title: Butch Cassidy

text: On February 28, 1900, lawmen attempted to arrest Lonny Logan at his aunt's home. Lonny was killed in the shootout that followed, and his cousin Bob Lee was arrested for rustling and sent to prison in Wyoming. On March 28, George Curry and News Carver were pursued by a posse from St. Johns, Apache County, Arizona, after using currency they had stolen in the Wilcox train robbery. The posse engaged them in a shootout, during which Deputies Andrew Gibbons and Frank LeSueur were killed, while Carver and Curry escaped. On April 17, George Curry was killed in a shootout with Grand County, Utah, Sheriff John Tyler and Deputy Sam Jenkins. On May 26, Kid Curry rode into Moab, Utah, and killed both Tyler and Jenkins in another shootout in retaliation for the deaths of George and Lonny.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: In December, Cassidy posed alongside Longabaugh, Logan, Carver, and Ben Kilpatrick in Fort Worth, Texas, for the now-famous "Fort Worth Five" photograph. The Pinkerton Agency obtained a copy of the photograph and began to use it for wanted posters.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: On July 3, 1901, Kid Curry and a group of men robbed a Great Northern train near Wagner, Montana, stealing more than $60,000 in cash (). The gang split up, but a posse led by Sheriff Elijah Briant caught up with News Carver and killed him. Kilpatrick was captured in St. Louis on November 5 at Josie Blakey's resort on Chestnut Street. In his pocket, they found a key to a room at The Laclede Hotel. The next morning, they found Laura Bullion in the lobby, checking out with her luggage. In her valise was $8500 in unsigned banknotes from the Great Northern robbery. Curry killed Knoxville policemen William Dinwiddle and Robert Saylor in another shootout on December 13, then escaped. He returned to Montana, pursued by Pinkertons and other law enforcement officers, where he shot and killed rancher James Winters in retaliation for killing his brother Johnny years before.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: Cassidy and Longabaugh fled to New York City, feeling continuous pressure from the numerous law enforcement agencies pursuing them and seeing their gang falling apart. They departed from there to Buenos Aires, Argentina aboard the British steamer "Herminius" on February 20, 1901, along with Longabaugh's companion Etta Place. Cassidy posed as James Ryan, Place's fictitious brother. They settled in a four-room log cabin on a ranch that they purchased on the east bank of the Rio Blanco near Cholila, just east of the Andes in the Chubut.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: Bruce Chatwin's "In Patagonia" references a letter Butch wrote from Cholila to Elza Lay's mother-in-law in Utah, dated August 10, 1902. The letter cites "our little family of 3" living in a 4 room house with 300 cattle, 1500 sheep, and 28 horses. Chatwin states the letter resides with the Utah State Historical Society.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: Two English-speaking bandits held up the Banco de Tarapacá y Argentino in Río Gallegos on February 14, 1905, south of Cholila near the Strait of Magellan, and the pair vanished north across the Patagonian grasslands. Cassidy and Longabaugh sold the Cholila ranch on May 1, fearing that law enforcement had located them. The Pinkerton Agency had known their location for some time, but the snow and the hard winter of Patagonia had prevented their agent Frank Dimaio from making an arrest. Governor Julio Lezana issued an arrest warrant, but Sheriff Edward Humphreys, a Welsh-Argentine who was friendly with Cassidy and enamored of Place, tipped them off. The trio then fled north to San Carlos de Bariloche, where they embarked on the steamer "Condor" across Nahuel Huapí Lake and into Chile; they returned to Argentina by the end of the year. Cassidy, Longabaugh, Place, and an unknown male associate robbed the Banco de la Nación Argentina branch in Villa Mercedes on December 19, west of Buenos Aires, taking 12,000 pesos. They fled across the Andes to reach the safety of Chile.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: On June 30, 1906, Place decided that she had enough of life on the run, so Longabaugh took her back to San Francisco. Cassidy obtained honest work under the alias James "Santiago" Maxwell at the Concordia Tin Mine in the Santa Vera Cruz range of the central Bolivian Andes, where Longabaugh joined him upon his return. Their main duties included guarding the company payroll. The two traveled to Santa Cruz in late 1907, a frontier town in Bolivia's eastern savannah, still wanting to settle down as respectable ranchers.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: A courier was carrying the payroll for the Aramayo Franke and Cia Silver Mine on November 3, 1908, near the small mining town of San Vicente in southern Bolivia, when he was attacked by two masked American bandits believed to be Cassidy and Longabaugh. Witnesses saw them three days later in San Vicente, where they lodged in a small boarding house owned by miner Bonifacio Casasola. Casasola became suspicious of them because they had a mule from the Aramayo Mine, identifiable from the company's brand. He notified a nearby telegraph officer, who notified the Abaroa cavalry regiment stationed nearby. The unit dispatched three soldiers under the command of Captain Justo Concha, and they notified the local authorities.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: The soldiers, the police chief, the local mayor, and some of his officials all surrounded the lodging house on the evening of November 6, intending to arrest the Aramayo robbers. As they approached the house, the bandits opened fire, killing one of the soldiers and wounding another and starting a gunfight which lasted for several hours into the evening and the night. At around 2:00 am, during a lull in the fighting, the mayor heard a man scream three times inside the house, then two successive shots were fired from inside the house.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: The authorities entered the house the next morning, where they found two bodies with numerous bullet wounds to the arms and legs. The man assumed to be Longabaugh had a bullet wound in the forehead, and the man thought to be Cassidy had a bullet hole in the temple. The local police report speculated that judging from the positions of the bodies, Cassidy had probably shot the fatally wounded Longabaugh to put him out of his misery, then killed himself with his final bullet. The Tupiza police identified the bandits as the men who robbed the Aramayo payroll transport, but the Bolivian authorities did not know their real names, nor could they positively identify them.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: The two bodies were buried at the small San Vicente cemetery, near the grave of a German miner named Gustav Zimmer. American forensic anthropologist Clyde Snow and his researchers attempted to find the graves in 1991, but they did not find any remains with DNA matching the living relatives of Cassidy and Longabaugh. In 2017, a new search was launched for Cassidy's grave, which zeroed in on a mine outside Goodsprings, Nevada. The dig found human remains, but they did not match the DNA provided.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: John McPhee's "Annals of the Former World" repeats a story that Dr. Francis Smith told to geologist David Love in the 1930s. Smith stated that he had seen Cassidy, who told him that his face had been altered by a surgeon in Paris, and he showed Smith an old bullet wound that Smith recognized as work that he had done.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: Josie Bassett claimed in 1960 that Cassidy came to visit her in the 1920s "after returning from South America," and that he "died in Johnnie, Nevada about 15 years ago." Residents in Cassidy's hometown of Circleville, Utah, claimed in an interview that he worked in Nevada until his death. Western historian Charles Kelly observed in his 1938 book "The Outlaw Trail: A History of Butch Cassidy and His Wild Bunch", "it seems exceedingly strange" that Cassidy never returned to Circleville, Utah, to visit his father if he were still alive. According to his great nephew, Bill Betenson, he did return to Utah to visit his family in Circleville many times.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: Bruce Chatwin, in his classic travel book "In Patagonia", says, "I went to see the star witness; his sister, Mrs. Lulu[sic] Parker Betenson, a forthright and energetic woman in her nineties ... She has no doubts: her brother came back and ate blueberry pie with family at Circleville in ... 1925. She believes he died of pneumonia in Washington in the late 1930s."


