The film Premam has been in the news consistently ever since its release, first because of its success and later because of piracy issues. The most recent controversy regarding the film is a row over the content of the movie, which was sparked by singer G. Venugopal’s comment that he found nothing in the film that was worth celebrating so much.
“I had no issues over the teacher-student relationship or the boozing. I didn’t evaluate the movie as a guardian or parent. In fact, I was someone who watched Chamaram, one of those movies that portrayed a teacher-student relationship beautifully and came under flak for it so many years back, and enjoyed it. My issue with the film was that I found not a single dialogue or scene I could take back from the theatre after the movie was over. I found Premam nowhere close to the beautiful classic romance movies that our previous generation filmmakers made and I fail to understand what the uproar was about. But my Facebook post gained too much attention and started going viral, so I decided to change the settings to ‘friends only’. But I still stick to my opinion, even though my own son, who is learning filmmaking, is against it. I believe everyone has a right to their own opinion and a movie need not appeal to all the viewers equally,” says Venugopal.
However, for veteran director Kamal, the teacher-student relationship was objectionable. He claimed that Premam misleads the youth with the romance track between a student and teacher. He went on to add that this was not the first movie to become a victim of piracy and the issue was blown out of proportion.
However, veteran director Faasil immediately thrashed the statement saying that Kamal’s approach towards the piracy issue, despite being an established filmmaker, was disappointing and noted that similar baseless reactions had come out during the release of his popular movie Ente Sooryaputhrikku as well.
The social media fans of Premam also point out that Kamal’s own blockbuster film Mazhayethum Munpe, also portrayed a similar teacher-student relationship, making his arguments invalid.
Scriptwriter Sunil Parameswaran, on the other hand, sides with Kamal’s statements and adds, “It’s true that boozing and such affairs are nothing new in films. However, the older generation filmmakers at least had the courtesy to portray the ill-effect of these through the film and sent out positive messages through their films. What is the message of Premam? That boozing is the answer to all problems, wearing a lungi and drinking alcohol in class is okay and that finding love is the ultimate goal in life? And isn’t it the teacher’s duty to be mature enough to correct the student when he goes astray instead of choosing to dance with him? It’s the same with many new-gen films. Even in real life, I have encountered new-generation actors who are drunk even when you go to narrate stories and show utter disrespect to the senior film industry people by not even having the courtesy to pick calls!”
Director Priyadarshan, however, maintains that films can neither spoil nor redeem a viewer with such content.
“Films are one of the cheapest entertainment mediums in our country and the audience are smart enough to figure out for themselves what is good and what is bad. If you watch the news, you hear about much worse scenarios happening in real life that could as easily become an influence on the youth. This is still fiction! There is no point in trying to analyse commercial films in this manner,” he adds. Director Balachandra Menon voiced a similar opinion about the film and justified its content, stating that “Nothing succeeds like success.”
Clearly, Premam has exposed the deep rift that has formed between two generations of film viewers and filmmakers in terms of their sensibilities and cultural standpoints.
Whether this new film culture is a passing phase or will mark a turning point in film history, only time will tell. For now, these commercial formulas seem to be winning the bid.
