Premaloka

Premaloka in Kannada (transl. World of Love), Paruva Ragam in Tamil (transl. The Melody of Age), is a 1987 bilingual romantic musical film written and directed by V. Ravichandran in his directorial debut. He additionally served as the lead actor and producer under Eshwari Productions.

Premaloka
DVD cover in Kannada
Directed by	V. Ravichandran
Produced by	V. Ravichandran N. Veeraswamy (presenter)
Written by	V. Ravichandran Panchu Arunachalam (Tamil dialogues)
Starring	V. Ravichandran Juhi
Music by	Hamsalekha
Cinematography	R. Madhusudan
Edited by	K. Balu
Distributed by	Sri Eswari Productions
Release date	1987 (1987)
Running time	147 minutes (Premaloka) 141 minutes (Paruva Ragam)
Country	India
Language	Kannada Tamil
Budget	₹75 lakh[1]

Produced simultaneously in Kannada and Tamil, the film stars V. Ravichandran in the lead role alongside Juhi, in her acting debut. Leelavathi and Lokesh play supportive roles in the Kannada version while Jai Shankar and Manorama reprise their respective roles in the Tamil version. Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh, Prabhakar, Srinath, and Urvashi made guest appearances in the film.[2] Thengai Srinivasan, Cho Ramaswamy and Delhi Ganesh portray the respective roles of Ambareesh, Prabhakar, and Srinath, in the Tamil version. The film is loosely inspired by the American film Grease 2 (1982).[3]

Plot

A young man is in love with his classmate who rebukes his advances. Desperate for her affection, he decides to pose as a mysterious biker and sweep her off her feet.

Cast

Actor (Kannada)	Actor (Tamil)	Role
V. Ravichandran		Ravi
Juhi		Shashikala (Shashi)
Leelavathi	Manorama	Sharadamma / Thayamma
Lokesh	Jai Shankar	Ravi's father
Srinath	Delhi Ganesh	Shashi's father
Thyagu		Ravi's friend
Jayachitra		Kaveri
Mukhyamantri Chandru	Poornam Viswanathan	Chief Minister
K. Vijaya	Vadivukkarasi	Ravi's mother
Prabhakar	Cho Ramaswamy	College principal
Guest appearances:[lower-alpha 1]
Vishnuvardhan		Professor Manohar
Ambareesh	Thengai Srinivasan	Hotel supplier
Urvashi		Rohini

Production

The film marked the directorial debut of V. Ravichandran.[6] For the lead actress, Ravichandran rejected 52 girls before choosing Juhi Chawla as the heroine.[7] Apart from composing music, Hamsalekha has also written lyrics for all songs and dialogues for the film.[8] When Ravichandran was mulling over the theme of the film, Hamsalekha suggested him to do a musical script on the lines of Sound of Music and Grease 2.[9]

Jolly Bustin who went on to become a stunt master worked as a body double for Ravichandran.[10][11]

Soundtrack

Premaloka / Paruva Raagam
Soundtrack album by Hamsalekha
Released	7 May 1986
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	47:39
Label	Lahari Music

Hamsalekha composed the music for the film (in his Tamil debut) and also penned the lyrics for the Kannada soundtrack while Vairamuthu penned the lyrics for the Tamil soundtrack. The soundtrack album consists of eleven tracks.[12] The distribution rights were bought by Lahari Music for a hitherto record price of ₹150,000.[13]

The music and the songs in the film were widely appreciated and created records in the audio cassette sales during the time.[14] Tulsiram Naidu (Lahari Velu) of Lahari Audio, says, "Premaloka continues to be the biggest hit among film music albums in Kannada cinema. Back then audio rights were sold for a pittance and nominally paid ₹100 or ₹1,000. With Premaloka things changed and rights began to be sold in lakhs".[15] The lyrics of the soundtrack also received acclaim from critics.[16]

The soundtrack sold 3.8 million units, setting a record for South Indian soundtrack albums.[17]

The lyrics of two songs from Grease 2 – Back to School Again and Who's That Guy? were retained as Hogona Kaalejige and Yaarivanu, respectively. Another song Premalokadinda Banda was an adaptation of the 1963 Chinese (Hokkien) song Cup (in the) Shadow.[18]

Kannada version

All lyrics are written by Hamsalekha.

