Premalu

Premalu is a 2024 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy film directed by Girish A. D. and produced by Bhavana Studios, in the company of Fahadh Faasil and Friends and Working Class Hero. The film stars Naslen K. Gafoor and Mamitha Baiju, alongside Sangeeth Prathap, Shyam Mohan, Meenakshi Raveendran, Akhila Bhargavan, Mathew Thomas and Althaf Salim. In the film, Sachin Santhosh, a graduate from Kerala, plans on moving to the United Kingdom, but instead goes to Hyderabad and take a GATE course, where he meets and falls in love with Reenu Roy, an employee of an IT company.

The film was officially announced in July 2023 under the tentative title Production No. 5, as it is the fifth production for Bhavana Studios, and the official title was announced in December 2023. Principal photography commenced the same month in Thiruvananthapuram. It was shot in Kochi, Hyderabad, Polachira and wrapped by mid-September 2023. The film has music composed by Vishnu Vijay, cinematography handled by Ajmal Sabu and editing by Akash Joseph Varghese.

Premalu was released theatrically on February 9, 2024, to critical acclaim with praise for its performances, script, soundtrack, direction and humor. It ranks as the sixth highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time and the fourth highest-grossing Malayalam film of 2024. A sequel, titled Premalu 2, is in development.

Plot
On the final day of college in Salem, Sachin Santosh professes his feelings for his classmate Anjali, but she bluntly rejects his proposal. Moving back to his hometown of Aluva, Sachin deals with his parents' soured relationship and plans to pursue higher education in the UK. However, his visa application is rejected due to shortage of funds, leaving him with another opportunity to apply after six months. He begins helping with his father's bakery business in the meantime. One day, Sachin runs into his childhood friend, Amal Davis, who asks him to accompany him for a GATE course in Hyderabad. Desperate for a change, Sachin agrees and moves to Hyderabad with Amal.

Meanwhile, Reenu Roy, a vivacious young woman, joins the development team of an IT company, Ospyn, in Hyderabad. She moves in with her friend and colleague, Karthika and her friend Niharika. Aadhi, a senior developer from Mumbai and Reenu's arrogant colleague, secretly holds a crush on her but masquerades himself as her "bestie". Sachin and Amal attend the wedding of their professor Shobi, whose bride, Shravani is a colleague of Reenu. Sachin is attracted to Reenu from the moment he sees her. Despite engaging in a tiff with Aadhi at their very first meeting, they strike a friendship with Reenu and Karthika. After the wedding, Reenu and Karthika decide to go back to Hyderabad with Sachin and Amal in their Mini Cooper though Aadhi initially disagrees. Sachin, who had planned to quit his course and take up a job in Chennai, decides to stay back for Reenu and persuades Amal to get him a job at his aunt's fast-food restaurant.

Sachin and Amal move into Reenu and Karthika's neighbourhood and invite them over for a party at a club. At the party, Amal tells Karthika about Sachin's feelings for Reenu. However, Karthika dissuades them, saying that Reenu is looking for an accomplished and matured person and that she will definitely reject someone like Sachin, who does not have any concrete plans or career. Sachin decides not to disclose his feelings to Reenu yet. They continue to become closer after a few events, including a train journey and an excursion in Hyderabad. Sachin ultimately confesses his feelings to Reenu but she rejects him and inadvertently hurts him by saying that this can't be his first rejection. A heartbroken Sachin moves to Chennai and takes up odd jobs to make ends meet while ignoring Reenu's texts and calls. Karthika shifts to Bangalore to be with her fiancé. Reenu, now alone, begins to realize her true feelings for Sachin and misses him.

Some time later, Sachin and Amal attend Karthika's pre-wedding party where they meet Reenu. Sachin pretends to have moved on and tells her about his UK visa approval and his scheduled flight to UK the very next day. Aadhi suddenly confronts Sachin and Amal. Being tipsy and tired of Aadhi's insinuations, they disparage him and assert that Reenu will reject him too. Overconfident, Aadhi publicly proposes to Reenu but she unhesitatingly says no, resulting in further taunts from them. Humiliated, Aadhi leaves swearing vengeance. Sachin, still detached to Reenu's sincere attempts, passes out drunk at the party with Amal.

