'Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi' review: The fun buddy film Telugu cinema was waiting for 
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'Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi' review: The fun buddy film Telugu cinema was waiting for

The film offers plenty of laughs in a layered story that keeps us entertained always.

Written by : Krishna Sripada

In what seems to be an autobiographical story, Tharun Bhascker of Pelli Choopulu fame, has pulled off another frolicking film – this time a quirky buddy comedy, the kind for which  movie lovers usually go to Tamil or Malayalam cinema to enjoy.

Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi has all the usual tropes of a buddy comedy – a friend who is giving up what he loves for ambition, a heartbreak story, a laidback comedian and Goa (of course, Goa!). Yet, it carefully sidesteps all the clichés, keeps refreshing and reinventing itself to give you a pleasurable movie experience, where not a single minute passes by without a laugh, the interval bang being the best of all. 

The camera angles are experimental, the dialogue delivery is minimalistic with great timing (Tharun Bhascker-special we must call it), the screenplay is clean and taut and the music (no force-fitted friends-are-the-best style track) is complementary.

From the guy who constantly roams around in Wayfarers to hide emotions, the one who watches trailers of movies like Focus (that’s a hint) in the parking lot of his office after being fired, to the guy who dubs for animal programmes, a wedding editor who is understatedly nice, to the charmer who is about to inherit a bar, the movie brings the storyline of four childhood friends who are totally different from each other and makes them confront their ghosts.

The overall theme of short-filmmaking allows the characters to conjure up comedy in every scene, in every way possible. Vivek Sagar is quickly rising as one of the neo-noir music directors who might do Telugu movies and the urban audiences a favour by giving them music that fits into the story and doesn’t shake the hell out of their brains.

Same can be said of the camera work. But, Tharun is the real hero of the movie, his perspective reflecting in the scenes. Who knew it was possible to make a Telugu buddy comedy with no sexism, no crass dialogues or vulgarity? That one could pull this off despite half the movie featuring a character heavily drunk is in itself a heist that deserves applause.

The film proceeds from the initial travails/background-building to the get-together and an impulsive Goa plan while interweaving the flashback of one of the characters. The story develops interesting layers which a lot of happy-go-lucky adults might relate to.

Abhinav Gomatam as Kaushik gets some wonderfully witty lines (give it to Tharun to create new-age comedians). Sushant, Venkatesh and Vishwak are all wonderful actors relying more on subtlety than overaction. The movie even picks meme inspirations like ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ while not ignoring or being disrespectful towards the two women characters, Anisha and Simran.

All in all, if you were waiting for a quirky buddy comedy in Telugu without obscenity, without compromising on humour and without being overly preachy about friendship, this is the one. Tharun Bhascker has pulled off what I thought is a Telugu-ized version of Dil Chahta Hai and Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara. And does it in a moderate budget, with great style.

Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither TNM nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the film's producers or any other members of its cast and crew.