Veteran KG Markose rendered a song titled "Telangana Bommalu" after a brief hiatus from films.

Release

Theatre release

The film was theatrically released on 9 February 2024.

Reception

Nikhil Sebastian of Pinkvilla gave 4/5 stars and wrote "Premalu undoubtedly marks Girish AD's finest work since Thanneer Mathan Dinangal. If you're looking to escape from the stresses of life for two and a half hours and immerse yourself in laughter and enjoyment, then look no further—booking a ticket for Premalu is the perfect choice." Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Similar to Girish AD's Thanneer Mathan Dinangal and Super Sharanya, this Naslen, Mamitha Baiju-starrer too effectively employs situational and observational comedy. Yet, Girish ensures that Premalu stands apart from his previous works."

Sowmya Rajendran, writing for Moneycontrol, called the film 'a harmless romcom' and praised the performances of the actors.

Anna MM Vetticad criticized the character arc of Reenu, remarking that it reinforces the prevalent notion that when a woman says no, it means maybe, and when she says maybe, it means yes. However, she praised the film's humour and the comic timing of the cast.

Gayathri Krishna of OTTplay gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Naslen and Mamitha Baiju-starrer Premalu serves as a decent romantic comedy, which makes it watchable again, much like Girish AD's earlier films." Aswin Devan of The New Indian Express wrote "The distinctive style we have seen in Girish's previous films like Thanneermathan Dinangal and Super Sharanya, is all the more pronounced in Premalu."

M. S. Krishna Prateek of Letterboxd expressed his admiration for the film, stating that it’s been quite a while since he watched a movie that is as clean and light as this one. The film aims solely to entertain, without any unnecessary complexities.

LokaChitra.com gaves 4/5 rating and says "Hilarious ROM-COM Entertainer".

External links

• Premalu at IMDb