(For SI Blog reader Araj)
By the criminally low standards of the steaming pile of Telugu dung like Nuvve Na Rakshasi, Nenae Nee Pisachi, Pitchee Donga, Dongana Koduka etc, Eega is a watchable film but certainly not a great one.
Unless you’re hiding under a rock in Timbuktu, you know that Eega has been a phenomenal hit at the box office.
Such has been the success of Eega, that even small back of the beyond towns in distant USA are screening the film a second time.
Last night, at the behest of SI blog reader Araj I joined the crowds to see what all the hullabaloo about Eega was.
To my great surprise, there were over 100 people for the late-night show in what’s surely a record for a Telugu movie being screened for the second time in a small American town.
Besides directing Eega, S.S.Rajamouli (of Magadheera fame) also penned the story and screenplay.
Eega – Just Average
My verdict is that Eega is at best an average Telugu film.
Among people blessed with civilization, Eega would have been pushed out of the theatre after the first week.
But in the large community of Telugu bushmen the movie is being hailed as a sensation and a masterpiece and continues its remarkable run.
Like with 99.9% of Indian movies, Eega too has young love, thwarted of course, occupying center stage.
When micro-artist Bindu’s ardent admirer Nani is killed by Sudeep, the victim does not pass off into the state of everlasting sleep like the rest of us ordinary mortals, never to return.
Au contraire, he returns as an Eega (fly) to torment his murderer and ultimately kill him.
Telugu actor Nani plays the eponymous young lover and Kannada film star Sudeep is cast as the villain Sudeep.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu, the current handjob favorite of some 25 million Telugu boys (and girls?), plays the young girl Bindu.
Although not too exciting, the concept of a dead lover turning into a fly and returning to torment his murderer is not a bad idea for a Telugu movie.
But the execution of the concept is fatally flawed in typical Telugu crass fashion in Eega.
Eega – Too Many Issues
First, there are the many shoddy elements in the Eega story, a blend of young love, crime, revenge and Tantra.
For instance, the villain Sudeep is unconvincingly presented with little context as a maniacal figure and playboy from the outset.
Sudeep is a business magnate casually killing people, including his associates. Sure, Andra Pradesh is not an idyllic peaceful haven but I’m certain even in Telugu desham businessmen don’t go around like they’re on a crack cocaine binge all the time.
Also, Nani is killed too prematurely and the Eega introduced in haste.
Nani’s transformation into a fly also has little context unlike the Japanese movie Ghost, where you see the ‘logical’ transformation of the murdered lover/wife into the ghost.
The second big letdown of Eega is the very ordinary graphics.
By current Hollywood standards, the graphics around the Eega or fly is zilch.
There’s not one scene in Eega where the graphics made me go wow.
Now for the acting part, traditionally the most unendurable aspect of Telugu films.
Nani is all right.
Samantha wouldn’t recognize acting if it bitch-slapped her, which makes her ideal for Eega or for that matter any Telugu film.
Utterly hopeless girl.
That this talentless creature has become the darling of 25 million Telugus is a testament to the poor taste of these people.
Sudeep is one of the better Indian actors. But he is hamstrung by the shoddy script and tries hard not to go overboard.
I found Eega’s music tolerable.
But I’m not sure it’s original since the film’s music director Keeravani has a dirty reputation for being a thieving scumbag.
Overall, I didn’t think my $12 yielded a great return with Eega but I’ve seen infinitely worse Telugu films.
Eega – Better than Usual Telugu Film Dung added by SearchIndia.com on
View all posts by SearchIndia.com →
given the 30 crore budget, i believe the graphics are quite good. anyway, a departure from the routine.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Little kids in Chilakaluripet and Narasaraopet will believe anything if it’s repeated often enough on Teevee. But I prefer to believe mine eyes than thine hype.
Please mention one scene where the graphics were of the ‘wow” kind. Even the opening Fly scene where it comes out of the shell/cocoon and almost gets swept away by the gushing water was so banal.
And, pray, why in all the closeups pictures should the Fly be front-angle, i.e. facing the audience?
Is no other closeup possible?
The crowd last night seemed pleased with the movie, which I guess is what counts ultimately for the investors and S.S.Rajamouli.
“Please mention one scene where the graphics were of the ‘wow” kind”
I believe the point that he/she wanted to make is that with the budget the film was made with, the graphics are alright. But from what I saw in the trailer, it was pathetic.
I don’t think comparing a medium budget Indian movie with Hollywood is fair. Hollywood is light years ahead.
