''Prem Poojari'' is a 1999 Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

-language

romance film Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

directed by Hariharan, starring

Kunchacko Boban Kunchacko Boban (born 2 November 1976) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in the Malayalam film industry. He is referred to as Chackochan, and during the early 2000s, he was called "chocolate boy" because of his romantic image. He ...

Shalini Shalini is a feminine name used in India. Notable people with the name include: *Shalini Ajith Shalini (formerly known as Baby Shalini; born 20 November 1979) is a former Indian actress and child artist who worked in Malayalam and Tamil films ...

and

Vineeth Vineeth Radhakrishnan (born 23 August 1969) is an Indian actor, Bharatanatyam dancer, voice artist and choreographer who primarily works in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu language films. He has also appeared in a few Hindi and Kannada films. He h ...

. The plot is loosely based on ''

Engane Nee Marakkum ''Engane Nee Marakkum'' () is a 1983 Indian Malayalam-language romantic drama film produced and directed by M. Mani and written by Priyadarshan. It stars Shankar (actor), Shankar, Mohanlal and Menaka (actress), Menaka. The film features songs an ...

''. ''Prem Poojari'' is the third collaboration of the leading pair, Kunchacko and Shalini.

Plot

Prem Jacob wants to become a singer but is forced to pretend as a

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

to get a home for rent. There he meet Hema. Hema drew a picture of a rose on his shirt and gives him sweets. She gave him a note, writing ''Mandan'' (fool) as he does not notice her love. Prem gets angry and meets Hema in a park and angrily kisses her. Hema gets angry and says that she will tell her relatives. Prem becomes afraid and begs her forgiveness and said that he is ready for any punishment. Hema kisses his hands and they hug revealing their love. Later Prem tells Hema that he is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

but she does not care. Prem gets a chance as a

playback singer A playback singer, as they are usually known in South Asian cinema, or ghost singer in Western cinema, is a singer whose performance is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and the performers lip-sync the ...

. Hema is being forced to marry Murali. Prem wins the national award for his song and when he sings in a program, Hema emotionally hugs him. Murali becomes angry and hurts Hema. Her relatives call off the wedding and agree that Prem and Hema can marry. Then Prem's friend Chanjal says that Murali is great as he understood Hema's love for Prem and was only acting to help them get united. Hema and Prem rushes to the airport and thank Murali as he was going back.

Cast

Songs

The soundtrack features songs composed by

Uttam Singh Uttam Singh (born 25 May 1948) is an Indian music director and a well-known violinist. He has also worked as a music arranger, programmer and recordist for many Bollywood films. He worked as a music assistant for Ilaiyaraaja in numerous Tamil la ...

, who is famous for his music in ''

Dil To Pagal Hai ''Dil To Pagal Hai'' (; ) is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language musical romance film directed by Yash Chopra. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Karisma Kapoor, and Akshay Kumar. It follows the love lives of the members of a musical tro ...

'' and lyrics by

O. N. V. Kurup Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup (known as O. N. V. Kurup; 27 May 1931 – 13 February 2016) was a Malayalam poet and lyricist from Kerala, India, who won the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award in India for the year 2007. He received ...

Reception

A critic rated the film and wrote that "''Prem Poojari'' is a good comedy for the first 90 minutes but after that the movie drags for the next hour".

References

External links

* 1990s Malayalam-language films 1999 films Films about music and musicians Films directed by Hariharan {{1990s-Malayalam-film-stub