Ee Nagaraniki Emaindhi

Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi ( What happened to this city?) is a 2018 Indian Telugu-language buddy comedy film written and directed by Tharun Bhascker, and produced by D. Suresh Babu under Suresh Productions. The film stars Vishwak Sen, Sai Sushanth Reddy, Abhinav Gomatam, Venkatesh Kakumanu, Anisha Ambrose, Simran Choudhary, and Galusheya Daria. The music was composed by Vivek Sagar with cinematography by Niketh Bommireddy and editing by Ravi Teja Girijala. The film was released on 29 June 2018 and received mixed reviews from critics, but it became a commercial success.

The film was re-released five years later on the same date in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in select theatres.

Plot
Vivek, Karthik, Kaushik, and Uppi are childhood friends who dream of a career in filmmaking during their college days. But they eventually give up their plans and settle in various full-time jobs. Vivek is fired from his job in IT after getting caught consuming alcohol during work hours and lives in isolation as he is still unable to get over his first-ever breakup with Shilpa in college; Karthik works as a manager in a club after rising through the ranks as a bouncer, and plans on marrying his boss's daughter, Aarti, and settling in the US; Kaushik works as a dubbing artiste and aspires to become an actor; and Uppi works as a wedding video editor. Karthik arranges a bachelor's party for the four of them, where they run into Shirley, who joins them to conduct a casual promotional contest in which they narrate their old friendship, first short film work, and Vivek's love story. Shirley invites them to a music festival in Goa, along with giving them a gift hamper, and leaves.

After a fight at the party, Karthik passes out. Meanwhile, Vivek suggests that they all to go to Goa to properly celebrate Karthik's impending marriage. Not being able to book flight tickets on time, they all end up driving to Goa. Karthik loses the engagement ring given by his boss and needs ₹5 lakhs to buy a similar one. So the all decide to participate in the Goa short film festival for the prize money of ₹6 lakhs. Vivek does not agree to make a rom-com short film due to his past love failure with Shilpa, but he later agrees as they do not have an alternative. There, they run into Shirley and her friend, Dasha, at the music festival, who offers them a stay at Dasha's house. Karthik handles the cinematography, Uppi edits the film, and Kaushik and Dasha act in it. Unfortunately, Vivek is still not able to let go of his past and writes a sad ending to the film. He later gives up on the project, as he fears negative feedback on it. One night, after Vivek is drunk and passes out, the trio discusses to change the sad ending to a hopeful one, which they do. In the process, they are caught by patrolling policemen for not having a permit and end up in the local police station.

The next day, while editing the film in lock-up, Vivek wakes up, gets angry at them for changing his ending, and yells at Karthik, who is in the middle of an online engagement with his and Aarti's family. He reveals that they actually came to Goa because he requested them so. Karthik realizes that he is losing everything else for his socio-economic status, calls off his marriage, and reconciles his friendship with Vivek. Kaushik gets the confidence to act in films, and Uppi becomes an editor. Vivek finally gets over his breakup, reflects on his feelings for Shirley, and becomes a calmer person. After working on a few short films, they start their first feature film, Pelli Choopulu, directing a scene starring Vijay Devarakonda as Prashanth, in which Kaushik is acting next to him.

Cast

 * Vishwak Sen as Vivek (based on Tharun Bhascker), a heartbroken man who gets fired from his job, isolates himself & gets addicted to alcohol.
 * Sai Sushanth Reddy as Karthik (based on Nagesh Banell), a night club manager who plans to settle in the USA by marrying his boss's daughter.
 * Abhinav Gomatam as Kaushik, a Telugu dubbing artiste with aspirations of becoming an actor.
 * Venkatesh Kakumanu as Upender "Uppi" (based on Ravi Teja Girijala), a wedding video editor with a passion for film making.
 * Anisha Ambrose as Shirley, a promotional contest host who becomes Vivek's love interest.
 * Simran Choudhary as Shilpa, Vivek's ex-girlfriend.
 * Galusheya Daria as Dasha, Shirley's friend who lives in Goa and lead in Vivek's Goa short film.
 * Arjun as Satvik, Kaushik's nephew who gets involved in the group's antics.
 * Viren Thambidorai as Karthik's boss, who has his own plans for his daughter's future.
 * Jeevan Kumar as Vivek's uncle who is a police officer.
 * Revathi Nadha Pulipati as Kaushik's father.
 * Vijay Kumar as the owner of a camera rental store in Goa.
 * Geetha Bhaskar as Vivek's mother, who worries about her son's isolation.
 * Mounima as Kaushik's sister, who supports her brother's dreams.
 * Ranjani Sivakumar as lecturer in Vivek's college laboratory.
 * Tharun Bhascker as Jury member of Goa short film festival
 * Vijay Deverakonda as himself in a cameo appearance during the shooting of Pelli Choopulu
 * Gautham Vasudev Menon as himself in a cameo appearance

Soundtrack
This film has five songs composed by Vivek Sagar and was released By Aditya Music.

Release
Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi was released worldwide on 28 June 2018.

Box office
The film collected ₹80 lakh on day 1. It collected $98,136 from premier shows in USA. The lifetime box office collection in USA was $179,263. At the end of its theatrical run it collected ₹12 crore worldwide.

Re-release
The film was re-released in 200+ theaters on 29 June 2023, 5 years after its release. The film collected ₹1.8 crore on day 1. After 2 days it collected ₹2.8 crore. At the end of 1st weekend it collected ₹3.3 crore.

Critical reception
The film received decent to mixed reviews from critics upon its theatrical release.The Hindu praised the film and stated "With Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi, Tharun Bhascker Dhaassyam breaks the second-film jinx that hounds many filmmakers who've delivered an impressive first film." The Times of India gave 3.5/5 rating and commented that: "Make no mistake, Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi belongs to Tharun Bhascker. The filmmaker's flair for comedy once again shines through and his dialogues are terrific."

123 Telugu gave 3.25/5 rating and wrote, "With Ee Nagarainiki Emaindi, Tollywood steps into the buddy comedy genre which has been rarely explored. This movie has no great story but is filled with a lot of fun and precious moments which a group of buddies share in real life." The Hans India gave 3/5 rating and opined that the film was one of the best youthful entertainers in the recent times. "On the whole, the film is enjoyable entirely and even makes us emotional in parts," reviewer added. Idlebrain.com gave 3/5 rating and wrote, "[It] is a buddy comedy that has good moments and a slow second half!"