YOURE in her dms, I’M getting killed by the millionaire who wants her and being reborn as a housefly to exact my revenge on him and get her back. we are not the same.
Bindhu is literally the female character ever. She runs a charity. She’s a tsundere. She’s been leading the boy next door on for the past 2 years but they’re both so into it that they can basically read each others’ minds. She makes miniature art. When the boy next door is killed she pledges the rest of her life to him even though they’d never dated. When a fly in her room uses her teardrops to spell out that it’s the dead boy next door reincarnated she believes it immediately and is 100% down to help him commit revenge murder. She makes miniature goggles and armour for her fly boyfriend. She makes a little house and gym for her fly boyfriend. She orders one cappuccino for her. and one for her fly boyfriend. she’s insane and I love her so much
It's seriously maddening how Rajamouli took a movie about a fly that goes on a revenge quest to kill the guy who killed him in a previous life and made it. Good. Like. It's a good movie. Objectively. And I just wanted to talk a bit about something he did really well in this movie, which was getting us to actually care about this damn fly, as a character, enough to feel emotional when it's hurting
Like, first there's the fact that he actually takes the time to get us to know human!Nani (henceforth known as Hani) before he becomes fly!Nani (henceforth known as Flani). (I'll use "Nani" to refer to the character regardless of incarnation). Through Hani we learn that Nani is ingenious (opening scene where he makes the spotlight so Bindu can finish her microart), devoted (same), funny, stubborn (his entire relationship with Bindu), respectful (because when he truly believes Bindu doesn't want him there, he leaves), good at picking up cues (relationship with Bindu again), impulsive (but not in a bad way), and a lot of other characteristics that make us like him and sympathize with him. Most "murderous animal" movies don't bother with making the murderous animals actual characters, but Rajamouli makes sure Nani was humanized, literally and figuratively, through Hani, for the first third of the movie.
That part is sort of obvious, so I'll move on, but I want to point out also that all of these characteristics will be extremely important for Flani later. Half of them are important to help him manage to actually murder one of the richest men in the country as one of the most fragile animals in the world, and the other half explain both how he manages to communicate flawlessly with Bindu without words, and also why we as the audience still understand what he is thinking.
We already know Nani when he reincarnates, so that helps us relate to and understand the fly. Hani also serves a purpose, one that will serve a very important purpose later: body language. Hani has very expansive and unique body language, which, when transplanted to Flani, serves the double purpose of 1- making sure we easily transpose Nani into the figure of Flani, because when it has the same body language as him, it's easier to associate the two, carrying on the humanization that he expressed in the first arc; and 2- making Flani extremely expressive. A combination of very outward and easy to understand body language with the association of his figure with Hani's makes it easy for the audience to attribute feelings and relate to a creature that has very little to offer in terms of facial expressions, and nothing in terms of verbal language. Flani relies entirely on body language to communicate his feelings to the audience, and the fact that we're already familiar with it helps us care a lot more about him. It's basically the opposite of the Lion King "live action" remake.
The fact that Hani has his own arc also adds to that purpose. Hani's relationship with Bindu serves to show us he has the powers needed to defeat Sudeep in the form of a very small and defenseless animal (resourcefulness, intelligence, a knack for improvisation, stubbornness, being annoying enough that it constitutes torture), and, of course, to lay the groundwork for their revenge partnership later on, but it's also an arc in itself. The first third of Eega could be its own romcom movie. We watch him care deeply for Bindu and we watch them play their give-and-take game, and, particularly after being shown that he really would leave her alone if he thought she wanted that, and after seeing how much she enjoys their game together, we root for them. We all but forget that he's going to get murdered anyway, and we find ourselves caring for this arc. And then we do get to see Hani finally get what he wanted (in a very beautiful way that I might write about later because I'm crazy), he instantly gets abducted and dies. Not only does he get abducted immediately after seeing Bindu finish her necklace and go talk to him, but he hears her first "I love you" to him, from Sudeep's mouth, a second before he dies. The happy ending between the two of them we knew was coming from the start gets cut short before it actually happens, and we, as the audience, feel cheated, even though we knew he was going to die.
