Eesha Movie Review:
Rating: 2.75 / 5
By anrwriting ✍🏽 [ Film critic]
Director Srinivas Manne, who made his debut with Katha in 2009, returns after a long gap of 16 years with Eesha, a film driven more by passion than polish. Starring Trigun, Hebba Patel, Akhil Raj, and Siri Hanumanthu, the film managed to gain visibility primarily due to the relentless promotional efforts of Vamsi Nandipati and Bunny Vasu. Their aggressive marketing ensured awareness, premiere buzz, and initial footfalls. But does the film live up to the hype suggesting audiences would need talismans to survive the scares? Let’s take a closer look.
Story:
Four friends strong believers in logic, science, and rational thinking make it their mission to expose fake godmen, tantriks, and those exploiting blind faith for personal gain. In the process of solving one such case, they unknowingly walk into a far more dangerous situation. What is this problem? Can they escape it? These questions form the core of Eesha and are best experienced on screen.
Performances:
Horror films often limit the scope for nuanced performances, relying heavily on reactions rather than layered acting. Trigun and Akhil Raj emerge slightly ahead, delivering comparatively better performances. Hebba Patel and Siri Hanumanthu are adequate but fail to leave a strong impact.
The climax heavily depends on Hebba Patel’s performance, but unfortunately, she falls short at this crucial juncture.
Babloo Prithiveeraj, despite unconvincing makeup, adds significant value through his acting presence and stands out among the supporting cast.
Technical Aspects:
Music director R.R. Dhruvan is undoubtedly the film’s biggest strength. Despite weak production design, poor graphics, and a fragile screenplay, his background score and sound design help maintain audience engagement and elevate several sequences.
The cinematography clearly suffers from budget constraints, which are evident throughout. Visually, the film looks technically weak. The VFX is particularly disappointing—whether it’s the heavenly gate in the sky, the bat imagery, corpse effects used to scare Siri Hanumanthu, or the car accident visuals, all appear poorly executed and take away from the film’s impact.
The director and producers place strong faith in the climax—and rightly so. Conceptually, it is the film’s strongest portion. The way themes like creation, karma, science, and belief systems are addressed is thoughtful and surprisingly effective. The film challenges ideas that audiences often dismiss blindly without understanding their deeper logic.
Emotionally, the climax works on paper. However, the emotional depth fails to fully reach the audience due to weak scene composition and execution. With better staging and technical finesse, this segment could have delivered a far stronger payoff.
That said, Srinivas Manne proves himself to be a reasonably competent director, even if the final output doesn’t completely do justice to his intent.
Analysis:
Logically, Eesha has several flaws. The graphics are subpar, performances are inconsistent, and technical limitations are visible throughout. However, the film finds redemption in its final 15 minutes, where the dialogues and thematic discussion around karma and belief leave an impression.
Though positioned as a horror film, Eesha ultimately leans more toward philosophical reflection than fear.
Verdict:
A flawed but sincere attempt that partially succeeds due to its thought-provoking climax.
Rating: 2.75 / 5