About Samantha becoming the darling of the masses, do u really think it’s because of her “acting” skills or something like that?
It’s only because they find her too hot.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. I just fail to understand the logic that we should not compare our movies with Hollywood films.
‘Hollywood is light years ahead’ because Indians despite all their avowed software prowess don’t invest in graphics and/or lack the imagination and/or don’t care about pushing the envelope. Also, in the Indian film industry a disproportionate sum in the overall budget goes to pay the stars.
In the U.S., ticket prices for Tamil and Telugu movies are higher than for Hollywood movies. I’ll probably pay less for Dark Knight Rises than for Eega! No reason to settle for lesser stuff.
2. You write: About Samantha becoming the darling of the masses, ….It’s only because they find her too hot.
On Google Images, I’ve looked at that Samantha creature from all possible angles, albeit clothed angles, but her ‘hotness’ has so far eluded my lecherous, probing eyes.
Maybe, there’s a ‘right angle’ that I missed!
So far I’ve discovered the right angles only in Padmapriya, Vimala Raman and Tabu aunty among the Southern gals.
“‘Hollywood is light years ahead’ because Indians despite all their avowed software prowess don’t invest in graphics and/or lack the imagination and/or don’t care about pushing the envelope. Also, in the Indian film industry a disproportionate sum in the overall budget goes to pay the stars.”
First, you have to admit that in Hollywood with the exception of a handful of films, all others are made with at least twice the budget of Indian movies(I’m talking about big budget Indian movies like Endhiran which was made on a 150 cr budget).
Now tell me how it’s fair to compare Eega which was probably made on a 25-30 cr budget with Hollywood ventures made on 10 times it’s budget.
I do agree with some of your points. We definitely lack the imagination and we don’t care about pushing the envelope. Hey, when you can make people go ‘aah’, ‘ooh’ and ‘wow’ over a movie like Eega, why would u care to make better things?
“In the U.S., ticket prices for Tamil and Telugu movies are higher than for Hollywood movies. I’ll probably pay less for Dark Knight Rises than for Eega! No reason to settle for lesser stuff.”
Valid argument. I guess Rajni movies cost even higher. If I were you, I’d stop watching Indian movies altogether. I’d be frustrated as well when I pay a lot more than I do for fine Hollywood movies and ultimately get robbed of my sanity.
“On Google Images, I’ve looked at that Samantha creature from all possible angles, albeit clothed angles, but her ‘hotness’ has so far eluded my lecherous, probing eyes”
Preferences differ from person to person. 😛
Personally, I do find her pretty. With makeup, of course. I don’t think any of our celebs would even be close to being pretty without it.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Even though budgets are higher in Hollywood, costs are significantly lower in India. Isn’t that the reason our low-wage software coolies are getting jobs via outsourcing deals. High-end computers are also commoditized these days and not too expensive. No reason why Indian film-makers can’t make cutting-edge graphics special effects.
As you said, Indians are easily satisfied with C-grade stuff.
2. You write: I guess Rajni movies cost even higher.
Yes, Enthiran ticket was $30. I paid $8 for Avatar, $6 or $7 for Dark Knight…
“Even though budgets are higher in Hollywood, costs are significantly lower in India”
The big budget movies normally make use of foreign technicians for stunts, CG etc… With the kind of budgets these movies are made, I don’t think u can get cutting-edge graphics. For example Endhiran was made with a budget of 150 – 160 cr. But a lot of money was wasted on the picturization of the songs.
BUT no excuse for shoddy work. Movies like Endhiran and Ra.One could have had much better CG had they avoided adding songs and spent the money used in the picturization of the songs for making better special effects.
Bollywood is much better when it comes to special effects. Don 2 is a very good example. Although not on par with Hollywood, the effects and action scenes were nice. Way better than Endhiran and Ra.One..!!
Your website is not accessible from India 🙁
Can you do something about it?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
What Error Message are you getting?
How were you able to put your comment then?
We are not blocking Indian IPs.
No error message, but the website as such is not loading and chrome gives up.
I’m able to send comments because I’m using Singapore proxy!!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Since I’m the paranoid sort I suspect mischief from the Indian side (ISPs, star fans etc). Some movie producers are also ISPs
But other Indian readers have posted comments today without mentioning any issues.
If you give me your IP address (I won’t publish it) I can run a trace route/ping and see if there are issues.
Also you might want to try Firefox browser.
Chrome seems to have issues with some sites. Please see below:
http://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=113910
https://productforums.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/chrome/LeekUpSYXqs
Getting ready for the dark knight rises?
