SS Rajamouli and team caught flies, studied them for 'Eega': Cinematographer

SS Rajamouli's 'Eega' (2012) was a commercial success and received rave reviews, with critics praising the screenplay. The film's real hero was a fly, and to give the audience a perfect protagonist, Rajamouli and his team conducted extensive research on flies. Cinematographer KK Senthil Kumar, who worked on 'Eega' along with Rajamouli, spoke in detail about how they made a perfect protagonist out of a fly.

Speaking to Film Companion, Senthil said he, along with Rajamouli and the team of 'Eega', studied flies. "When we were doing research for this film, we caught so many flies. While studying them, we found out that if we expose them to cold temperatures, they become unconscious for some time, maybe 2-3 minutes. We used to take flies and do micro photography and when we saw it, it was very, very ugly," Sethil said.

'Eega' is the story of an underdog in the form of a housefly avenging the villain. It stars Nani, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, and Kichcha Sudeep in the lead roles.

Watch the trailer of Eega here

Senthil, who has also worked with Rajamouli in visual extravaganzas like 'Magadheera', 'Baahubali: The Beginning', 'Baahubali 2: The Conclusion', and 'RRR', found 'Eega' to be more challenging than 'RRR'.

"Eega was more challenging than 'RRR'. We had no reference point. We had not seen anyone do it. The closest that people could come to doing something like this was animation. I watched 'A Bug's Life' for inspiration but hadn't done something like this in real life. Creating the hero of the film, which was a fly, was the biggest challenge," Senthil opined.

Earlier, actor Nani had spoken to India Today about 'Eega'. He said that had the film released today, people would have gone gaga over it.

"What Rajamouli garu did back then was already mind-blowing, so imagine if he were to make 'Eega' today with the current technology and his enhanced understanding. It would undoubtedly become the biggest film of all time and receive tremendous recognition," Nani said.

In 2022, when 'Eega' was screened in the US, the audience loved it and gave it a standing ovation.

'Eega' is a fantasy revenge drama, produced by Sai Korrapat under the Vaaraahi Chalana Chitram banner. It was simultaneously shot in Tamil as 'Naan Ee'.

Published By:

Arushi Jain

Published On:

Apr 18, 2024