title: Butch Cassidy

text: An episode of the television series "In Search of..." (1978) examined the claims and possible evidence for Cassidy's return to America during the 1920s in a series of interviews with residents of Baggs, Wyoming, a popular destination for the Wild Bunch during their raiding years. Residents claimed that Cassidy had visited for several days in 1924, driving a Ford Model T. Betenson stated that he returned to the family home in Circleville during this period, and picked up his brother Mark in a Ford, then drove to their father's home, where she also lived. Her father allegedly said to her, "I'll bet you don't know who this is. This is your brother Robert LeRoy." She stated that Cassidy was full of regrets, particularly at having disappointed his mother. She quoted him lamenting, "all I did is make a wreck of my life." Betenson claims that Cassidy lived out his years in "the Northwest" and died in 1937 and that the family had agreed not to disclose his final resting place, since "they had chased him all his life, and now he's going to rest in peace." This story is also recounted by W. C. Jameson in "Butch Cassidy: Beyond the Grave", referencing the 1975 book Betenson co-authored with Dora Flack, "Butch Cassidy, My Brother".


title: Butch Cassidy

text: On an episode of the series "Mission Declassified" (2019), investigative journalist Christof Putzel met with local researcher Marilyn Grace at Cassidy's childhood log cabin on the Parker ranch in Circleville to talk about the alleged burial of Cassidy there on July 20, 1937. Grace explains that Cassidy was secretly buried at Tom's Cabin, a former sheepherders' log cabin located in a remote area of the property, a favorite camping spot for his brothers and him. Grace says an eyewitness, neighbor Dee Crosby, saw the burial take place at the cabin. Earlier, Putzel spoke to Alta Orton, another Parker neighbor, who described the family as having been dressed in funeral-like attire on that same day. Grace goes on to say that cadaver dogs had been brought to the cabin in an attempt to locate remains and led to a positive indication. The underside of the cabin was later dug and two bones discovered, identified as a human spinal bone and a toe bone. Putzel had forensic scientist Suzanna Ryan at Pure Gold Forensics in Redlands, California conduct a DNA test on the bones. Ryan confirmed they were human, but lacked enough DNA for a complete profile. As the site may have become public knowledge, the Parker family is believed to have since excavated Cassidy's remains at the cabin and moved them to a different burial site, leaving the spinal and toe bones behind in the process.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: William T. Phillips claimed to have known Cassidy since childhood. In his book "In Search of Butch Cassidy", Larry Pointer speculated that Phillips was actually Cassidy, based upon stories in Phillips's unpublished manuscript, "The Bandit Invincible," and a resemblance between the two men. In 2012, though, Pointer obtained a copy of the Wyoming Territorial Prison mugshot of William T. Wilcox, a previously unknown associate of Cassidy's. Observing the similarities between the two men, he revised his previous theory and concluded that Phillips was Wilcox, and not Cassidy.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous city and the most extensive city in the state of Colorado, and the 40th-most populous city in the United States. It is the principal city of the Colorado Springs metropolitan area and the second-most prominent city of the Front Range Urban Corridor. It is located in east-central Colorado, on Fountain Creek, south of Denver.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: At the city stands over above sea level. Colorado Springs is near the base of Pikes Peak, which rises above sea level on the eastern edge of the Southern Rocky Mountains.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: The Ute, Arapaho and Cheyenne peoples were the first recorded inhabiting the area which would become Colorado Springs. Part of the territory included in the United States' 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the current city area was designated part of the 1854 Kansas Territory. In 1859, after the first local settlement was established, it became part of the Jefferson Territory on October 24 and of El Paso County on November 28. Colorado City at the Front Range confluence of Fountain and Camp creeks was "formally organized on August13, 1859" during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. It served as the capital of the Colorado Territory from November 5, 1861, until August 14, 1862, when the capital was moved to Golden, before it was finally moved to Denver in 1867. So many immigrants from England had settled in Colorado Springs by the early 1870s that Colorado Springs was locally referred to as "Little London." In 1871 the Colorado Springs Company laid out the towns of La Font (later called Manitou Springs) and Fountain Colony, upstream and downstream respectively, of Colorado City. Within a year, Fountain Colony was renamed Colorado Springs and officially incorporated. The El Paso County seat shifted from Colorado City in 1873 to the Town of Colorado Springs. On December 1, 1880, Colorado Springs expanded northward with two annexations.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: The second period of annexations was during 188990, and included Seavey's Addition, West Colorado Springs, East End, and another North End addition. In 1891 the Broadmoor Land Company built the Broadmoor suburb, which included the Broadmoor Casino, and by December 12, 1895, the city had "four Mining Exchanges and 275 mining brokers." By 1898, the city was designated into quadrants by the north-south Cascade Avenue and the east-west Washington/Pikes Peak avenues.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: From 1899 to 1901 Tesla Experimental Station operated on Knob Hill, and aircraft flights to the Broadmoor's neighboring fields began in 1919. Alexander Airport north of the city opened in 1925, and in 1927 the original Colorado Springs Municipal Airport land was purchased east of the city.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: The city's military presence began during World War II, beginning with Camp Carson (now the 135,000-acre Fort Carson base) that was established in 1941. During the war, the United States Army Air Forces leased land adjacent to the municipal airfield, naming it Peterson Field in December 1942.