Is Shruti Haasan the biggest blunder of ‘Premam’?

Have the makers of 'Premam' committed a blunder?  While it's very difficult to recreate the magic of a heart-touching romantic movie, the up-and-coming Naga Chaitanya movie may have a serious gaffe going for it.

The Malayalam movie, of which this one is a remake, has a niche fan base in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.  Sai Pallavi, in the main, is a familiar face among these sections.  Their opinion, as expressed on social media platforms, is that the makers of the Telugu remake have made a blunder by casting Shruti Haasan to reprise Sai Pallavi.  They are of the view that the raison d' etre of the Malayalam film were the portions where Sai Pallavi is present for 45 minutes.  She being a new face with no image of her own, her ethereal looks and charm worked monumentally well for the movie.

On the other hand, Shruti comes with an image of her own.  Can she offer the freshness that Sai Pallavi did?  The answer is a clear no for many.

Tollywood believes in glamour rather than slice-of-life elements as that's what sells here.  Telugu movies of the day can never be realistic like Tamil and Malayalam movies.  The decision to cast Shruti, thus, might be deliberate.  But the pandering to the Telugu audience's tastes may have gone too far in the case of 'Premam'.

As someone has commented, how can someone who has done item songs, a star heroine like Shruti, fit the bill for a pure love story?  Only time will tell whether writing off Shruti is premature.  One wishes Naga Chaitanya, Chandoo Mondeti and their producers all the best!