Movie: Eagle
Rating: 1.5/5
Banner: People Media Factory
Cast: Ravi Teja, Anupama Parameshwaran, Kavya Thapar, Navdeep, Srinivas Avasarala, Madhubala, Ajay Ghosh and others
Dialogues: Manibabu Karanam
Music: Davzand
Director of Photography: Karthik Gattamneni, Karm Chawla, Kamil Plocki
Action: Ram Laxman, Real Sathish & Tomek
Producer: T.G Vishwa Prasad
Co-producer: Vivek Kuchibhotla
Edited, Written and Directed by: Karthik Gattamneni
Release Date: Feb 09, 2024
Ravi Teja’s “Eagle” was to be released during Sankranthi festival but the makers sacrificed the date for the good of the Telugu film industry. Their act made the film get good attention and free publicity. “Eagle” finally hit the theaters today.
Let’s find out its merits and demerits.
Story:
Anju (Anupama Parameswaran), a journalist, writes a short story about a rare cotton crop grown near Madanapalli. That small news item alerts Indian agencies, and the officers inquire as to how she learned about this cotton and the location. This piques her interest, and she seeks out more information about the location and the man named Sahadev (Ravi Tej), who was assisting local farmers in growing cotton.
When she arrives, she discovers that the cotton factory was gutted a long time ago, and Sahadev is believed to be dead. She begins to investigate further and discovers that Sahadev is an assassin and the most-wanted criminal by the agencies. Is he truly a criminal? What is his true story?
Artistes’ Performances:
Ravi Teja portrays two distinct identities and looks, and he looks stylish in both. There isn't much to say about his performance, but he plays Sahadev as intense and serious, and he remains in action mode throughout the film.
Anupama Parameswaran does nothing but question various people and gather information in bits.
Navdeep portrays Ravi Teja's friend. Madhu Bala, who plays a high-ranking officer in the union government, is confined to one location and only issues orders to the other officers outside.
Avasarala Srinivas plays an officer, but he appears more like a joker than a RAW officer.
Kavya Thapar's brief appearance brightens an otherwise dull story. Ajay Ghosh portrays an MLA who behaves like a village idiot.
Technical Excellence:
Davzand's background score is dull. The film has two songs, but only none of them appeal. Karthik's cinematography is excellent. The visuals and production values are extremely high.
The producers have spent a bomb on this film. Manibabu Karanam's dialogues are irritating because each actor speaks in a poetic rather than conversational manner.
Highlights:
Rich production values
Drawback:
Mindless action episodes
Over build up for every sequence
Outdated comedy sequences involving Ajay Ghosh
No emotional feel
Analysis
"Eagle" serves as a prime example of how certain directors are squandering the producer's money on frivolous things or creating mindless action sequences, while neglecting to invest any effort into the script. From the evidence, it is apparent that Karthik Ghattamaneni has merely replicated Prashanth Neel's "KGF" films in a poor manner.
The structure of KGF follows a pattern where a character endeavors to uncover details about the protagonist. This individual acquires information gradually, with each scene crafted to be remarkable. The hero is depicted walking in slow motion, smoking cigars, engaging in intense gunfights, explosions, and other action sequences. This is the “KGF” template.
The initial portion of the film "Eagle" encompasses all the elements that were made popular by the "KGF" formula. But, in this film, Anupama's attempts to gather information from numerous individuals about the protagonist appear silly. She acquires snippets of information regarding the hero, limited to just one or two brief scenes from each individual. This appears to be more of a director's convenience rather than being structured in an organic manner.
The silliest thing in this entire film, the hero captures all illegal guns all over the world and places them in his base in Madanapalle. Probably, all Indian government agencies, port authority officers must be sleeping when this guy brings down the guns to a village in Madanapalli. What was director Karthik Ghattamaneni thinking when writing this idea?
Upon the army's unsuccessful attempt to infiltrate the alleged den, the protagonist created, a government officer orders the army to prepare and launch missiles towards the village, while also issuing orders to keep warships at the port.
To present a high-octane action thriller, the writer-director Karthik Ghattamaneni has spent money on “build up” shots, and forgot logic. Even TV-serial writers don’t write such silly tracks involving an MLA and a police officer.
A jihadi group, a Naxal group, and an army battalion are all attempting to bring down the hero simultaneously. When the army sees a jihadi group, they do nothing.
Overall, "Eagle" does all vidwansham on screen, blasting all the rupees the producer has given in the name of action episodes. However, none of these "heavy action episodes" provide a thrilling experience. By the end of the film, you feel like you're watching a long-drawn-out war. There is also a hint of another "Yuddhakanda" in the second part.
Bottom line: Mindless Mayhem