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: In November 1950, Ent Air Force Base was selected as the Cold War headquarters for Air Defense Command (ADC). The former WWII Army Air Base, Peterson Field, which had been inactivated at the end of the war, was re-opened in 1951 as a U.S. Air Force base.  North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) was established as a hardened command and control center within the Cheyenne Mountain Complex during the Cold War.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Between 1965 and 1968, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak State College and Colorado Technical University were established in or near the city. In 1977 most of the former Ent AFB became a US Olympic training center. The Libertarian Party was founded within the city in the 1970s.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: On October 1, 1981, the Broadmoor Addition, Cheyenne Canon, Ivywild, Skyway, and Stratton Meadows were annexed after the Colorado Supreme Court "overturned a district court decision that voided the annexation". Further annexations expanding the city include the Nielson Addition and Vineyard Commerce Park Annexation in September 2008.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: The city lies in a semi-arid Steppe climate region with the Southern Rocky Mountains to the west, the Palmer Divide to the north, high plains further east, and high desert lands to the south when leaving Fountain and approaching Pueblo. Colorado Springs is or one hour and five minutes south of Denver by car using I-25.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Colorado Springs has the greatest total area of any municipality in Colorado. At the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total area of including of water.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Colorado Springs has many features of a modern urban area such as parks, bike trails, and open spaces. However, it is not exempt from problems that typically plague cities experiencing tremendous growth such as overcrowded roads and highways, crime, sprawl, and government budgetary issues. Many of the problems are indirectly or directly caused by the city's difficulty in coping with the large population growth experienced since 1997, and the annexation of the Banning Lewis Ranch area to accommodate further population growth of 175,000 future residents.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Colorado Springs has a cooler, dry-winter semi-arid climate (Köppen "BSk"), and its location just east of the Rocky Mountains affords it the rapid warming influence from chinook winds during winter but also subjects it to drastic day-to-day variability in weather conditions. The city has abundant sunshine year-round, averaging 243 sunny days per year, and receives approximately of annual precipitation. Due to unusually low precipitation for several years after flooding in 1999, Colorado Springs enacted lawn water restrictions in 2002. These were lifted in 2005 but permanently reinstated in December 2019.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Colorado Springs is one of the most active lightning strike areas in the United States. This natural phenomenon led Nikola Tesla to select Colorado Springs as the preferred location to build his lab and study electricity.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: December is typically the coldest month, averaging . Historically, January had been the coldest month, but, in recent years, December has had both lower daily maxima and minima. Typically, there are 5.2 nights with sub- lows and 23.6 days where the high does not rise above freezing.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Snowfall is usually moderate and remains on the ground briefly because of direct sun, with the city receiving per season, although the mountains to the west often receive in excess of triple that amount; March is the snowiest month in the region, both by total accumulation and number of days with measurable snowfall. In addition, 8 of the top 10 heaviest 24-hour snowfalls have occurred from March to May. Summers are warm, with July, the warmest month, averaging , and 18 days of + highs annually. Due to the high elevation and aridity, nights are usually relatively cool and rarely does the low remain above . Dry weather generally prevails, but brief afternoon thunderstorms are common, especially in July and August when the city receives the majority of its annual rainfall, due to the North American monsoon.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: The first autumn freeze and the last freeze in the spring, on average, occur on October 2 and May 6, respectively; the average window for measurable snowfall (≥) is October 21 through April 25. Extreme temperatures range from on June 26, 2012 and most recently on June 21, 2016, down to on February 1, 1951, and December 9, 1919.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: As of the 2020 United States Census, the population of the City of Colorado Springs was 478,961 (40th most populous U.S. city), the population of the Colorado Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area was 755,105 (79th most populous MSA), and the population of the Front Range Urban Corridor was 5,055,344.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: As of the April 2010 census, 78.8% of the population of the city was White (non-Hispanic Whites were 70.7% of the population, compared with 86.6% in 1970), 16.1% Hispanic or Latino of any race (compared with 7.4% in 1970), 6.3% Black or African American, 3.0% Asian, 1.0% descended from indigenous peoples of the Americas, 0.3% descended from indigenous Hawaiians and other Pacific islanders, 5.5% of some other race, and 5.1% of two or more races. Mexican Americans made up 14.6% of the city's population, compared with 9.1% in 1990. The median age in the city was 35 years.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Colorado Springs's economy is driven primarily by the military, the high-tech industry, and tourism, in that order. The city is experiencing growth in the service sectors. In June 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the unemployment rate was 3.3%. The state's unemployment rate in June 2022 was 3.4% compared to 3.6% for the nation.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: , there are nearly 45,000 active-duty troops in Colorado Springs. There are more than 100,000 veterans and thousands of reservists. The military and defense contractors supply more than 40% of the Pikes Peak region's economy.