“Butterflies are mentally mental,
so is Love”
A friend told me recently that I have developed a
deep fondness towards stories which revolves around the darker side of human
emotions, she suggested that I should watch some of Amole Palekar’s films to appraise
the importance of simple moments in life, she then strongly suggested me that I
should watch this Malayam film called “Premam”, and simply relocate myself in
the world of simple stories.
I watched the film with zero expectations, and what
started as a medium to transfer my fondness over darker subjects into simpler
ones resulted in a greater emotion; joy. A joy of watching a simple story
unfolds in its true origin without any unnecessary attempt to attain any cinematic
brilliance, without any characters projecting melodrama at every second stage
of life.
Premam is a coming of age musical drama. The story
circles around the life of its principle protagonist, George David, and his
quest to find true love. The film is set in the interiors of Kerala. The story
narrates three different stages in George’s life; his carefree pursuit of love
(atleast that is what he makes us believe), experiencing love and its
contiguous emotions, and lastly, identifying to wait for the right moment and
the right person to be in love with. The film starts with some interesting
acknowledgments, right from God, Sun, Time, Love, Directors, Writers, The
complete actor Mohanlal, Mega Star Mamootty, Superstar Rajnikanth, Universal Star
Kamal Hassan, Family, Friends, Foes, ex girlfriends. There is
nothing extraordinary in the film, which we have not seen before, but Alphonse
Puthren, the director of the film engages us with the simplicity of its
protagonist and the narrative style of the film along with a smart use of the
milieu.
In the first stage of the story, early 2000’s, we are
introduced to a young George David, who attempts to convey his feelings to Mary
via a handwritten letter. The Chelpark inkbottle is indicative of the time and
the atmosphere of the film, the details are precisely presented when George
even mentions the date, place and pin code of the city on the upper right side
of a blank page. Isn’t it amusing to see such details in an attempted love
letter? George is accompanied by his two
friends, Shambu and Koya in his quest to flatter Mary. George lives in a bubble
of illusion, an illusion of love that he is desperately in search of, and can
only be fulfilled by Mary’s affectionate smile. The romantic song sequence is a
subtle hint about the kind of daydreaming George is upto. George’s
representation of love is colorful; the kind in which one search for breeze in
a December morning, the kind in which one looks for flowers wafting through a
flowering tree. George and his friends who often hangout at a common café
ordering vetiver flavored lemon water and then pulls up all the tricks up their
sleeves; calling Mary via phone booths, roaming around Mary’s house in search
of getting a moment where he can spot her for a split second. At one point,
George even thinks of sharing her feelings for Mary by delivering a dialogue
from the complete actor Mohanlal starrer 1987’s cult film “Thoovanathumbikal”,
but his friends dismiss the idea since he recites a dialogue from the other
Mohanlal starrer “Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal”. To George’s bad luck,
his bubble of illusion burst, by the hands of Mary, when she tells him that he
is seeing someone else by the name of George. Devastation surrounds George’s life,
the colorful love fades away into monochrome shades, flowers no longer exhibit
fragrance, memories of Mary’s smile constantly haunts George, while his friends
are busy in the backdrop either smoking or drinking lemon water. There comes a
point where all three friends sat and introspects their dismal performance in
the academic, and decides to reform their lives.
The Cassette forwards to 2005, the year when
“Rajamanikyam” starring the mega star Mamootty released (the directorial debut
of producer Anwar Rasheed), George, Shambu and Koya are now college students.
The age where adrenaline drives through veins and arteries, muscles itching to
stretch out, testosterone-fueled fistfights are common sights. It is the time
of full beards, veshtis, cigarettes and alcohol where we see our three friends
engage in a fight around mud, and come out winner, walking away with an aura of
a world champion boxer. Starts another chapter of love in the life of George
when he meets Malar, he is unabashedly smitten by her. The story gets acclimatized
into the typical college romance, long walks through corridors, people
appearing in slow motions, planning and searching for innovative ideas in the
canteen, bunking lectures, eyes searching for the sight of the right person.