SearchIndia.com Rises:
Yes, already at the theatre. 😉
http://www.searchindia.com/2012/07/11/dark-knight-rises-looms-over-gotham/
Off-topic:
Some days back, saw The Shawshank Redemption. Was such a class movie that I am short of words. 🙂
The ending with the dialogue ” I hope…” is just so superb and wonderful.
Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman were just phenomenal
Hats off to the whole crew members.
Have never seen such a great Hindi film. 🙁
SearchIndia.com Responds:
The Shawshank Redemption is #1 on IMDB Top 250 Movies Users Chart.
Shawshank rocks!
Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_Deewarein -> was decent when I saw it many years ago.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
3 Deewarein looks interesting.
See!
I told you that you should have a section for recommendation.
I pleaded, begged but you have not added that yet. 🙂
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Done.
I am Brahma. Will be permanently ‘pinned’ to the right column.
SI,
why didn’t you review Shawshank Redemption?
I’ve seen the movie a lot of times now and it’s still not lost its charm.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Parkalam.
Going forward, all movie recommendations must follow the I’m Brahma …. post, as per Naveen’s diktat.
It deserves its position. Its that great. Indian directors may have never heard of such a theme.
Forrest Gump, Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction all released in the same year 1994.
What a year it seems to be.
If pressed hard, what would be your order of preferences in those three legendary films?? 🙂
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Run Forrest, Run!
1. Forrest Gump
2. Shawshank Redemption
3. Pulp Fiction
I would also recommend SI to watch 3 Deewarein….loved it when i watched it a few yrs back….
i thinks flies are born as larvae from eggs and then pupa and then fly,i wonder rajamouli slipped it or just doesn’t know.
If he knew i think he would be thinking “well just skip the larve,eggs and pupa crap,those dumbass audience doesn’t care,they’ll receive any crap i thow at ’em with grace,just like in the past”, well whatever those audience did received that crap with more grace than he expected..
i’d say most Indian directors would think in d same way.
what do u say about that
SearchIndia.com Responds:
I’ve always said people get the movies they deserve.
Why did you think Indian movie makers steal with such impunity and deliver such crappy movies – Because the Indian audience is comprised mostly of sick f*cks who couldn’t care less.
Indian audience loves crap, crappier the better.
And the list of stolen Indian movies is endless: Ghajini, God Tussi Great Ho, Hum Kissise Kum Nahin, Ek Ajnabee, Manmathan Ambu, Tees Maar Khan etc.
And Indian actors (Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Kamal Hassan, Surya, Salman Khan, Vikram, Akshay Kumar etc) are rich beneficiaries of such brazen theft. And yet our people (fans) are forever chomping on the dicks of these worthless scumbags.
South Korea, a nation the size of Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, makes infinitely better movies than all of India with its Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood, Sandalwood, Bhojpuriwood etc put together.
I’ve seen countless Indian movies in theatres here (i.e. in the U.S.). No one, no one, except desis watch this garbage! Go to a South Korean movie like Yellow Sea, the audience is comprised mostly of Americans.
“i thinks flies are born as larvae from eggs and then pupa and then fly,i wonder rajamouli slipped it or just doesn’t
know.”
Lol, no offence man, but aren’t you nitpicking here?
This is a movie (and an Indian movie at that), not a National Geographic program on flies. 😛
But that said, your second paragraph is 100% true. When the people are ready to accept crap, why would the film makers even bother to deliver a decent movie? Anbe Sivam, a delightful movie and that too by Sundar.C(a totally worthless buffoon) was an average grosser at the box office. But look at how crappy movies of Vijay and Ajith have fared at the B.O
It’s the audience who has to be blamed, not the film makers. When only shit becomes successful commercially, they stick to delivering more shit. Dare to make a good movie and the audience(except for a minor section) readily raise their middle finger high. There are a few exceptions to this too.
Ok movie not worth the showers of praise as they do here in india….
A dozens of films at least would be made taking inspiration out of this,, which means there would be Hindi remakes as well for all these craps….
SearchIndia.com Responds:
A Hindi remake is definitely on the cards.