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Colorado Springs is home to the Peterson Space Force Base, Schriever Space Force Base, Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station, U.S. Space Command, and Space Operations Command— the largest contingent of space service military installations. They are responsible for intelligence gathering, space operations, and cyber missions.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Peterson Space Force Base is responsible for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) headquarters, Space Operations Command, and Space Deltas 2, 3, and 7. Located at Peterson is the 302nd Airlift Wing, an Air Force Reserve unit, that transports passengers and cargo and fights wildfires.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Schriever Space Force Base is responsible for Joint Task Force-Space Defense and Space Deltas 6, 8, and 9. The NORAD and USNORTHCOM Alternate Command Center is located at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. Within the mountain complex, the Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station has been operated by Space Operations Command. On January 13, 2021, the Air Force announced a new permanent home for Space Command, moving it from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama in 2026, but the decision could be reversed by Congress.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Army divisions are trained and stationed at Fort Carson. The United States Air Force Academy was established after World War II, on land donated by the City of Colorado Springs.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: The defense industry forms a significant part of the Colorado Springs economy, with some of the city's largest employers being defense contractors. Some defense corporations have left or downsized city campuses, but slight growth has been recorded. Significant defense corporations in the city include Northrop Grumman, Boeing, General Dynamics, L3Harris Technologies, SAIC, ITT, Lockheed Martin, and Bluestaq. The Space Foundation is based in Colorado Springs.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: A large percentage of Colorado Springs's economy is still based on manufacturing high-tech and complex electronic equipment. The high-tech sector in the Colorado Springs area has decreased its overall presence from 2000 to 2006 (from around 21,000 to around 8,000), with notable reductions in information technology and complex electronic equipment. Current trends project the high-tech employment ratio will continue to decrease.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: High-tech corporations with connections to the city include: Verizon Business, a telecommunications firm, at its height had nearly 1300 employees in 2008. Hewlett-Packard still has some sales, support, and SAN storage engineering center for the computer industry. Storage Networking Industry Association is the home of the SNIA Technology Center. Keysight Technologies, spun off in 2014 from Agilent, which was itself spun off from HP in 1999 as an independent, publicly traded company, has its oscilloscope research and development division based in Colorado Springs. Intel had 250 employees in 2009. The Intel facility is now used for the centralized unemployment offices, social services, El Paso county offices, and a bitcoin mining facility. Microchip Technology (formerly Atmel), is a chip fabrication organization. The Apple Inc. facility was sold to Sanmina-SCI in 1996.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Almost immediately following the arrival of railroads beginning in 1871, the city's location at the base of Pikes Peak and the Rocky Mountains made it a popular tourism destination. Tourism is the third largest employer in the Pikes Peak region, accounting for more than 16,000 jobs. In 2018, 23 million day and overnight visitors came to the area, contributing $2.4 billion in revenue.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Colorado Springs has more than 55 attractions and activities in the area, including Garden of the Gods park, United States Air Force Academy, the ANA Money Museum, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, Old Colorado City, The National Museum of World War II Aviation, and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center. In 2020, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum opened; the Flying W Ranch Chuckwagon Dinner & Western Show reopened in 2020. A new Pikes Peak Summit Complex opened at the 14,115-foot summit in 2021. The Manitou and Pikes Peak Railway also reopened in 2021.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: The downtown Colorado Springs Visitor Information Center offers free area information to leisure and business travelers. The Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region (COPPeR), also downtown, supports and advocates for the arts throughout the Pikes Peak Region. It operates the PeakRadar website to communicate city events.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Colorado Springs is home to the annual Colorado Springs Labor Day Lift Off, a hot air balloon festival that takes place over Labor Day weekend at the city's Memorial Park.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Other annual events include: a comic book convention and science fiction convention called GalaxyFest in February, a pride parade called PrideFest in July, the Greek Festival, the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon, and the Steers & Beers Whiskey and Beer Festival in August, and the Emma Crawford Coffin Races and Festival in nearby Manitou Springs and Arts Month in October.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: The Colorado Springs Festival of Lights Parade is held the first Saturday in December. The parade is held on Tejon Street in Downtown Colorado Springs.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: In 2017, Colorado had the third-most craft breweries at 348. Breweries and microbreweries have become popular in Colorado Springs, which hosts over 30 of them.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Although houses of worship of almost every major world religion are within the city, Colorado Springs has in particular attracted a large influx of Evangelical Christians and Christian organizations in recent years. At one time Colorado Springs was the national headquarters for 81 different religious organizations, earning the city the tongue-in-cheek nicknames "the Evangelical Vatican" and "The Christian Mecca."


