PremiumPremalo Review - The Chandu Koduri, Charishma Sekhar starrer is lengthy and slow but is an honest attempt
Premalo is the latest romantic drama that was enacted and directed by Chandu Koduri. Charishma Sekhar plays the female lead in this hard-hitting drama.
Premalo Poster
Last Updated: 09.37 AM, Jan 28, 2024
Story
Premalo is set in the city of Rajamundhry. Ravi(Chandu Koduri) is a small-time employee at a chemist, who falls in love with a mute girl Prasanthi(Charishma Sekhar). After wooing her for a while, even Prasanthi says yes to Ravi's proposal. This love affair of the couple does not go well with Prasanthi's dad. Amidst this chaos, Ravi is suddenly framed for raping Prasanthi. Did Ravi rape Prasanthi? Who is behind this crime? and what did Ravi do to come out of this deadly situation? To know the answers, watch the film on the big screen.
Review
Premalo is about a couple who goes through various struggles in their love life. How a crazy incident in their life, changes things upside down for them has been showcased through this film by actor and director Chandu Koduri. The film starts on an interesting note as the hero is showcased brutally killing a man for sending an adult video to his friends. The director then goes into the flashback and unleashes the love story of Ravi and Prasanthi.
Despite being a mute girl, Ravi, falling for her is showcased organically. The small town setup, the hero falling unconditionally for the girl, and how the love develops is neat. However, the director takes a lot of time to enter into the actual plot. The female lead gets raped by the hero without his consent and hell breaks loose. Despite having such a strong conflict point, the director Chandu chooses the routine way to elevate the proceedings.
Also Read: Pindam OTT release date - Here's when you can watch the Sriram, Srinivasa Avasarala thriller
The father knowing about his daughter's affair, going after the guy, warning him, such things have been showcased in a very ordinary manner and take up the screen time in the first half. If this aspect had been avoided and the conflict point had been elevated before the interval, Premalo would have made a lot of sense.
The actual action begins in the last forty minutes but to enjoy that one has to sit through the lethargic first half. Chandu Koduri dons the hat of an actor and director and he passes the test as an actor. He looks natural and suits the boy next door character quite nicely. But his direction skills are just about okay. The emotional angle in the film had so much scope to be elevated but Chandu Koduri does not make use of it.
Though the proceedings take a steep turn in the second half, he has limited time to narrate the emotions in a detailed manner, as he uses up the screen time for setting up the love story. Charishma Sekhar plays the female lead and she is very good. Though she does not have any dialogues, the young actress emotes quite well through her eyes which are quite expressive.
Sivaji Raja plays the hero's dad and he is adequate. The actor who played the role of the heroine's dad was quite good in his role. Madhusudhan Rao as the local don was just about okay. The entire film runs through the eyes of the hero Chandu and he has done well in all the emotional scenes in the climax.
The production design of Premalo is pretty good. Though it has been made on a very low budget, the visuals are quite neat and transport you into the story right away. One of the biggest drawbacks of the film is the editing. Close to 20 minutes could have been easily chopped off to make the film gripping. The music by Sandeep Kanugula is nice and so is his background score and the dialogues are also impressive.
Having said all this, Premalo has issues in the narrative. As too much time is taken to establish the basic setup, there is not much time in the hands of the director to elevate the key aspect. But he does well in the climax and gives the film an unconventional ending which has hard-hitting emotions. There is also a good message about how the youth is doing wrong deeds and how a viral video can spoil one's life is showcased neatly in the film.
Verdict
On the whole, Premalo is an honest attempt to showcase a realistic love story through a strong message. Chandu Koduri shines as an actor but takes way too much time to establish the conflict as a director. If you ignore the lengthy runtime and slow pace, the film has a strict few moments that will connect with you.
