Set in a coastal village, in the backdrop of the salt-quarrying, the film Eesa centres on a young, blissfully married couple whose life is torn apart, when the wife is killed by a few bigwigs of the community.
Eesa, the husband’s vendetta against his wife’s killers takes a gruesome turn, as he brutally hunts them down one by one.
The narration moves back and forth in time, as the director depicts Eesa’s earlier life and the horrifying turn it takes. The locations are refreshing and the waters at one point a life-giving force, turn into a ghastly bloody site, when Eesa traps down his tormentors and mows them down, one by one. In a script of this genre, violence is an integral component, and some of it may not be for the faint-hearted. An actor with emotional calibre, Vignesh lends conviction to Eesa, who from a simple labourer eking out a living around the coastal area, transforms into a killing machine, tormented, deranged and suffering from delusions. Lakshana in her first major role blends well with the character as Eesa’s wife who raises her voice against injustice, and bears the consequences of it. The rest of the cast being fresh faces works to the film’s advantage.
The downers here are the attempts of comedy by Kottachi and gang.
Scripted and directed by debutant Bala Ganesha, Eesa is a vendetta-based plot, with a refreshing treatment, and fairly engaging despite its flaws.