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Although Colorado voters approved Colorado Amendment 64, a constitutional amendment in 2012 legalizing retail sales of marijuana for recreational purposes, the Colorado Springs city council voted not to permit retail shops in the city, as was allowed in the amendment. Medical marijuana outlets continue to operate in Colorado Springs. In 2015, there were 91 medical marijuana clinics in the city, which reported sales of $59.6 million in 2014, up 11 percent from the previous year but without recreational marijuana shops. On April 26, 2016, Colorado Springs city council decided to extend the current six-month moratorium to eighteen months with no new licenses to be granted until May 2017. A scholarly paper suggested the city will give up $25.4 million in tax revenue and fees if the city continues to thwart the industry from opening within the city limits. As of March 1, 2018, there were 131 medical marijuana centers and no recreational cannabis stores. As of 2019 Colorado Springs is still one of seven towns that have only allowed for medical marijuana.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Colorado Springs has been the subject of or setting for many books, films and television shows, and is a frequent backdrop for political thrillers and military-themed stories because of its many military installations and vital importance to the United States' continental defense. Notable television series using the city as a setting include "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman", "Homicide Hunter" and the "Stargate" series "Stargate SG-1", as well as the films "WarGames", "The Prestige", and "BlacKkKlansman".


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: In a North Korean propaganda video released in April 2013, Colorado Springs was inexplicably singled out as one of four targets for a missile strike. The video failed to pinpoint Colorado Springs on the map, instead showing a spot somewhere in Louisiana.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Colorado Springs, dubbed Olympic City USA, is home to the United States Olympic Training Center and the headquarters of the United States Olympic Committee and the United States Anti-Doping Agency.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Further, over 50 national sports organizations (non-Olympic) headquarter in Colorado Springs. These include the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Sports Incubator, a various non-Olympic Sports (such as USA Ultimate), and more.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: The city has a long association with the sport of figure skating, having hosted the U.S. Figure Skating Championships six times and the World Figure Skating Championships five times. It is home to the World Figure Skating Museum and Hall of Fame and the Broadmoor Skating Club, a notable training center for the sport. In recent years, the Broadmoor World Arena has hosted skating events such as Skate America and the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: The Colorado Springs Snow Sox professional baseball team is based in Colorado Springs. The team is a member of the Pecos League, an independent baseball league which is not affiliated with Major or Minor League Baseball.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), also known as "The Race to the Clouds," is an annual invitational automobile and motorcycle hill climb to the summit of Pikes Peak, every year on the last Sunday of June. The highway wasn't completely paved until 2011.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: The local colleges feature many sports teams. Notable among them are several nationally competitive NCAA Division I teams: United States Air Force Academy (Falcons) Football, Basketball and Hockey and Colorado College (Tigers) Hockey, and Women's Soccer.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Colorado Springs was the original headquarters of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) from its founding in 1992 until 2005, when the organization was moved to Pueblo.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: The city's Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services manage 136 neighborhood parks, eight community parks, seven regional parks, and five sports complexes, totaling . They also manage of trails, of which are park trails and are urban. There are of open space in 48 open-space areas.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Garden of the Gods is on Colorado Springs's western edge. It is a National Natural Landmark, with red/orange sandstone rock formations often viewed against a backdrop of the snow-capped Pikes Peak. This park is free to the public and offers many recreational opportunities, such as hiking, rock climbing, cycling, horseback riding and tours. It offers a variety of annual events, one of the most popular of which is the Starlight Spectacular, a recreational bike ride held every summer to benefit the Trails and Open Space Coalition of Colorado Springs.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Colorado Springs has several major city parks, such as Palmer Park, America the Beautiful Park in downtown Colorado Springs, Memorial Park, which includes many sports fields, an indoor swimming pool and skating rink, a skateboard bowl and two half-pipes, and Monument Valley Park, which has walking and biking paths, an outdoor swimming pool and pickleball courts. Monument Valley Park also has Tahama Spring, the original spring in Colorado Springs. Austin Bluffs Park affords a place of recreation in eastern Colorado Springs. El Paso County Regional Parks include Bear Creek Regional Park, Bear Creek Dog Park, Fox Run Regional Park and Fountain Creek Regional Park and Nature Center. Ponderosa pine ("Pinus ponderosa"), Gambel oak ("Quercus gambelii"), narrowleaf yucca ("Yucca angustissima", syn. "Yucca glauca") and prickly pear cactus ("Opuntia macrorhiza").


