Telugu
Premalo Padithe (2012) movie-review
A STILL FROM PREMALO PADITHE
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Critic's Rating:
Cast: Sri, Urmila Mahanta, Mithun Murali, Manisha Yadav, Muthuraman
Direction: Balaji Sakthivel
Genre: Drama
Avg Readers Rating:
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Trailer
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Premalo Padithe: Premalo Padithe
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Story: Venu (Sri), a worker at a street-side food shop, falls in love with Jothi (Urmila) who works as a maid at Arthi (Manisha)'s house. Meanwhile, Nitesh (Mithun), the school-going son of a minister's concubine, is trying hard to charm Arthi. What happens when Arthi comes to know of his ulterior motive, and how does this affect the lives of Venu and Jothi?
Movie Review: After a mediocre debut with Samurai, Balaji Sakthivelbowled us over with the trendsetting Kadhal. And, then, following the largely over-indulgent exercise that was Kalloori, he has bounced back and how!
Thematically, Premalo Padithe begs comparison with this year's Oscar-winning Iranian film, A Separation, which managed to be a relationship drama, a whodunit and a social commentary, all rolled into one. As in the Iranian film, here too, it is a maid who is victimized, but there all comparison ends.
Unlike the acclaimed Iranian film, in which the morality of the characters remains ambiguous, here we are provided with a set of characters whose motivations are very clear, save one — inspector Kumaravel (Muthuraman), who keeps you guessing about his intentions.
The film begins with his character grilling Jothi, the victim, and gradually unfolds through his interrogations of the prime suspect, Venu, and voluntary witness, Arthi. Throughout, Kumaravel remains a willing listener, always amiable, making the two confide in him without much prodding.Muthuraman plays this part with a deftness that would have one readily believe in his quest for the truth.
Call it nitpicking, but the director could very well have done away with the backgrounder showing how Velu ended up in Chennai. These scenes appear early on in the movie and while they make us empathise with his character, they also give you that uncomfortable feeling that you are in for yet another Angaadi Theru.
Thankfully, the director shifts focus from Venu to his romance, a subject matter which on paper might appear to follow the recent trend of the ragamuffin's courtship of his lady love (who, in fact, thinks he is no more than scum). But, as he did with Kadhal (which could have been summed up as just another rich girl-poor boy romance), the director presents this in a manner that feels very real and refreshing. Impressive, too, is his handling of the other track, between Arthi and Mithun, bringing to the fore the vacuous nature of their relationship.
And, the director is also able to extract wonderful performances from his entire cast. While Sri, as the good-hearted but misunderstood Venu, and Mithun, as the lecherous Nitesh, are totally convincing. But it is Urmila Mahanta's understated performance as Jothi that is the film's pivot.
Until the climax, you only get glimpses of her, in the background or along with the other characters. She rarely speaks in the film but Urmila, with her low key approach, makes sure that you take notice of Jothi every time she is in the frame.
With Kadhal, Balaji seemed to have found his style, which you could call cinema verite and you wouldn't be wrong. He seems to relish making his films look and feel as real as possible and here, his technical team is clearly up to the challenge.
Cinematographer Vijay Milton often takes a fly-on-the-wall approach and that only serves to make the film remarkably direct. And, despite shooting with a digital camera, he nearly manages to replicate the lustre of film using natural light to dazzling effect. The suitably effective score, by guitarist Prasanna (who makes his debut as a film composer), has two heartrending songs sung without any accompaniments which brilliantly underscore the poignant moments of the film.
Movie Review: After a mediocre debut with Samurai, Balaji Sakthivelbowled us over with the trendsetting Kadhal. And, then, following the largely over-indulgent exercise that was Kalloori, he has bounced back and how!
Thematically, Premalo Padithe begs comparison with this year's Oscar-winning Iranian film, A Separation, which managed to be a relationship drama, a whodunit and a social commentary, all rolled into one. As in the Iranian film, here too, it is a maid who is victimized, but there all comparison ends.
Unlike the acclaimed Iranian film, in which the morality of the characters remains ambiguous, here we are provided with a set of characters whose motivations are very clear, save one — inspector Kumaravel (Muthuraman), who keeps you guessing about his intentions.
The film begins with his character grilling Jothi, the victim, and gradually unfolds through his interrogations of the prime suspect, Venu, and voluntary witness, Arthi. Throughout, Kumaravel remains a willing listener, always amiable, making the two confide in him without much prodding.Muthuraman plays this part with a deftness that would have one readily believe in his quest for the truth.
Call it nitpicking, but the director could very well have done away with the backgrounder showing how Velu ended up in Chennai. These scenes appear early on in the movie and while they make us empathise with his character, they also give you that uncomfortable feeling that you are in for yet another Angaadi Theru.
Thankfully, the director shifts focus from Venu to his romance, a subject matter which on paper might appear to follow the recent trend of the ragamuffin's courtship of his lady love (who, in fact, thinks he is no more than scum). But, as he did with Kadhal (which could have been summed up as just another rich girl-poor boy romance), the director presents this in a manner that feels very real and refreshing. Impressive, too, is his handling of the other track, between Arthi and Mithun, bringing to the fore the vacuous nature of their relationship.
And, the director is also able to extract wonderful performances from his entire cast. While Sri, as the good-hearted but misunderstood Venu, and Mithun, as the lecherous Nitesh, are totally convincing. But it is Urmila Mahanta's understated performance as Jothi that is the film's pivot.
Until the climax, you only get glimpses of her, in the background or along with the other characters. She rarely speaks in the film but Urmila, with her low key approach, makes sure that you take notice of Jothi every time she is in the frame.
With Kadhal, Balaji seemed to have found his style, which you could call cinema verite and you wouldn't be wrong. He seems to relish making his films look and feel as real as possible and here, his technical team is clearly up to the challenge.
Cinematographer Vijay Milton often takes a fly-on-the-wall approach and that only serves to make the film remarkably direct. And, despite shooting with a digital camera, he nearly manages to replicate the lustre of film using natural light to dazzling effect. The suitably effective score, by guitarist Prasanna (who makes his debut as a film composer), has two heartrending songs sung without any accompaniments which brilliantly underscore the poignant moments of the film.