And because we feel cheated, we want revenge on Sudeep just as much as he does.
Had Hani died after getting to be with Bindu, or even before, it wouldn't feel so much like betrayal and spark such rage from the audience. But we were cheated out of a story we couldn't help but care about right when it was about to get good. Immediately after Eega's first (and arguably only) full musical number too. We were all on one wavelength (which the fact that it's a musical number really helps, like, there's a rhythm), and suddenly the genre shifted. We weren't even there for a romcom, but it was a good one, and Sudeep didn't even give us the decency of letting us finish that arc, or at least leave it fully unfinished, before we were dragged into the revenge. That helps us hate him, and our hatred helps us care.
Finally, there's the first sequence of Nani as a fly. The first, like, three times I watched the movie (don't ask me how many times I've watched Eega, it's not important) I laughed at that scene. Like, the way they do the trope where they obscure his face for as long as possible before introducing him is laughable but it also does serve the purpose of establishing him as a main character even if the audience fully realizes how comical it is to do that to a fly. But most importantly, we then get treated to eight straight minutes of Flani having near-death experiences, all in extremely mundane ways. I counted 16 near-death experiences in that sequence, which is just ridiculous. And his possible deaths include almost being swallowed by a kid who was blowing bubbles and getting stuck to a golf ball. Like, come on.
But! That scene is still very tense - like I said, we care about Nani, and therefore we don't want Flani to die immediately after being born, even if we are still not as attached to it as we are to Hani -, and, most importantly, it really conveys the helplessness of being a fly. What all his near death experiences, with the exception of the one where he was being chased by a bird, have in common, is that the person or being responsible for almost killing him wasn't even aware that he was about to be killed. And what all of them, bird included, have in common is that they would present no risk to a human being. No human worries about being swallowed by a kid, or almost getting stepped on by Rajamouli's cameo, or being eaten by a small bird. The only thing that looks threatening to a human is the very first almost-death experience - nearly drowning. A tsunami certainly looks very scary to a human audience. And so, when the water rushes to meet him, we fear it right along with him, only to be reminded that it's the tiniest of problems - just a dropped soda can. We felt small and helpless just as he did, faced with something that's relatably scary to us all, only to then realize that it isn't all that scary to us.
That helps drive home how exceptionally fragile Flani is, while keeping us, the audience, tense. It also establishes the genre shift from romcom to action, after 16 fucking uninterrupted near death experiences for the main character, whom we also just watched die helplessly for real only seconds prior. Hani was already too weak to face Sudeep, as much as he wanted to, and Flani seems even worse in comparison. That helps the audience care for him, want him to survive, to do well. And then, when he meets Sudeep again, that again serves a double purpose:
Make us hate Sudeep even more for putting Nani in such a helpless situation, which helps us be on board with fucking killing this guy ASAP;
Establish Flani as the underdog character of all time.
A fly killing a human sounds impossible. A regular human killing one of the richest, most powerful men in the country sounds impossible. A fly killing one of the richesst, most powerful men in the country sounds straight up insane. Therefore, Flani is as much of an underdog as he possibly could be. And everyone loves the underdog, because everyone sees themself in them. Before we know it, we're hooked.
Through these steps, Eega stops sounding like a movie we would watch ironically that would be too ridiculous to take seriously and becomes a movie that the audience is fully emotionally invested in. And I think it takes a true genius to do that so well.
My fav SSR film (* *)….. This film reminds of my childhood days in Bangalore … Durin’ those days, I would roam around small streets out there for playin’ street cricket for hours…. there was a small gamin’ centre near my house run by a vro who used to play his fav Telugu songs ( which eventually became “ my go to “ songs ) in his computer whenever I go to his gamin’ centre ( most of the time I would not go there to play games… I just go to talk with that vro) … I would be roamin’ outside my house without any responsibility & pressure more than half of the day & @ the same time, I would score good academically….. but as the time progressed , in order to score like more than just 85 percent… I felt like more burdened, stressed & pressurised …. I would go to places other than my house & school only durin’ summer holiday (that too due to peer pressure )… I used to go to markets atleast before to buy snacks & stationery….. But online shoppin’ became normal in my house afterwards …. :)
Hey, could you rank every SSR movie from Absolutely Goated to Still good but worth watch again, and please provide reasons as to why you've ranked them as they are please? Pretty please 🥺👉👈
Ooo, what a task (I'm going to get beat up I'm afraid!)