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Three trails, the New Santa Fe Regional Trail, Pikes Peak Greenway and Fountain Creek Regional Trail, form a continuous path from Palmer Lake, through Colorado Springs, to Fountain, Colorado. The majority of the trail between Palmer Lake and Fountain is a soft surface breeze gravel trail. A major segment of the trail within the Colorado Springs city limits is paved. The trails, except Monument Valley Park trails, may be used for equestrian traffic. Motorized vehicles are not allowed on the trails. Many of the trails are interconnected, having main spine trails, like the Pikes Peak Greenway, that lead to secondary trails.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: On November 2, 2010, Colorado Springs voters adopted a council-strong mayor form of government. The City of Colorado Springs transitioned to the new system of government in 2011. Under the council-strong mayor system of government, the mayor is the chief executive and the city council is the legislative branch. The mayor is a full-time elected position and not a member of the council. The council has nine members, six of whom represent one of six equally populated districts each. The remaining three members are elected at-large.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: The Colorado Springs City Council consists of nine elected officials, six of whom represent districts and three of whom represent the city at-large.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: In 2017 Caleb Hannan wrote in "Politico" that Colorado Springs was "staunchly Republican", "a right-wing counterweight to liberal Boulder", and that a study ranked it "the fourth most conservative city in America". In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump's margin of victory in El Paso County was 22 points. That year Hannan wrote that downtown Colorado Springs had a different political vibe from the overall area's and that there were "superficial signs of changing demographics". In 2020 the shift toward the political center continued as the incumbent Republican, Donald Trump, edged out Democrat Joe Biden by only 10.8% in El Paso County


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: In addition the state of Colorado runs the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, a residential school for people up to age 21 and established in 1874, in the city.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: State institutions offering bachelors and graduate degree programs in Colorado Springs include University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) with more than 12,000 students, and, Pikes Peak State College which offers mostly two-year degree associate degrees. The United States Air Force Academy is a federal institution offering bachelor degrees for officer candidates.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Private non-profit institutions include Colorado College established in 1874 with about 2,000 undergraduates. Colorado Christian University has its Colorado Springs Center in the city.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Private for-profit institutions include Colorado Technical University whose main campus is in Colorado Springs and IntelliTec College a technical training school.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Colorado Springs is primarily served by one interstate highway. I-25 runs north and south through Colorado, and traverses the city for nearly , entering the city south of Circle Drive and exiting north of North Gate Boulevard. In El Paso County it is known as Ronald Reagan Highway.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: A number of state and U.S. highways serve the city. State Highway 21 is a major east side semi-expressway from Black Forest to Fountain, known locally and co-signed as Powers Boulevard. State Highway 83 runs north–south from central Denver to northern Colorado Springs. State Highway 94 runs east–west from western Cheyenne County to eastern Colorado Springs where it terminates at US 24. US 24 is a major route through the city and county, providing access to Woodland Park via Ute Pass to the west and downtown, Nob Hill and numerous suburbs to the east. It is co-signed with Platte Ave after SH 21 and originally carried local traffic through town. The Martin Luther King Jr Bypass runs from I-25 near Circle Drive along Fountain Blvd to SH 21, then east again. State Highway 115 begins in Cañon City, traveling north along the western edge of Fort Carson; when it reaches the city limits it merges with Nevada Avenue, a signed Business Route of US 85. US 85 and SH 115 are concurrent between Lake Avenue and I-25. US 85 enters the city at Fountain and was signed at Venetucci Blvd, Lake Avenue, and Nevada Avenue at various points in history; however most of US 85 is concurrent with I-25 and is not signed.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: In November 2015, voters in Colorado Springs overwhelmingly passed ballot measure 2C, dedicating funds from a temporary sales tax increase to much needed road and infrastructure improvements over five years. This temporary increase is estimated to bring in approximately $50 million annually, which will be used solely to improve roads and infrastructure. The ballot measure passed by a margin of approximately 65–35%.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: In 2004, the voters of Colorado Springs and El Paso County established the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: In early 2010, the city of Colorado Springs approved an expansion of the northernmost part of Powers Boulevard in order to create an Interstate 25 bypass commonly referred to as the Copper Ridge Expansion.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Colorado Springs Airport (COS; ICAO: KCOS) has been in operation since 1925. It is the second-largest commercial airport in the state, after Denver International Airport (DEN; ICAO: KDEN). It covers of land at an elevation of approximately . COS is considered to be a joint-use civilian and military airport, as Peterson Space Force Base is a tenant of the airport. It has three paved runways: 17L/35R is , the runway 17R/35L is and the runway 13/31 is . The airport handled 817,000 passengers from October 2020–October 2021, and is served by American, Delta, Southwest, and United.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: In April 2018, the Colorado Springs City Council approved a Bike Master Plan. The vision of the city's Bike Master Plan is "a healthy and vibrant Colorado Springs where bicycling is one of many transportation options for a large portion of the population, and where a well-connected and well-maintained network of urban trails, single-track, and on-street infrastructure offers a bicycling experience for present and future generations that is safe, convenient, and fun for getting around, getting in shape, or getting away." Bike lanes in Colorado Springs have not been deployed without controversy. According to "The Gazette", their readers "have mixed feelings for new bike lanes." In December 2016, the City removed a bike lane along Research Parkway due to overwhelming opposition; an online survey found that 80.5% of respondents opposed the bike lane. "The Gazette" has stated that since the Bike Master Plan was adopted by City Council, "no issue has elicited more argument in "The Gazette" pages," and due to this immense public interest, on February 25, 2019, "The Gazette" hosted a town hall meeting called "Battle of the Bike Lanes."


