Premante Idera Review

Movies in Tollywood, during the time that this one was released, were clearly inspired by the trend in Bollywood. Marriages, soft and mushy love stories, junta dances, disapproving parents... the works! This one is no different. The way the story progresses distinctly reminds you of the Hindi blockbuster Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. But there is a fresh feel. Coupled with the presence of Preity Zinta (appearing for the first time in Tollywood) and some beautiful music from Ramana Gogula, this movie gets special.

Nothing special about the story: Murali, a medical student, goes to his friend's village to attend his wedding. There he meets Sailaja, and after some mutual horsing around and leg-pulling, they fall for each other. Here the song Naalo Unna Prema is used to the best advantage. This melodious tune gives the romantic scenes an ethereal touch. Then they part, with promises to keep in touch. With contrived circumstances hitting the audience left, right and center, the movie reaches a stage where Sailaja is engaged to the wrong Murali (Srihari) and the right Murali does all he can to right the wrong.

At times the movie does drag a little, and Venkatesh doesn't carry off the comedy part all that well. The ending is so contrived that you just can't digest it. Performance-wise, Srihari impresses as the bad guy, but Preity Zinta just concentrates on looking pretty. Venky does all that would keep his fans happy, and he was pretty successful at that, what with the movie going on to become such a big hit.

The direction is slack at times, and the photography could definitely have been better. The picturesque locales are not exploited to the hilt. The best feature of the film is the music. Ramana Gogula scintillates. After this movie, he has unfortunately gone downhill. One could watch the movie again just for that one tune that I mentioned earlier. To sum it all up, this is just another feel-good movie, with a something extra in it that helped it click at the box-office. You can watch it and walk out of the theater humming a tune that is sure to stay with you for a long time.