Ee Nagaraniki Emaindhi Review (2018)

ENE is an amazingly fun ride navigating the pressures of adult life, passion, lost love, I guess even capitalism if I were to be so imaginatively stupid. The core protagonist’s gang comprises of Karthik, Kaushik, Uppi and Vivek, who accidently go to Goa on a drunken spree and while there embark on soul searching professionally and personally.

The most affected of them and the one who is somewhat posited as the lead is Vivek, who is suffering from heartbreak, which also caused their short film to be abandoned four years back. The framing device of the story is how the gang meets up for a party for Karthik’s marriage and there meet Shirley, who is taking interviews for a promo contest.

The film achieves this unique mix of seriousness and humour and balances it beautifully where scenes of extreme sadness are followed by scenes of extreme humour and the balance is brilliantly maintained. There are also some beautiful touches wherein the joke that Kaushik, who is played phenomelenly well by Abhinav Gomatam, is made fun of as the wastrel of the group or comedian but ends up acting as the lead in the short film that the group makes. Or the fact that the promo contest they give is the place where they finally gain company and money to help complete their story. And even the fact that singular moments are used to bring out the characters of 2-3 people. Take the scene where the gang is dancing with the people of the contest. Vivek himself finds new inspiration and love but Karthik himself also undergoes some self-reflection at the same place.

The serious moments also though, are not just simply serious but make you feel the characters. When after a crazy incident, Karthik feels the reality of life whereas the other 3 are still somewhat less serious, the scene hits you because it paints the reality of life away from the fun of college life. But again, the way Karthik himself gets so consumed about this realist aspect that he forgets to do anything he likes, forgets to do the thing he likes etc. The writing is just superb. Each arc is terrifically completed. The comedic timing is exceptional.

And the film itself is such a mood.