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Mountain Metropolitan Transit (MMT) is testing Battery Electric Buses (BEB), and if the buses perform well, the agency plans to acquire its first three BEBs in 2021 using funds from the Volkswagen emissions scandal and resulting lawsuit and settlement. On April 22, 2022, Mountain Metro unveiled four new all-electric Proterra ZX5 buses to be added to their fleet. The new buses join their current fleet of 67 clean diesel buses. They are funded by the Colorado Department of Transportation Division of Transit and Rail Settlement Transit Bus Replacement Program, Volkswagen Diesel Emission Settlement trust, and Federal transit Administration 5339(b) Buses and Bus Facilities Program grant. The Proterra ZX5 buses run 220 to 330 miles on a single charge, and cost $1.2 million per bus.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Mountain Metro Mobility is an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) federally mandated complementary ADA paratransit service, which provides demand-response service for individuals with mobility needs that prevent them from using the fixed-route bus system.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Mountain Metro Rides offers alternative transportation options to residents of the Pikes Peak Region. The program is designed to reduce congestion and pollution by encouraging people to commute by carpool, vanpool, bicycling or walking.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Bustang provides intercity transportation to Colorado Springs. It is part of the South and Outrider lines, which connect to Denver and to Lamar. There is an additional line that connects Colorado Springs directly to the Denver Tech Center.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: Colorado Springs's sister city organization began when it became partners with Fujiyoshida. The "torii" gate erected to commemorate the relationship stands at the corner of Bijou Street and Nevada Avenue, and is one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. The "torii" gate, crisscrossed bridge and shrine, in the median between Platte and Bijou Streets downtown, were a gift to Colorado Springs, erected in 1966 by the Rotary Club of Colorado Springs to celebrate the friendship between the two communities. A plaque near the "torii" gate states that "the purpose of the sister city relationship is to promote understanding between the people of our two countries and cities". The Fujiyoshida Student exchange program has become an annual event.


title: Colorado Springs, Colorado

text: In 2006 and 2010, the Bankstown TAP (Talent Advancement Program) performed with the Youth Symphony and the Colorado Springs Children's Chorale as part of the annual "In Harmony" program. A notable similarity between Colorado Springs and its sister cities is their geographic positions: three of the seven cities are near the foot of a major mountain or mountain range, as is Colorado Springs.


title: Elvira Lind

text: In 2014, Lind's first documentary feature "Songs for Alexis" premiered at Hot Docs in Toronto and won many international film festivals across the world. Elvira won the Reel Talent Award at the Copenhagen Documentary Festival for her work. In 2017, Lind directed a new feature documentary, "Bobbi Jene." It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival where it won all awards in its category: Best Documentary Feature, Best Cinematography in a Documentary Feature and Best Editing in a Documentary Feature. In November 2020, Lind's first fiction short film "The Letter Room" premiered at HollyShorts Film Festival. It was also nominated for Best Short Film at Tribeca Film Festival, Palm Springs International ShortFest and Telluride Film Festival. She got nominated for Best Live Action Short Film in the 93rd Academy Awards.


title: Elvira Lind

text: Lind met Guatemalan-American actor Oscar Isaac in 2012, and they married in February 2017. They have two sons, and live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.


title: Darvaza gas crater

text: The Darvaza gas crater (Turkmen media use the name Shining of the Karakum: ), also known as the Door to Hell or Gates of Hell, is a burning natural gas field collapsed into a cavern near Darvaza, Turkmenistan.


title: Darvaza gas crater

text: Accurate records of how the crater ignited have not been discovered, and some facts are disputed. One of the more popular theories is that Soviet geologists intentionally set it on fire in 1971 to stop the leaking of methane gas, and it is thought to have been burning continuously ever since. Its diameter is , and its depth is .


title: Darvaza gas crater

text: The crater has become a popular tourist attraction. The surrounding area is also popular for wild desert camping.


