Eerojullo Review

Eerojullo is sensitivity-meets-realism.  Like a Ravi Babu film it packs the elements of quirkiness, innocence and depth at once.  For a film made on a shoestring budget (just a crore, even if you add up the money earmarked for publicity), this honest yet irreverent film is a clap-worthy endeavour.  If the very many doubles entendres and the suggestive vulgarity will please none but the youth, the love track is surprisingly mature enough to entertain all sections.  All the same, this is a rom-com that has the flavour of a multiplex Bollywood flick, sans the sophistication.  It is refined in its modest way, never making any pretentions.  The substance lurks for the discerning among you, it is up to an audience to embrace the elements he/she is given to lap up in an entertainer.

Sree (Srinivas) is an estranged lover who vows to never befriend a girl, let alone love someone, in the backdrop of an Illayaraja classic.  He is estranged, now that Rajini has dumped her after squeezing some Rs. 3 lakhs over the past many years.  Shreya (Reshma) is dejected at knowing that Kishore, her long-time boy friend, is a fake and vows to never fall in a boy's trap.

Sree and Shreya, like any wounded souls (for want of a better word), begin their relationship with reluctance.  After squabbling pettily, Shreya smiles at Sree believing that the latter is married.  The software engineer has lied to win an accommodation in the neighbouring flat.

She has put the past behind her and is moving on with life, but Kishore is not ready to let her go and is frustrated that Shreya is becoming close to Sree.  He threatens to splash acid on her face, like a jilted lover.

Sree and Shreya are wary of entering in to a relationship yet again.  Credit goes to the director in building a heart-warming rapport, complete with cute innocence, between the twosome.  Sree is not willing to propose another time, while Shreya doesn't trust a boy who uses friendship as a camouflage for an affair.  It is not frequently that we get to watch a film where love is not treated in a regular fashion.

Ee Rojullo derives its strength from its true-to-life quality.  Consider Sree, for example.  Even after all the lessons he has learnt the hard way, he is the same.  He is a fickle minded guy who promises to never tell her `I love you' in one scene and longs for a hug in another scene.  Shreya feels that whenever Sree is around something good happens to her.  It is such seemingly ordinary moments that strike the chord with us.

The film evolves slowly but surely.  One might fear that the film would take the path of a soulless story till the film starts showing intensity and depth.  Thankfully, the story of the lead cast is different from the stories of others.

The character was tailor-made for Srinivas, who looks more like a Tamil hero.  He comes across as natural.  But, it is Reshma who walks out with the best acting performance.  She is not beautiful, her prize is her attraction.  Watch her talk with the hero's caricature on a mirror; watch her mature slowly and surely, much like the story.

The hero's friend has a nice comic timing, and he is an asset for the film.

JB's music fits the bill.  The dialogues could have been better.  The comedy track involving the constable is tacky.

Trade wise, Ee Rojullo has a good start this Ugadi, clocking in not less than 80 percent in multiplexes.  Welcome this summer with this first-of-its-kind comedy in Tollywood.

Released on: 23rd March, 2012