Kokila (1990 film)

Kokila is a 1990 Indian Telugu-language mystery thriller film directed by Geetha Krishna, starring Naresh, Shobhana, and Sarath Babu. The film is based on eye transplantation. It is L. B. Sriram's debut as a film writer. He went on to become a successful writer and actor in later years.

Siddhartha (Naresh), a typical young man, falls in love with Kokila (Shobhana), a renowned singer. She too eventually falls for him and both get married. Siddhartha is friends with a young kid named Shyam, who lives with them. At first they live happily, but one night Siddhartha meets with an accident and loses his eyesight, which is when trouble starts for them. Kokila seeks an eye transplant for him and requests Dr. Murali Mohan Rao (Ranganath). He asserts that unless someone donates their eyes through the eye bank, he cannot help, in addition to mentioning that the operation costs a lot of money. Kokila later comes with the money and the doctor announces the good news that they have a pair of eyes ready to be transplanted. The transplant is done, but strangely Siddhartha sees nothing but a corridor and a pointed gun towards him and begins to have a panic attack. The doctors are astonished that what Siddhartha is seeing is what the donor experienced at the moment of his death. Dr. Murali Mohan Rao consults psychiatrist Mr. Rao to help with the situation. They are shocked because they believe organs cannot have memory retention and only the brain has retaining power.

The donor turns out to be Bhagawan Hrishikesh Swamiji, who is a well-respected godman and preacher. He was murdered, and his case is being taken up by the police. Due to his eyes being transplanted to Siddhartha, the police pursue him and his vision for clues to the case. ASP Shakti (Sivakrishna) takes up the case. The police and doctors frequently quarrel due to differing motives and opinions, with the doctors looking after the patient's health and the police trying to solve the case.

The case thickens and the police decide to call CBI Officer Eeshwar (Sarath Babu). Eeshwar is known for his intelligence in case solving and knack of pursuing criminals. Eeshwar arrives at the airport and is received by Shakti. As he is about to get into the car, he is shot at by a masked assailant. Eeshwar arrives at the hospital to meet the doctors and gives everyone a warning of the potential danger as well as assurance that he will protect them at all costs. The doctors mention that Siddhartha should not open his eyes for a few days to recover from the shock, thus they keep the bandage on. Under Eeshwar's orders, Siddhartha and Kokila are shifted to a protection house with an appointed cook, maid, and gardener.

Once they shift to the house, Kokila begins to get a series of mysterious threatening calls from an unknown person. He blackmails her to remove Siddhartha's eyes. Meanwhile, Kokila opens a gift package sent to her, which contains photographs and she panics. She hides the photographs in the cupboard and feigns ignorance. Eager to dig deeper, Eeshwar and Shakti take Siddhartha to Hrishikesh Swamiji's living quarters where he was murdered and remove Siddhartha's blindfold, after which he begins to scream and panic again. Dr. Murali Mohan Rao arrives and reprimands them for their actions, citing that it is a life-threatening condition. That night, Kokila, Siddhartha, and Eeshwar ride the police van when they are hijacked by a group of masked assailants. They spray chloroform in the vehicle and take Siddhartha out and beat him up. Eeshwar regains consciousness and a dog comes and saves Siddhartha. Eeshwar deduces that the dog is Hrishikesh Swamiji's pet which is saving Siddhartha because he has Swamiji's eyes. Meanwhile, Kokila is haunted by the calls she receives from the unknown man.

Siddhartha, Kokila, and Eeshwar consult an Ayurvedic doctor in the Malaya Maruta hill station. Siddhartha is treated, but one day there is a sudden attack on them by a shooter. Eeshwar pursues the shooter, but he falls off a cliff. Siddhartha removes his blindfold out of panic and realizes that he finally regained his eyesight. However, Eeshwar asks him to keep this a secret and not let anyone know of it until they find the culprits. The next morning, Eeshwar realizes that the milk packets supplied to the house were open and sends them to the chemical lab through journalist Shilpa who is also his lover. The results show that the milk was poisoned. Frustrated, Kokila has an outburst as they have to fear for their lives every moment. Eeshwar declares that they will be safe and treats Kokila as his own sister.

Kokila receives another call threat and panics. Siddhartha, who can now see, suspects something and picks up the next call from the blackmailer. Siddhartha misinterprets his words and believes his wife is having an affair. He confronts Kokila, who claims she is innocent. Eeshwar also arrives on the spot and both demand an explanation. Kokila finally reveals the flabbergasting truth that she is the one who killed Hrishikesh Swamiji. She tells them that the blackmailer once found her and realized she is pursuit of an eye donor. He offered Swamiji's eyes and the operation payment in exchange for murdering Swamiji. When Kokila refused, he violently threatened her so she had no option but to accept. Eeshwar produces the photographs which Kokila received in the gift package earlier and hid away, which were actually photos of her pointing a gun to Hrishikesh Swamiji before his death. Through a photo identification parade, Kokila recognizes the blackmailer Ananta Swamiji (Nassar), Hrishikesh Swamiji's disciple who joined his ashram 3 months earlier. They find out he has many aliases and his real name is Saeed Iqbal. Eeshwar finally captures him and he is arrested and interrogated.

Interrogated by Eeshwar and Shakti, Saeed Iqbal reveals that he is just a pawn being used for the criminal operations of Minister Phanibhushan Rao and Dr. Murali Mohan Rao, who is indeed a criminal accomplice. As another shocking reveal, Saeed tells them that it was actually him who shot Swamiji dead while Kokila had a gun pointed to him. However, Kokila shot with her eyes closed and fainted afterward, so she believed her bullet killed Swamiji. Saeed eventually escapes from prison with the help of his allies but they betray him and shoot him dead. They disguise themselves as policemen and kill Shakti. Before Shakti breathes his last, Eeshwar and Shilpa find him and Eeshwar vows to see their end. Meanwhile, Siddhartha and Shyam are kidnapped from the house. When Kokila panics, Eeshwar returns and they find a box in front of the house, containing Shyam's dead body and a letter summoning Eeshwar to come alone with the case file.

Eeshwar arrives to finally uncover Phanibhushan Rao and Murali Mohan Rao as the main criminals, while also realizing that there was a mole in the police department who is in cahoots with the criminals. Eeshwar duels with their men and is eventually disappeared by the criminals. Eventually, the case is brought to court for a hearing. As the defense council argues his case in favor of the criminals, Kokila arrives in the courtroom and reveals all the facts. Pleading pardon from the court, she shoots Phanibhushan Rao in the courtroom. Eeshwar and Siddhartha arrive, and despite Eeshwar's warning, Kokila shoots Murali Mohan Rao as well. The film ends with Kokila getting arrested.

• The Eye, a 2008 movie with a similar plot

• Kokila at IMDb