The next morning, Sachin and Amal depart for the airport and Reenu joins them. On the way, Reenu tells Sachin that she misses him and does not want him to leave. They then notice Aadhi with some goons chasing them in a Ford Endeavour, and are alarmed. Amidst the tension, Reenu finally confesses her feelings for Sachin. Aadhi and the goons interrupt the moment and begin to beat Sachin. However, Reenu averts the assault using a pepper spray that Aadhi himself had given her for self-defense. They escape and arrive at the airport on time. Reenu and Sachin hug and bid farewell to each other and commit to a long-distance relationship.

A credits scene shows Reenu, Karthika and Niharika on the rooftop of their apartment some months ago. Niharika tosses an empty can off the roof, foretelling that Reenu will marry whoever the can lands on. Hearing an old man shout, they flee. However, the can is shown to have fallen on Sachin, who was walking with Amal.

Development
On 4 July 2023, Girish A. D. announced that he would collaborate with Naslen K. Gafoor and Mamitha Baiju for his directorial after I Am Kathalan, which also features Naslen in the lead role, making his third collaboration with the actor. Tentatively titled Production No. 5, the project would mark as the fifth production for Bhavana Studios; they would fund it in association with Fahadh Faasil and Friends and Working Class Hero. The film's official title, Premalu, was announced on 1 December 2023.

Filming
Principal photography began with the first schedule on 9 July 2023 with an inaugural puja ceremony at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. The project was expected to be shot with a span of 75-days across Kochi, Hyderabad, and Polachira. Filming wrapped by 15 September.

Music
The film's musical score and songs are composed by Vishnu Vijay. The track "Ya Ya Ya Yadava" by K. S. Chithra and P. Unnikrishnan from the 1996 film Devaraagam (1996) was reused in the film to subsequently become a rage upon the film's release. Veteran K. G. Markose rendered a song titled "Telangana Bommalu" after a brief hiatus from films.

Theatrical
Premalu was theatrically released on 9 February 2024. A Telugu dubbed version was released on 8 March and a Tamil dub followed a week later.

It was released by Bhavana Release in Kerala. Overseas rights acquired by Phars Film Co and Yash Raj Films. It was distributed across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana by Sri Venkateswara Creations, Annapurna Studios and Showing Business. In Tamil Nadu, distribution rights were acquired by Udhayanidhi Stalin's Red Giant Movies.

Home media
The digital streaming rights were acquired by Disney+ Hotstar and the satellite rights were acquired by Asianet for Malayalam and by Star Network for other languages. The film had its digital premiere on the streaming platform from 12 April 2024. That same day, the Telugu dub premiered on Aha. Premalu is also available to stream in Tamil and Hindi on Disney+ Hotstar.

Critical response
Premalu received positive reviews from critics with praise for its cast performances, music, script, direction, humor and technical aspects.

Nikhil Sebastian of Pinkvilla gave 4/5 stars and wrote "Premalu undoubtedly marks Girish AD's finest work since Thanneer Mathan Dinangal. If you're looking to escape from the stresses of life for two and a half hours and immerse yourself in laughter and enjoyment, then look no further—booking a ticket for Premalu is the perfect choice". Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Similar to Girish AD's Thanneer Mathan Dinangal and Super Sharanya, this Naslen, Mamitha Baiju-starrer too effectively employs situational and observational comedy. Yet, Girish ensures that Premalu stands apart from his previous works".

Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Similar to Girish AD's Thanneer Mathan Dinangal and Super Sharanya, this Naslen, Mamitha Baiju-starrer too effectively employs situational and observational comedy. Yet, Girish ensures that Premalu stands apart from his previous works." Gayathri Krishna of OTTplay gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Naslen and Mamitha Baiju-starrer Premalu serves as a decent romantic comedy, which makes it watchable again, much like Girish AD's earlier films".

S. R. Praveen of The Hindu wrote "Though Thanneer Mathan.. was quite a winning debut for Girish, Super Sharanya was only half as satisfying. He has upped the game in his third outing, as Premalu is a winner with its fresh, humorous treatment of a run-of-the-mill story." Aswin Devan of The New Indian Express wrote "The distinctive style we have seen in Girish's previous films like Thanneermathan Dinangal and Super Sharanya, is all the more pronounced in Premalu".

Box office
As of 21 March 2024, Premalu has grossed over ₹95 crore in India, with a further ₹40 crore in overseas, for a worldwide total of ₹136 crore.

Sequel
On 19 April 2024, a sequel titled Premalu 2 was announced by the team during the film's success celebration. The film is scheduled for release in 2025.