Release date:
|
July 6, 2012
|
Director:
|
S.S. Rajamouli
|
Cast:
|
Sudeep,
Samantha, Nani
|
If
you look at Eega at a very
superficial level, you may consider it just a fun and light-hearted special
effects-driven fantasy. But there’s more to it than just that! S.S. Rajamouli’s
film about a man reborn as a fly to take revenge on his murderer is funny, has
a completely unusual concept, is a reminder to all of us that height is not
might, and the special effects are path-breaking for Indian cinema (with a
fraction of the budget of the average Hollywood film, I assume).
Eega takes us through the story of Nani who
loves Bindu and is murdered by businessman Sudeep who in turn lusts after the pretty
girl. Nani returns as a housefly on a mission to protect his sweetheart while also determined to murder Sudeep. How can a teeny insect achieve that?
For the answer, let’s refer to the lyrics of one of the film’s many
foot-tapping songs: “Can’t a tiny spark too small to be seen, unleash an
inferno that could burn down a forest?”
Acting
in a film of this genre comes with its limitations. Samantha is sweet looking
and acquits herself reasonably well. Nani barely gets any screen time but for what it’s worth,
he’s good too. Kannada star Sudeep, however, dominates the proceedings from
start to finish and though he could have over-acted the part of the bad guy, he
does not. So he is a lecherous, arrogant, murderous, paranoid and cowering fellow
by turns, and looks admirably convincing through all his battles with a
computer-generated fly! Of course it doesn’t hurt that he’s such a good-looking man.
The
focal point of Eega (meaning “fly”) is
the manner in which an insect defeats a strapping human being who has crores of
cash, scores of employees and a palatial house at his disposal. Have you ever
had a fly buzzing in your ear? Can you imagine a fly flying into your eye? Do
you realise how easy it would be to keep a tiger out of a building in
comparison with the humble housefly? Think about all these questions and you
will know that in the battle of the wise, size is irrelevant. The eega’s ingenuity in this film is amusing
and eye-opening. Where the film falters though is when it moves away from the
size-does-not-matter premise by showing the eega
building up its muscles and managing to pick up needles with its minuscule
‘arms’. Silly, no? Fortunately there’s not much of that happening … fortunate,
because it’s not half as entertaining as watching the little creature use its
brains to outwit its able-bodied human foe.
Besides,
the eega in the film is a product of top-notch
special effects. He does not look 100% like a real-life fly, but since humour
is the selling point of this film in which an insect dances, that does not
matter. It matters even less because he’s quite a handsome chap, this CG
version of a bug with
eyes an attractive shade of red! The film scores on the comedy and action
front. What I missed though was the poignancy that could have been better
achieved in the Bindu-Nani romance after the boy’s death … You know the way
Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze made us weep playing the leads in Ghost? Eega manages to
tug at the heart only occasionally, like when the eega first communicates with his human
girlfriend in sign language, but I wish I wish I wish there was more where that
came from! I suspect that the reason for this failing is that I couldn’t relate
to the Bindu-Nani romance before his death. I mean, she’s supposed to be in
love with him but doesn’t give him a single hint for two whole years?! Not only did that hark back to the old days when
our films made a huge deal of pyaar ka
izhaar karna, it was also highly unconvincing considering that Bindu otherwise
comes across as a straight-talking girl, neither old-fashioned nor the sort to
play games.
In
the overall analysis though, Eega is
a thoroughly enjoyable film that breaks new ground for special-effects driven
Indian cinema. Way to go, Mr Rajamouli!
Rating (out of five): ***1/2
Footnote: Happily for film buffs like me, Eega has been released in Delhi NCR (my home city) with English
subtitles. A big salaam to the producers for having the business sense to do
so, in a country where our film industries have yet to get their act together
on this front while Hollywood has wisely made it standard practice to release
dubbed Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions of their films in India. Personally, I
prefer subtitles to dubbed films. Not everyone shares my tastes though, so I do
wish all our Indian film industries would get active with both dubbing and
subtitling. Right now, it’s possible they may only draw a niche audience of
dedicated film buffs, but over a period of time I bet they will create a market
among non-traditional audiences too. Unfortunately, we are far far from that
stage. Even subtitling rarely happens! So again, a big salaam to the producers
of Eega!
Censor rating: U/A
Running time: 138 minutes
