Aham Premasmi

Starring: Balaji, Aarti Chhabria, V Ravichandran, Chithra Shenoi, Sharan, Ganesh, Bullet Prakash
Director: V. Ravichandran
Producer: V. Ravichandran
Music Dir: V. Ravichandran
Lyricist: V. Ravichandran
Singers: Hemanth Anupama
Distributor: Moserbaer
Genre: Romance

Synopsis

Eshwar (Balaji), is an orphan boy, who does not believe in love. He is an orphan boy, who knows nothing about his parents, except that they left him in a temple, and he has lived in an Ashram all his life. He is very popular with the girls at college, but he does not believe in love. He has strange dreams, where he meets Lord Brahma (V. Ravichandran), the Deity believed by Hindus to be the creator of the world. Lord Brahma tells him that love is inevitable, and that he will fall in love. In the film, he proves that he is of good character.
One day, on his way to college, Eshwar meets “Karizma”, the extra character in the film, an expensive yellow motorbike. He sees Karizma standing by the roadside, and wishes it belonged to him. Then, a big car passes, with a girl standing up, twirling her handbag round her arm, above the sunroof. The handbag flies off her arm, and is caught by a lad on a bike. He is delighted, and makes off with the handbag. Eshwar sees this, and goes off on Karizma, in pursuit of the thief with the handbag. A horrified Vignesha (Sharan), Karizma’s owner, sees someone riding off on his beloved Karizma, and calls a passing auto-rickshaw, driven by Ganesha (Ganesh). They take off in hot pursuit of Karizma (but somehow get lost in the chase), followed by the girl whose handbag had been stolen. Eshwar catches the thief, retrieves the handbag, and gives it back to its rightful owner, and as he does so, he remembers the dream when Lord Brahma told him he would fall in love. She does not know who he is, as he is wearing a crash helmet that covers his face. Vignesha and Ganesha eventually catch up, and Vignesha is delighted to have Karizma back. He hugs the motorbike, and says “I love you”. That’s why I described Karizma as an extra character in the film.
The girl is Apsara (Aarti Chhabria). At home, she comes over as the rich spoiled daughter of a wealthy father who has given her everything she ever wanted. However, at college, she’s the popular college beauty that all the boys love. She meets Eshwar, who is a waiter in the college canteen, several times at college, but always the circumstances of their encounters annoy her. Bullet Prakash plays the student who always gets the worst of any fighting!
However, she sees him several times as “the bike man”, and is intrigued because she does not know his identity. Each time, he is wearing the crash helmet, because he has to ride off on Karizma several times in the film, for one reason or another, always chased by Vignesha and Ganesha, in the auto-rickshaw.

In the song “Seethi Hodidharey”, she lays down five conditions that anyone must fulfil, to win her heart:-
1. He must kiss her, but be invisible. Nobody must see when he kisses her.
2. He must reveal the location of the two moles on her body, nobody must see him when he finds the moles, and he must be invisible to her.
3. He must come to her home, be her guest, but she mustn’t see him, and nobody else must see him.
4. He must come into her dreams and make love to her. It must be a dream to her, but it must be real to him.
5. He must take her into his arms. She mustn’t know him till he says, “I love you.”

Will Eshwar succeed against all the odds? Watch the film to find out.

Songs:
1. Aham Brahmasmi
2. College Teenage
3. Banlu Nodi
4. Eshwar Eshwar
5. Kannalet Kannaley
6. Seethi Hodidharey
7. Pullinga
8. O Preethiye
9. Banlu Nodu

Released Year: 2005
Running Time: 150 minutes/Colour/Kannada

Review
If one were to sum up the story of this film in one sentence, it would be as follows. A poor college boy, who works as a waiter in the college canteen, falls in love with the rich and spoiled daughter of a wealthy father.

That sounds like a very common story in Indian films, but a whole lot of things make this a very different film, lifting an ordinary commonplace story to the level of an extraordinary story. Firstly, the poor boy, who does not believe in love, has dreams where Lord Brahma tells him that love is inevitable, and that he will fall in love. In the film we see scenes where he remembers his dreams. Secondly, although the heroine is seen to be rich and spoiled at home, she does not act like that at college, where she is the college beauty, loved by all the students. Thirdly, there is the skill of the producer, director, music-director and lyricist – V. Ravichandran is all of these. Fourthly, the acting is also superb, both by Balaji, Aarti Chabria and V. Ravichandran, but also by Sharan, Ganesh and Bullet Prakash, and also by all the other characters, and by the college students. Fifthly we have the songs.

In a most unusual way, the songs tell the story of the film, in a way I have never seen before. “Aham Brahmasmi” is the dream of Eshwar, In which he meets Lord Brahma, and is told that he will fall in love. “College Teenage” introduces the college and its students. “Banlu Nodi” introduces Apsara, the college beauty. “Eshwar Eshwar” introduces Eshwar as the waiter in the College Canteen. “Kannaley Kannaley” is a love-song in which Eshwar imagines what it would be like if Apsara were also in love with him, with a background of the college students. “Seethi Hodidharey” is the song in which Apsara lists the five conditions to win her heart, telling all the boys at college who listen eagerly. “Pullinga Pullinga” is Apsara’s love song, in which she admits that the man who kissed her (first condition) has stolen her heart. “O Preethiye” is a love song, in which Eshwar expresses his love for Apsara, and Apsara expresses her love for the unknown lover, whom she says must appear before her eyes. “Banlu Nodu” is the song in which Eshwar fulfils the fourth condition.

More on the songs, however. The picturisation and choreography are superb, and highly imaginative. It’s not easy to choreograph for large numbers, and to get everyone “in synch” in spacious outdoor settings. The music is great, and the lyrics too, both in the translation in the subtitles, and in the poetry of the words in Kannada. The songs show the youthful vigour of the characters. I watched this 150 minute film, and I enjoyed the songs so much, that I immediately watched all the songs (38 minutes) after watching the film.

You have guessed my rating…

5 stars.

Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]