‘Eega’ Review

For the uninitiated, director Rajamouli has not had a single flop on his career spanning more than a decade. Reinventing himself with every film, he cracks the formula for a hit like that Maths teacher in school you absolutely loathed but couldn’t help admiring.

I’d first seen the trailer when I’d gone to watch Gabbar Singh. I remember smiling at the trailer. I found it silly in a ‘Go, ya. Silly fellow’ sort of way.

By now you should know that its the story of a fly that’s taking revenge for its death. Tacky, I know. That’s what I felt too. But I went to watch it nonetheless.

The story is convulted. It begins like a typical love story with three primary characters.

The guy is wooing her with his tacky gestures. Enter Sudeep (portrayed by Kannada actor Sudeep who is impressive), a rich industrialist who likes to have everything he likes. He sets his eyes on pretty girl and wants her too. Push comes to shove and shove comes to kick, and our hero is killed. It’s then that the film truly takes off.

When I first saw the fly, I was cynical. It seemed too unreal for my taste. The animation starts off on a shaky ground too.

But quite soon, Rajamouli invests enough in his hero for you to warm up to him. After that, it is a mad rush.

Using the most innovative yet twisted ways, the banal housefly screws the living daylights out of the business tycoon. The animation here is top class. The attention given to minute aspects of the character (considering its a housefly), makes you feel so much better, after watching hordes of those crappy Baal Hanuman and Chhota Bheem sort of animated films, the kind that would make Pixar suffer a stroke. I felt really happy when I heard an Indian studio had done the animation for the film.

Childish, you say? Too fancy to be believable, you say?

Well, we live in a country where Tushar Kapoor has managed to remain an actor for more than a decade. Where people crash into walls with one punch from the hero and toads romance damsels and sing songs for them in Switzerland. Surely we can take some suspension of disbelief?

Adding little quirks and details, Rajamouli makes the film immensely watchable.

Nani works as a florist and his heart goes aflutter when he sees the heroine. Sudeep is a businessman who comes out in flying colours as the film progresses. The heroine is a sweet girl next door who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Interestingly, Sudeep is called Sudeep, Nani is called Nani, and the fly (eega) is called, well, Eega.

The film has created quite a buzz. Don’t be cynical about it. Go watch it, and just be a fly on the wall. Chances are, you won’t swat away the film as childish.

Ok, enough with the ‘fly’ references.

Now, I’ll buzz off.