Premam

Premam
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Alphonse Puthren
Written by	Alphonse Puthren
Produced by	Anwar Rasheed
Starring	Nivin Pauly Sai Pallavi
Cinematography	Anend C. Chandran
Edited by	Alphonse Puthren
Music by	Rajesh Murugesan
Production company	Anwar Rasheed Entertainments
Distributed by	A&A Release Tricolor Entertainment (Kerala and Tamil Nadu)
Release date	29 May 2015 (2015-05-29)
Running time	156 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Budget	₹4 crore[1]
Box office	est.₹73 crore[2]

Premam (transl. Love) is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-language coming of age romance film written, directed and edited by Alphonse Puthren. It was produced by Anwar Rasheed and stars Nivin Pauly and Sai Pallavi (in her major film debut). It also features with an ensemble supporting cast including Madonna Sebastian, Anupama Parameswaran, Shabareesh Varma, Krishna Sankar, Siju Wilson, Ananth Nag, Vinay Forrt, Soubin Shahir, Sharafudheen and others. The plot follows George (Nivin)’s romantic journey with his friends from their teens to adulthood. While George's first love turns out to be a disappointment, Malar (Pallavi), a college lecturer, rekindles his love interest. His romantic journey takes him through several stages, helping him find his purpose.

The principal photography began in July 2014. The film was across locations including Goa, Aluva and Fort Kochi. The filming was wrapped up in November 2014. Editing was done by Alphonse Puthren himself while Anend C. Chandran and Rajesh Murugan handled the cinematography and music. The film was produced on a budget of ₹4 crore.

Premam was released on May 29, 2015 to widespread critical acclaim with praise towards the cast performance (especially Nivin and Pallavi), story, screenplay, cinematography, music, background score, editing and direction by Alphonse Puthran. The film emerged as a major commercial success grossing ₹73 crore. The film had a theatrical run of 175 days in Kerala and over 300 days in Tamil Nadu. The film was included in The Hindu's top 25 Malayalam movies of the decade. Pallavi and Nivin's performances were included by the Film Companion in its list of “100 Greatest Performances of the Decade”.

The film received nominations and won awards in several categories. At the 63rd Filmfare Awards South, Premam was nominated in seven categories, winning Best Female Debut (Sai Pallavi) and Best Male Playback Singer (Vijay Yesudas for "Malare"). At the 5th South Indian International Movie Awards, it received fifteen nominations and won seven, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Music Director, Best Lyricist, and Best Male Playback Singer (Vijay Yesudas). Nivin and Sai Pallavi won the Best Actor Critics and Best Debut Actress awards. At the 1st IIFA Utsavam, it received nine nominations and won four, including Best Performance in a Comic Role, Best Music Direction, Best Lyricist and Best Male Playback Singer. Among other wins, the film received six Asianet Film Awards, six Vanitha Film Awards, three Asianet Comedy Awards, four Asiavision Awards and two CPC Cine Awards. The film was not considered by the Kerala State Film Awards, the official state film award given by the Government of Kerala.