In this Indian Tollywood film, as opposed to Bollywood, a young man named Nani declares his love to a woman named Bindhu. However, this incites jealousy in a corrupt businessman named Sudeep, who kills Nani in cold blood. However, Nani’s spirit is transferred into a puparium on a leaf and he is reborn as a common housefly. Desperate for revenge, the Nani Fly sets out to make Sudeep’s life a living hell. Eega is really a film that must be seen to be believed. The first act of the film almost seems to be a spoof of a typical Bollywood love story, complete a musical number with Nani declaring his love for Bindhu (with quite humorous actions and lyrics). However, the film does not fully come alive until the scene Nani is reincarnated as a fly. While this premise is ridiculous in its own right, its made more hilarious by the fact that the fly is animated with very low-quality CGI, which gives it a very cartoony look. However, this works in the film’s favour, since it gives a Looney Tunes-like feel to the ways the Nani Fly torments Sudeep.
It is sort of amazing how creative Eega gets with the ways the Nani Fly is able to torture Sudeep, while still staying true to the physics of being a fly. One of the best moments comes when the Nani Fly is able to get Sudeep to crash his car, which is followed by one of the most crowd-pleasing interval title cards to ever be seen on film. Another moment I enjoyed in the film involved a sauna box and a close call with a towel rack. While the plot of the film is already quite fantastical, it gets more ridiculous as the Nani Fly begins wearing goggles and mini metal gloves (made by Bindhu) and Sudeep pretty much becomes a full-on super-villain. Another highly enjoyable aspect of Eega is the score, with each character having their own theme, which is sung in the background. It really helps to establish the mood of each scene, with certain musical cues being quite humorous in their own right. One of the best scenes of the film is a montage, which shows the Nani Fly training and tormenting Sudeep. During this montage there is a full-on theme song, with repeated chants of “EEGA EEGA EEGA,” which will remain in your head long after the credits have rolled. Words just cannot fully describe how much of a fun film Eega is to watch. It is really a film that must be watched with a crowd to get the full sense of enjoyment. I cannot recommend this film enough and it is an early favourite of this year’s Toronto After Dark line-up. 10 | LOVED IT
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