Review: ‘Eeb Allay Ooo!’— a Hybrid of Actuality and Fiction

Interminable stoicism has made us fleetingly go in and out of concealment to confront curious incidents, fantasy, and existence… The resulting experience; why our endless, beyond-limit illusions of doctrine, place, and reality push us around in pursuit of some new assured ambit and freedom.

An era where the ostentatious idea of the nation rests in a distant past or hovers in a revamp future, “Eeb Allay Ooo!” lays out a conspicuous and uncomfortable view of the present.

You must have heard of many unique job descriptions… but have you ever come across such descriptions where open arms, all vigilant, roaming under trees and numerous public places, keeping bananas and making unique voices from within.

Sounds weird and surprising?  Well, it’s a job for real: the film opens with the card: ‘Special thanks to the monkeys of Lutyens’ Delhi.’ Yes, the plot revolves around the real-life menace of monkeys that plague government buildings in the national capital of Delhi.  Anjani applies for the job of a monkey repeller… He came to Delhi from his hometown; and staying with his pregnant sister, who is blindsided with the job title and focus on a government job. 

Anjani doesn’t like to spend his time dealing with monkeys. The fact is he is scared of the monkeys. His job requires him to master three magical words used by his colleagues to pursue away or capture perky monkeys. He fails miserably over getting this voice; being unskilled, he tries everything he could to get success in this, including protesting but failing, which leads to losing his job. The film is pitched as derision, and the three magical words “eeb, ally, ooo” are a tagline of sorts for Anjani’s mishap.

One of the on-the-nose ironies in the film, which seems particularly apt, is that Anjani is another name for Hanuman, the monkey god… The plot whirls around the real-life imperils of monkeys that swarm government buildings in Delhi. Anjani uses this line—monkeys rule Raisina Hill; could it be that the animals represent those that run The System? The story takes you away from everyday peculiarity, disquiet, and jostle. 

Story & Cinematic Aspects 

A scene from “Eeb Allay Ooo!” (Na Ma Productions, 2019).

The vital role in any movie is the story. Prateek Vats and Shubham has done phenomenal work with the writing. The inspiration came from day-to-day life/fiction space. The story is their personal take on various relevant issues, laced with satire and humor. The story lays an excitement of the unknown, a sharp critique of the known. I believe the story is a fresh and has an open perspective on various societal issues, as well as the cinematic craft used to coherent it.

Vats’ remarkably confident directorial debut shows his life-like realistic style as a director. On the other hand, Saumyananda Sahi did an excellent job with cinematography, which you rarely see take away from the animals’ faces for too long.  Effective atmospheric sound design enhances it, which layers New Delhi’s busy roads and the people it carries with the monkeys. 

Realistic acting is what stood out for this film. Lead Shardul Bhardwaj (Anjani) has delivers a worthy performance, followed by all the supporting cast, especially non-trained actor Mahindra Nath who is real-life monkey repeller.

The final sequences have a sense of surreal tragedy and social resentment. We watch Anjani’s frustration and wretchedness as he visualizes a bleak future. A shot of Anjani standing behind a white mask will show you a true nature of a human over his thoughts, where you will witness how social life events turn a person from white to dark. This will remind you of a moment from the climax of “Parasite” and Michael Douglas from the movie “Falling Down.” Story showcase animals are legally protected, but human beings are utterly expendable… How one can be timid to monstrosity.

“Eeb Allay Ooo!” is a big dose of reality, and casts an eye on many issues without over accentuating any, nor getting educative or virtuous.

The film is about the classification ambulation and fractionate. Discernible and imperceptible, and what impact it brings on humans. It’s about his vexation, indignity, and how humans get far from regality and dignity. Eventually, the story of Anjani against the monkeys becomes about humans against humans. Conceivably then, we glimpse a man who has been held convict all the while, and being a monkey is far more extricate than being humans.

“Eeb Allay Ooo! has been shown in many regional and intentional film festivals. The movie premiered on May 30th on the ‘YouTube: A Global Film Festival.’ This indie movie is highly recommended, which cinema lovers should not miss. “Eeb Allay Ooo!” shows a mirror to that actuality.