EKO
2025 • Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Director: Dinjith Ayyathan
Cast: Sandeep Pradeep, Narain,Vineeth , Biana Momin, Saurabh Sachdeva , Binu Pappu , Ashokan , Sim Zhi Fei
🎯 Verdict
"The power of Malayalam cinema stands unwavering and awe-inducing. A movie that is steadfast in the face of the recent trend of thoughtless rubbish. Watch it!! Watch it now. With a meagre 5 crore budget without any heavyweight starpower whatsoever, this is a testament to the fact that one doesn't necessarily need 400 crore, affluent CGI companies, green screens, nor special effects, any sort of flare, nostalgia farming or even choreography or playlist for that matter. So, what remains then? Substance."
✍️ Full Review
The power of Malayalam cinema stands unwavering, focused and awe-inducing. A movie that is emblematic of as to why this industry stays steadfastly inventive and passionate against the current trend of thoughtless rubbish.
Eko by Dinjith Ayyathan (of Kishkindha Kaandam’s fame) demonstrates how much of an impactful storytelling could be done with what little material and a meager budget one may possess.
First monkeys and now dogs. This movie is as much about loyalty as it is about how reflective it is of the master by looking at the behavior of the trained canines. Much of the credit goes to Mujeeb Majeed for his suspenseful rousing background score and especially to Bahul Ramesh who has proven himself to be an auteur who has not only woven an intriguing and wondrously awe-inspiring screenplay but also wrote the dialogue and sat in the cinematographer chair to carry forward the trademarks of the Malayalam industry which sets it apart from the rest of the regional filmmakers, i.e.- nature, immersive themes, hard-hitting social message and powerful but grounded performances based on realism. The brilliance of Eko lies in how it surreptitiously let its theme flow until you have no idea what hits you.
In the aftermath of the recent dog menace paranoia, activists’ protests and summarily hurried court judgments that followed, Eko is a must-watch and not in the sense that audiences will cry buckets and buckets like after watching one of those movies where the death of a dog opens the floodgates. Rather, dogs here symbolize something very primal and are as much an imperative part of the fundamentals for building the plot setting as the humans who inhabit the story.
As for the ending, it’s impressive enough to leave a lasting impression even after the screen goes dark and the credits roll while leaving much more to the imagination to strike up conversations, and by ending I don’t mean the climax, i mean till very last minute. As far as the principal theme goes, I can’t give away much or else it might spoil the whole thing.