but here goes, putting my life at risk: SS Rajamouli's movies (not in chronological order) with my ranking
Absolutely GOAT
Eega - Before he was Shyam Singha Roy in the body of Vasu, Nani was Nani in the body of a housefly and I find cinematic poetry in that. + The graphics, the music, the exaggerated comedy... Sudeep knows exactly what he's doing with his lines
Magadheera - (he really has it out for reincarnation stories doesn't he?) Charan's first real role (I hate Chirutha) The grandeur of the sets, the background here and there... Also the mass CGI with the gladiator audience was the new hot toy that SSR introduced. Anaganaganaga crawled so Ettara Jenda could run. (You know i'm right)
RRR - Just for Bheem's intro, it deserves an oscar. I'm one of the people who think Naatu Naatu was good, but not THAT good as they made it out to be. Also, RRR gave me the first himbo couple I could ship openly. My grandma agrees because the only dispute she had with RRR is that Ram had to pee and poop in that cell. No disagreement against RamBheem being the Tollywood IT couple
Chatrapathi - it gave teluguvallu fantastic inside jokes like:
a. Tala tintada mondema? (will the shark eat his head or body first?)
b. Suridu? YADUNDAVAYYA? SURIDUUU (Suridu, kaha ho? Suridooo)
c. OKA ADDUGUUUU☝🏽👣 (one step, I want one step)
d. Violin champakura babu (chatrapathi and simhadri kill our brain cells with the violin music in the climax emo moments, i always want to pull my hair out)
- but also, Chatrapathi had a good bgs, worked fantastically for hero-uplifting moments like the interval and okka adugu scene
Bahubali: The Beginning - Only and only for the interval scene and the architecture of Mahishmati. TOP TIER. The loopholes and characterization of Avantika could have been way better. Pacha Bottesina was totally unnecessary
Good, Can Watch Again
6. Vikramarkudu - Chintata chita chita chintata TA! (teluguvallu can translate this into literally anything)
7. Yamadonga - just for the RAMBA, OORVASI, MENAKA moment I take away 5 points from the 10 points it earned. Tarak and Priyamani was a pairing I didn't know I needed
8. Maryada Ramanna - Sunil anna I love you anna but this wasn't your movie. This is the cycle's story, and that one song in the train. the screenplay is a cart wheel without the cart. It's funny in some places but Brahmaji dies FOR NO REASON. JUSTICE FOR BRAHMAJI
9. Simhadri - I didn't really feel for the characters. BUT. BUT BUT. I have to say this because it's been stewing in me for so long: Simhadri's interval scene ran so Bahubali 1's ending twist could fly. I said what I said y'all know it's the same vibe we all catching.
Eh, One Time Watch
10. Sye - it doesn't seem like an SSR movie, but it's not that good. Young Adult revenges were in trend when this was made and it fit well with its counterparts. Sometimes I even forget that Genelia and Nithiin did indeed work with Rajamouli
11. Student No. 1 - not that special, honestly early-career Tarak's movies just blend in my head: SN1, Aadhi, Samba... but hey at least SN1 started a long lasting kinship
12. Bahubali: The Conclusion - THAT IS NOT SIVAGAMI! HOW DARE YOU! this is beyond ooc, it's not a character at all. At one point I thought they'd bring out a tantrik doing black magic to change Sivagami... And Devasena is not the best written character in SSR's filmography. This movie makes me want to scratch my eyeballs out. If only my mom had the audacity and hardheadedness to talk to grandma like this. Also... Avantika's leader, who is killed by Bhalla in the seige, IS DEVASENA'S BROTHER. and she just LOOKS as he's getting the life choked out of him? oo don't make me start about this movie I can rant for a loooong time
and so.... *flaps hands* that was it ig? thanks for the ask babu!