Track list

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Premalokadinda"	S. Janaki, K. J. Yesudas, Ravichandran	4:34
2.	"Geleyare Nanna Gelathiyare"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	5:31
3.	"Ee Nimbe Hanninantha"	Ramesh	2:59
4.	"Nodamma Hudugi"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Latha Hamsalekha	5:14
5.	"Cheluve Ondu Kelthini"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki	4:19
6.	"Yaarivanu Ee Manmathanu"	S. Janaki, Ravichandran	4:49
7.	"Boy Friend Barthaanantha"	S. Janaki, Ravichandran	4:25
8.	"E Gangu Ee Biku Kalisikodu"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki, Ravichandran	4:44
9.	"Idu Nanna Ninna Prema Geethe"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki	4:33
10.	"Mosagaarana"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	4:21
11.	"Bathroominalli"	Vani Jayaram	2:10
Total length:			47:39

Tamil version

All lyrics are written by Vairamuthu.

Track list

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Kadhal Illai"	S. Janaki, K. J. Yesudas, Ravichandran	4:34
2.	"Paadum ilam"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	5:31
3.	"Oru Minnal Pola"	Ramesh	2:59
4.	"Kelamma Kelamma"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki	5:14
5.	"Poove Unnai Nesithen"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki	4:19
6.	"Yaar Evano"	S. Janaki, Ravichandran	4:49
7.	"Adea Amma Kannu"	S. Janaki, Ravichandran	4:25
8.	"Hey Maama Vandi Otta"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki, Ravichandran	4:44
9.	"Oru Aanum Pennum"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki	4:33
10.	"Mosakaarana Naan"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	4:21
11.	"Vanavillai Parthen"	Vani Jayaram	2:10
Total length:			47:39

Box-office

The film opened to an underwhelming response for "first few days" and was almost declared as failure "for the first three weeks". However, due to positive word-of-mouth, the film became successful a month after the release.[19] Karnataka government granted one day leave to watch the movie

Legacy

One of the songs, Nodamma Hudugi, was reused by Sundeep Malani for his Kanglish film SMS 6260 featuring Diganth, Kiran, Janu.[20] Hamsalekha would go on to compose music for many more Ravichandran films.

Premaloka was dubbed in Telugu as Premalokam. Juhi Chawla recalling her experiences stated that "My 45-day shoot for Premaloka ensured that going on the set of Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak was a cakewalk. The other good thing about Premaloka was that the team was young, so it was like college buddies hanging out. [..] Since the film was a musical, it was like a party on the set. The only senior person there was our cinematographer. I fondly look back at my stint in Kannada cinema during my early days as the foundation for my career in Bollywood".[6]

Notes

1. Both versions credit the following actors as making guest appearances in the film. The Kannada version additionally credits Prabhakar, Srinath, and Lokesh as making guest appearances in the film[4] while the Tamil version does not credit their respective actors (namely Cho Ramaswamy, Delhi Ganesh, and Jai Shankar) as making guest appearances.[5]

References

1. Shiva Kumar, S. (8 September 1988). "Youngster with fresh ideas". The Hindu. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
2. "Ranadheera may do a Premaloka – Bangalore Mirror".
3. "Juhi Chawla: Photos from her younger days you may not have seen". mid-day.
4. Prema Loka (VCD): opening credits from 0.05 to 5.03
5. Paruva Ragam (VCD): opening credits from 0.00 to 5.03
6. "Premaloka was my acting school: Juhi Chawla – TOI Mobile – The Times of India Mobile Site".
7. "'You will be dumbstruck'". Bangalore Mirror.
8. "Hamsalekha to don director's hat". Bangalore Mirror.
9. "Sunday Herald entertainment » Musical musings – Deccan Herald – DailyHunt".
10. "Such a Jolly ride".
11. "He defies the law of gravity". 17 March 2006 – via The Hindu.
12. "Premaloka (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". iTunes. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
13. Riti, M. D. (14 April 2001). "The Nightingale to sing in Kannada!". rediff.com. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
14. "Hamsalekha at his ribald best". The Music Magazine. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
15. "Lahari and Eshwari together after 25 years". Bangalore Mirror.
16. "The sparkling native pen". The Hindu. 27 July 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
17. "Bahubali audio sold for Rs 3 cr, sets record". The Times of India. 21 May 2015.
18. https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=zdogmznNF24
19. "Jatta – How To Support A Trend Setting Film – chitraloka.com – Kannada Movie News, Reviews – Image". Chitraloka.
20. "From text to film". 3 June 2006 – via The Hindu.

External links

• Premaloka on IMDb
• Premaloka film songs
• Song from Premaloka