Premisthe (2005)

Tollywood Picture Spotlite: Premisthe (2005).

Sankar's name in this post-'Aparichitudu' period, is a trump card. Any film associated with the name of Sankar is sure to have good opening. 'Kadal', directed by his disciple Saktivel and dubbed into Telugu with the title 'Premiste' and released on Dasara day, is an example. It has good opening of the type never seen for a Telugu dubbing of a Tamil film in recent time. The word 'Premiste' drew the attention of mostly youth. 

The film opened with an introduction that was based on a true story that happened in Tamilnadu, Therefore the tragic end of that incident is retained in the film too and ended with a bit of dramatization. 

Half of the film is flashback of a love story that led a pair elope and made the girl recall their past, as they travel in a bus. All the events that happened till then is narrated in the format. Like a news bit this film too has brief story that does not last even a couple of paragraphs if published as a news item. The girl Iswarya falls in love with a motor cycle mechanic Murali. Unaware of this, the girl's family arranges the marriage of Iswarya with another man of their choice. Almost when betrothal is being fixed, a disturbed Iswarya runs to her lover and encourages him for eloping as the only way left for them. And they do. She recalls these events in their journey to a hide out. where Murali's trusted friend lives. They stay at a place and get married urgently with his help. That is when her father and his henchmen trace the whereabouts and then drag them back to their home, beat the man to pulp and force their girl to marry another man. The film's last scene is a moving one in which Iswarya with a child in her lap traveling as pillion rider on her husband's motor bike, notices a heavily bearded lunatic on the road. She discovers he is her lover. She gets down and weeps shouting that she is responsible for his fate. And the story ends showing her husband taking the lunatic Murali along with them. 

You can understand that there is no hero or a heroine in this plot. It is more a documentary of a particular incident woven into the format of a moving film. Pathos is the base mood of the drama. But the screenplay is so crisp that it leaves no dull moment for audience to relax. Songs keep to the basic emotion of the drama. 

Bharat, a young talent, plays well the character suiting his age. New face Sandhya simply dominates the show. And the actor who plays Murali's friend also shares that pathos. There is a boy's role, working in Murali's mechanic shop. Scenes showing the boy spitting into a teacup or urinating into a Cola bottle and then serving them to Murali's friend are quite crude and tasteless. 

The artistes playing parents and relatives and friends on either side of the lovers offered good performances. However the film oozes out only the Tamil nativity. Tamil newspapers, Tamil hoardings and so on are more in number. The artistes too look so. However, the story at one stage is shown shifted to Chennai. From that point one assimilates the narration. The climax given to the theme is semi tragic, because none of these lovers die. Yet the way the story brought to quick finish without preparing the audience for such a climax, which is debatable.