'Premiste' is definitely worth a watch

the makers of the film 'Kadhal/Premiste' claim it to be based on a true story...and i feel the best tribute to this true story is the realistic treatment given to the film. for once, the school-girl looks like a school-girl and a mechanic looks like a mechanic, the two being the lead protagonists of the film not helping their cause. one of the very first scenes of the film where all the students of the school gather in the school-ground at the end of the school session makes a huge impression right away. the images of a 'hero' or a 'heroine' are left far away when we get to see the two leading characters of this film and still they successfully carry the film on their shoulders with equal ease. but full credit to the director to make a whole hearted effort behind this seemingly simple enough, done-to-death plot of teenage love story(well, they look like teenagers in this film; for a change, 'teenagers = super duds in skimpy clothes' is not true). he never lets it divert from the utmost simplicity of the real life like sequences, still(because of?) it holds the interest of the audiences through out. the climax may dampen the spirits of some, but it was the harsh reality of the real story that prompted the director to make the film in the first place.

whenever i ridiculed everyone of shahrukh khan brand of films(DDLJ, Mohabbatein, KKHH, KKKG, KNPH etc), people used to tell me that i don't have a taste for the love stories. well this one is surely one of the better films and it can be categorised as a love story. it ought to be put in the proper context.

the best part of the film is the stay of the boy and the girl at chennai for a couple of days. most importantly, the feel of that phase of their lives was very accurately portrayed. one of the reviewers termed the film to be a bit disturbing in the second half, but i found no such problems with it. i don't know what was in the mind of the reviewer, and if it was the climax, then its justified to some extent. most of the second half otherwise is quite entertaining - the boy and the girl going through all the travails that are expected to come their way is well picturised. infact, the two fighting it out courageously and without too many complaints was the best thing to show from the director's point of view.

it would be difficult to rate the performances of the actors as everyone in the film just looked to be the characters and not actors portraying some character. Bharat is said to have done a de-glamourised role, which i couldn't really observe as i have not seen him before, and one reviewer was impressed by Sandhya's natural adolescent magnetism and here i can't completely disagree with him. The child actor Arun Kumar as the aide of Bharat is extremely likeable. in fact, my favourite scene from the film is when bharat leaves him forever. the film has couple of good songs and others are passable. Tamil film industry is really rich when it comes to some quality films and it matches and surpasses the quality of american films easily in my opinion. it just misses out on the (quantity + quality) factor. but who is complaining?
those who have not watched it yet, head straight to the theatre and give it a shot. after watching the film, you won't believe that it is produced by Shankar :)