After all, these days every crappy Telugu and Tamil film is being remade in Hindi. For example – Singham, Siruthai, Pokiri, Kaavalan, Vinai Thandi Varuvayaa etc
I haven’t seen U have posted a review of this…Thanks
Bit busy reading The Dark Knight Rises reviews…… a friend has narrated this film to me and when I expressed my doubts over the quality of the graphics (which look rather cheap on trailers), he insisted that I ought to watch it ‘to clear all my doubts’ as he felt that the graphics are on par with any Hollywood film….well, your review has cleared all my doubts…..
by the way, inside news is that Rajamouli had only a low budget film on his mind when he had started Eega last year, reportedly, only with a budget of 4 crores…..but as he had begun to work on the film and realized that he might have to use graphics more extensively than he had originally conceived, he had to engage technicians from America and a host of Assistant Directors who can talk English in American accent to liaise with those technicians and thus the budget of the film eventually has bloated up to 20 crores….people also say that Rajamouli has aggressively promoted this movie so as to recover his overdrawn budget and that,apparently, the promos have worked…. if we believe this story to be true, it is actually a bunch of americans who are behind those graphics, not Indians….funny…. 🙂
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. If people think Eega graphics is on par with Hollywood stuff then they’re not really seeing Hollywood movies but merely relying on hearsay.
I watch tons of Hollywood movies here in the theatres and rarely ever see Indians. Very few. Indians, at least here, mostly stick to desi movies.
Or they’re smoking some strong weed (I’d like some of that, please). 😉
2. And if the graphic artists in Eega are Americans, they must be recent graduates from the Graphics for Dummies program.
3. No matter the issues that may have bedeviled Eega’s production, be they overdrawn budget, hiring of Americans or wateva, ultimately the box office Gods did smile upon Rajamouli.
4. I don’t know about India but Eega is going strong in the U.S. even in the third week (rather unusual but distressing given the overall quality).
Bet it won’t be 12 months before a Hindi version is out. 🙁
Just returned from Dark Knight Rises…review coming soon.
@araj : you said “he had to engage technicians from America &”it is actually a bunch of americans who are behind those graphics”
Actually total Computer Graphics of ‘Eega’ is handled by an Hyderabad based studio ‘Makuta VFX‘.
It is heard that this studio headed by Kamal Kannan, Pete Draper, Adil Adili and Sunil Akula have delivered 80% of the CG work.
As per the officials of Makuta, only 20% of the Eega graphics work was outsourced and the rest is done by the in house experts.so it is desis to blame for graphics part.
Oh…never knew that….
Well writing this comment looking over the shoulder as the guy next to me in the workplace swears that this is the best movie to come out of India!!!
Maybe Amitabh, Kamal or Aamir should better turn themselves into flies in the sequel 😉
Jokes apart, the romance angle was pretty silly.
Samantha cant act even if her life depends on that. Sudeep’s acting and the graphics were the saving grace. I reckon if you spend 90% of your budget on graphics, then the results better show.
All in all something that I can take the kids once to theatre for entertainment without feeling ashamed of wasting time/money.
SearchIndia.com responds:
1. Eega is still playing in theatres in the U.S., going strong in terms of number of shows. You can take your kids, better/worse half, grandma etc to the film. No issues there.
2. You write: Well writing this comment looking over the shoulder as the guy next to me in the workplace swears that this is the best movie to come out of India!!!
Well, monkeys think the Banana is the greatest thing in the world. 😉
3. If I were to bet, the Hindi Eega will feature either Ajay Devgn or Abhishek Bachchan playing Sudeep. Chronicle of a horror foretold!
But I’d recommend Ranveer Singh for Sudeep’s role.
If Abhishek were to play Sudeep’s role in Hindi, the Eega is sure to drop dead at the beginning itself just to avoid sharing screen space with Abhishek. 🙂
SearchIndia.com Responds:
As I’ve said on countless occasions, Abhishek without his last name is worse than an Eega.
The sad part is that the bozo seems blissfully unaware of the good fortune bestowed upon him and makes little effort to learn the craft.
BTW, Abhishek’s father Amitabh Bachchan too had to resort to ‘influence’ from the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to get roles initially. Pupul Jayakar or one of the other Indira Gandhi biographers mentions this point.
@ SI monkeys think the Banana is the greatest thing in the world.
LOL..
Did sudeep’s acting and voice modulation remind anyone of the late veteran actor Raguvaran, or is it just me?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Speaking from memory, I felt Raghuvaran had more of a tendency to draw out the words, and over time turned it into his ‘ishstyle.’
I really don’t believe how come SI didn’t do proper research. Do you know that Eega is shameless copy of Australian movie “Cockroach” which was released in the year 2010? Here is the proof:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1617059/
Here is the article about plagiarism of Eega.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/node/160201
And now, director S.S.Rajamouli denies the plagiarism charges:
http://entertainment.oneindia.in/telugu/news/2012/eega-makkhi-not-copy-cockroach-ss-rajamouli-100149.html
You tell me SI, you said Eega is better than usual Telugu dung, but now, what are you going to say on the above plagiarism issues of the movie??