George seemingly gets Malar to feel the same for himself, and love blossoms.
There are hilarious incidents, which gives hints towards the notion of people
in love failing to put forward their logical abilities, watch out for the MAVA
scene. The simplicity of this stage lies in a shot where the camera follows a
plate of Seer Fry accompanied by lemon and onion slices, it is of no major
importance, but rather an indicative of the milieu the story is set in. The dance sequence at the annual college
functions gives a feel as if we are watching a superstar’s performance at a
single theater.
Coming to the crux theme of the second phase in
George’s life, the magnetic Malar wins hearts with her smile, charm,
straightforwardness. She becomes a constant source of happiness in George’s
life and vice versa, the two shares a transcendent equation, the monsoons are
the prime witnesses of their bond. There are breathtakingly beautiful frames of
colors in which George and Malar paints their romance. Malar is synonymous to
rains in George’s life, there is split second of shot, that represents Malar’s
magnificent smile enclosed with a thundering black cloud, that small moment
tells us the beauty of their relation. However, tragedy once again strikes
George, where he wished he could relive in those glorious moments of love.
Another stage, another story, another phase of moving on in life, but this
time, he does not introspect about his life, rather gets his heart broken under
unfortunate circumstances. George’s breakdown scene is easily one of the most
touching scenes I have seen in recent years, it fondly reminded me of the iconic
climax of 1983 released the Universal Star Kamal Hassan starrer “Sadma”, may be
now we can guess the acknowledgements at the starting of the film.
We move forward to 2014, the rowdy George has now
become an owner of a café, he is in his thirties, and tries to focus more on
work rather anything else. The world for George is a different place now; it is
only restricted to Café Agape filled with Cupcakes, exotic Pastries, soft
breads, fresh coffee beans and attractive red velvet cakes. Destiny in
collaboration with life gives George another chance to strike at the game of love;
he meets Celine at his café, and shapes an affinity for her. George has evolved
with time; he has actually matured in his idea of romance and life. He is not
running after love, or acting madly/passionately in love, he is too tired pull off those tricks now, he looks for the bigger picture, longevity with someone. He
is Crestfallen for a moment when he learns that Celine is already engaged to
Roney (Played by the director Alphonse Puthren), who in turn happens to be a
cocaine addict, which gives George a chance to bring back the rowdy version of
himself back into existence and sort things out.
The three women; Mary (Anupama Parameswaran), Malar
(Sai Pallavi) and Celine (Madonna Sebastian) act as catalyst in George David’s transformation
from 2000 to 2014. They bring out a certain trait in George, which individually
helps him grow stronger in life, each passing stage we see a different George
with a common feature that he is searching for love. If Mary was the early
morning breeze George was in search for, Malar becomes the pleasant smell of
earth during rains in his life and Celine becomes the much-wanted sunshine he
needs in life. However, it is the Magnetic Malar, which brings out the best
moments in film.
There is a constant use of butterflies in the film,
right from the first stage to the third, and we are told from a heavenly female
voice “God unified the flowers which cannot move without butterflies, for you,
flowers which can move, he bestowed to all of you butterflies as the emotion of
LOVE”. I guess it is a fantasy scenario,
which tries to link the role of butterflies with love. I guess that all the
shots of colorful butterflies represent the anxiety associated with love (butterflies
in the stomach). The kind of feeling, which is difficult to explain to someone
else, but regularly persist in our senses. It might the amalgamation of all the
chemical and hormonal process resulting in subtle hints to our body that we are
acquiring this feeling called Love, and it is as if we see its visual
representation in the form of colorful butterflies.
The nature of any coming of age drama relies solely
on the transformation of its central characters, how they mature in life in
accordance with the kind of choices they make in life, letting go of certain
feelings at certain times in life. Accepting failure/rejection and growing out
of it. Premam is full of clichés but that does not make this film ordinary, it
is the simplicity of characters and the world in which they reside is what
makes them special.
The innocent George David ends up giving us joy with
his quest to find love.
