Eagle (2024 film)

Eagle is a 2024 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film written and directed by Karthik Gattamneni and produced by T. G. Vishwa Prasad and Vivek Kuchibhotla under People Media Factory. It stars Ravi Teja in the titular role alongside Navdeep, Vinay Rai, Anupama Parameswaran and Kavya Thapar.

The film was officially announced on 12 June 2023. The background score and soundtrack were composed by Davzand, with cinematography and editing handled by Gattamneni himself.

Eagle was released in theatres worldwide on 9 February 2024 to mixed reviews from critics and became a box-office bomb.

Plot
Sahadev Varma alias Eagle, an infamous assassin, goes on a mission to bust down illegal arms trade by disguising himself as a cotton farmer in Talakona and intercepting all the illegal arms transactions from there. Nalini, a journalist, writes a news report on Sahadev, whose rare cotton has solid demand in foreign countries, and gets interrogated by the RAW agents. Nalini sets out to uncover the reason behind Sahadev's motive from various persons who know about Sahadev's past.

Cast

 * Ravi Teja as Sahadev Varma alias "Eagle"
 * Navdeep as Jay, Sahadev's friend and associate
 * Vinay Rai as Kali Pratap, an Anglo-Indian police officer
 * Anupama Parameswaran as Nalini Rao, a journalist
 * Kavya Thapar as Rachana, Sahadev's wife
 * Srinivas Avasarala as Pramod, a RAW agent
 * Madhoo as Gayatri Devi, RAW chief
 * Ajay Ghosh as MLA Someshwar Reddy
 * Srinivasa Reddy as Vikas, Someshwar Reddy's secretary
 * Bhasha as Penchala
 * Mirchi Kiran as Chengal Reddy
 * Sivannarayana Naripeddi as Venkanna
 * Praneetha Patnaik as Padmakka
 * Surya as Ramaraju
 * Seshi Rao as Altaf
 * Master Dhruvan as Govindu
 * Madee Manepalli as Luna Suresh
 * Baby Zara as Suhana
 * Pradeep as Robin Singh
 * Bharath Reddy as Daily Herald MD
 * Akshara as Khyati
 * Nithin Mehta as Rajesh Rumani
 * David Price as Pedro Pascal

Soundtrack
Music is composed by Davzand.

Theatrical
Eagle was earlier announced to release on 13 January 2024, coinciding with Makar Sankranti. However, it was postponed to 9 February 2024 due to the clash of multiple films at the Tollywood box office during the Sankranti weekend. The film was simultaneously released in Hindi under the title Sahadev.

Home media
The digital distribution rights of the film were acquired by ETV Win and Amazon Prime Video. The film premiered on both platforms on 1 March 2024.

Reception
Paul Nicodemus of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote, "While the film may struggle to maintain a consistent narrative pace, its action sequences and Ravi Teja's performance stand out as highlights and compensate for the lacunae". 123Telugu gave 2.75/5 stars and wrote "Eagle deals with a global issue, and the second half is engrossing for the most part. Ravi Teja’s new avatar, his subtle acting, and amazing action sequences are the merits of the film. Director’s idea to present a new-age action film is commendable, but the movie goes overboard at times with irritating dialogues and build-up scenes. Also, the first half needed much better execution".

Avad Mohammed of OTTplay gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote, "Eagle is a stylized action drama that has some great fight sequences in the second half. Ravi Teja kills it in his new look and powerful role. But the storyline lacks novelty, emotions do not work, and the setup looks a bit over the top. All those who love action films can give this film a shot". Janani. K of India Today gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "'Eagle’ has some brilliant action pieces and the slow-motion shots elevate those sequences. Where it lacks is in its writing. It needs more punch and new ideas to keep things going for more than two and a half hours. It gets exhausting to see people sing praises of the hero without moving the story forward."

Raghu Bandi of The Indian Express gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Eagle might not be a bad watch if you temper your expectations. It is definitely not a regular Ravi Teja film". Balakrishna Ganesan of The News Minute gave 1.5/5 stars and wrote "'Eagle’ tries its best to mimic KGF, but director Karthik Gattamneni fails to pull off Prashanth Neel’s grip over direction and screenplay". Venkat Ariketla of Great Andhra gave 1.5/5 rating and wrote "Overall, "Eagle" does all vidwansham on screen, blasting all the rupees the producer has given in the name of action episodes. However, none of these "heavy action episodes" provide a thrilling experience. By the end of the film, you feel like you're watching a long-drawn-out war. There is also a hint of another "Yuddhakanda" in the second part."

Ram Venkat Srikar of Film Companion wrote, "Eagle aims to be different but some of its creative choices feel are good While it's hard not to be reminded of some films while watching Eagle, there are moments where it does fly high. But you only wish it soared higher". Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu wrote "Director Karthik Gattamneni’s ‘Eagle’, headlined by Ravi Teja, has a bunch of interesting ideas and fun action segments but needs sharper writing".