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Sweetie, as I wrote the other day in response to a comment about Barfi, in future if an Indian movie turns out to be slightly better than the usual dung I’ll assume the plot is filched.
With controversial movies, I’m usually able to ‘see’ the evidence of theft thanks to Netflix, which carries tons of DVDs from every nook of the world.
Unfortunately, Netflix does not carry Cockroach (presumably because it’s a short 14-minute film).
From your links, Prima facie, the Eega story seems to be similar in terms of the dead man returning as a cockroach/mosquito but the leitmotif of Eega is revenge. That does not appear to be the case with Cockroach, based the trailer I watched on IMDB. Plus, the nature of death is not similar in the two movies.
2. The big questions are, have you watched Cockroach and Eega and are the two movies similar?
I suspect you have not because you’d have mentioned it otherwise.
To convince me, you need to provide more evidence than merely throw a few links. The writers of the pieces you cite also don’t seem to have seen Cockroach.
I watched Eega at the request of SI blog reader Araj and I can’t remember Araj mentioning anything about Cockroach.
Perhaps, you could try Hollywood movie Ghost? you may find some similarities.
Obviously, you are right, i didn’t see those two movies.
I thought of sharing it with you.
I read the summary of those movies i found somewhat similar.
However, you can try “Ghost“. That is good movie.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Sweetie, SI has already reviewed Ghost – http://www.searchindia.com/2012/07/05/ghost-review-nice-japanese-remake/
Balupu Review – Horrible Garbage
Balupu (Telugu) is a nauseating film.
Unlike Tamil directors, it seems that the Telugu filmmakers cannot make even watchable films like Mounaguru or Engeyum Eppodhum.
Cast : Ravi Teja ,Prakash Raj,Nasser, Ashutosh Rana,Brahmanandam,Adivi Sesh,Lakshmi Rai,Shruthi Hassan, Anjali.
Music: Thaman.
Direction: Gopichand.
Story:
Ravi Teja(Ravi) is a normal guy who works as a collection agent.Due to certain circumstances, he falls in love with Shruti(Shruti Hassan). And the villain kidnaps her. A truth via flashback is revealed that is a gangster in Vizag having the name of “Balupu” Shankar. He crosses the path of a local mining mafia don Nanaji(Prakash Raj). Due to this, he becomes a partner of Poorna’s(Ashutosh Rana) gang. Poorna waits for a long time to capture the mining business and uses Balupu in his operations. He falls in love with Dr. Anjali (Anjali) who is the sister of Nanaji. What happens next is revealed as the story moves on.
The story is pretty weak.It draws some inspiration from the Rajnikanth starrer Badsha.
Screenplay & Direction:
The direction is amateurish.
The director has done a wonderful execution, that is of the paying audience.
Agreed that the sudden twists are interesting but overall the screenplay is bad.
The comedy scenes involving Shruti and Bhramanandam are good.
The last 30 minutes are plain rubbish with silly dialogues.
With little regard to both screenplay or story, every scene is punctuated with a silly dance or a horrible sequence.
Most of the jokes were cringe worthy that it made me anticipate a fight sequence for some relief.
The fight sequences lack the class of Hollywood.But it was ok for South Indian film standards.
The “Gangnam” dance involving Shruti and Brahmanandam dance which is ok.
The final IPL song sequence to which the entire cast dance is a piece of shit !
Acting:
In the acting performances, Anjali and Prakash Raj take the honours.
Prakash Raj was impressive in a dark role.This role is a cake-walk for him.But the class that he showed in films like Mozhi or Abhiyum Naanum is sorely missed here.
It can be safely concluded that Ravi Teja has very little acting skills. He is either underwhelming or horribly over-the-top.In one of the film dialogues Brahmanandam says “You deserve an Oscar for this” to the hero.I am sure he meant it to be a lighter vein.
Shruti Hassan is average in acting department. She tries hard to compensate with her glamour show.
Lakshmi Rai adds to the glamour quotient in a item dance.
Anjali has done well in a short role and some of her portions are watchable.
She does not know that her lover Ravi is a gangster and believes he is a musician.Only in Indian movies does a heroine believe her lover to be a musician.
Music:
The songs in the film are ok.The music conforms to the standard Telugu film template. A item song “Lucky Rai” involving Lakshmi Rai is catchy.
Recommendation- Skip It:
Most probably, Telugu fans will lap up this trash. But if you have any iota of intelligence left, please raise your middle finger.