title: Darvaza gas crater

text: The gas crater is near the village of Darvaza, also known as . It is in the middle of the Karakum Desert, about north of Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. The gas reserve found here is one of the largest in the world. The name "Door to Hell" was given to the field by the locals, referring to the fire, boiling mud, and orange flames in the large crater, which has a diameter of . The hot spots range over an area with a width of and to a depth of about .


title: Darvaza gas crater

text: There are two other sinkholes nearby, namely the "Water Crater" and the "Mud Crater", that are also tourist attractions in the vicinity.


title: Darvaza gas crater

text: According to Turkmen geologist Anatoly Bushmakin, the site was identified by Soviet engineers in 1971. It was originally thought to be a substantial oil field site. The engineers set up a drilling rig and operations to assess the quantity of oil available at the site. Soon after the preliminary survey found a natural gas pocket, the ground beneath the drilling rig and camp collapsed into a wide crater and the rig was buried with no casualties.


title: Darvaza gas crater

text: Expecting dangerous releases of poisonous gases from the cavern into nearby towns, the engineers considered it advisable to burn the gas off. It was estimated that the gas would burn out within a few weeks, but it has instead continued to burn for more than years and is expected to keep on burning.


title: Darvaza gas crater

text: The early years of the crater's history are uncertain: local geologists say the collapse into a crater happened in the 1960s, and the gases were not set on fire until the 1980s. There are, however, no records available of either the Soviet or Turkmen version of events. Satellite images captured by Landsat 1 in 1972 show that there has been little change in the area since then, suggesting that the crater and fire were already ongoing at this time.


title: Darvaza gas crater

text: In April 2010, the President of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, visited the site and ordered that the hole should be closed. In 2013, he declared the part of the Karakum Desert with the crater a nature reserve. In 2019, he appeared on state television doing doughnut stunts around the crater to disprove and correct rumours of his death.


title: Darvaza gas crater

text: The crater was featured in an episode of the National Geographic Channel series "Die Trying". In the July 16, 2014, episode "Crater of Fire", explorer George Kourounis became the first person to set foot at the bottom, gathering samples of extremophile microorganisms. An edited photograph of the crater was also released as publicity for the then-upcoming 2014 "Godzilla" film, with the image depicting MONARCH agents and vehicles investigating the site.


title: Darvaza gas crater

text: Although the crater has captured public imagination as a mystery and has been named the "Gates of Hell", the crater is a simple geological anomaly; a superficial gas pocket which allowed the ground to sink into a natural depression, allowing the slowly escaping natural gas from a large deeper natural gas field to both accumulate and burn without being extinguished by the wind, or rapidly diluted. The gas from similar, smaller gas leaks in the area are rapidly dispersed by the desert wind. "Burning ground" sites where natural gas escaping from the ground has been ignited are found in other parts of the world.


title: Darvaza gas crater

text: In January 2022, a commission was tasked to find a solution for extinguishing the burning gas crater in Darvaza. The commission hopes to either extinguish the Darvaza gas crater altogether, or find a way for the crater to still burn without causing negative impacts on the nearby environment.


title: Darvaza gas crater

text: On Berdimuhamedow's April 2010 visit, he recommended that measures be taken to limit the crater's influence on the development of other natural gas fields in the area. At that time, Turkmenistan announced plans to increase its production of natural gas, intending to increase its export of gas from its then yearly production level to a new production level of by 2030. In January 2022, Berdimuhamedow publicly declared that a method to extinguish the fire needs to be found so that the effects on the environment and public health can be curbed.


title: Samyuktha Menon

text: Samyuktha Menon (born 11 September 1995) is an Indian actress and model who mainly appears in Malayalam films along with a few Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films.Her debut in the Malayalam film Industry was through the 2016 film "Popcorn".


title: Samyuktha Menon

text: Samyuktha Menon was born on 11 September 1995, in Palakkad, Kerala, India. She did her schooling in Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Thathamangalam and she did her graduation in economics in Kerala.


title: Samyuktha Menon

text: Samyuktha made her film debut in 2016 with the Malayalam film "Popcorn", where she played Anjana, the love interest of Shine Tom Chacko in the movie.


title: Samyuktha Menon

text: She appeared in the Tamil-language action thriller "Kalari" as Thenmozhi. She was cast to play the title role in "Lilli", a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language revenge thriller flick, scripted and directed by the debutant Prasobh Vijayan. "July Kaatril" announced in around late 2017 is a romantic comedy Tamil film. The project was released in 2018. Her next release was "Theevandi" a Malayalam-language political satire film directed by debutante Fellini T. P. and written by Vini Vishwa Lal.


title: Samyuktha Menon

text: Samyuktha's first release for 2019 was "Oru Yamandan Premakadha" directed by B. C. Noufal and written by Bibin George and Vishnu Unnikrishnan. She made a cameo appearance in "Uyare" as Tessa sharing screen space again with Tovino Thomas. Menon played the role of Shivajith Padmanabhan's side-kick in 2019 action film "Kalki" which had Tovino Thomas in lead directed by Praveen Prabharam. She was later cast in "Bheemla Nayak" which was released in February 2022, where the film becomes a commercial success grossing over 100 crores in just 3 days.


title: Omari Hardwick

text: Omari Latif Hardwick (born January 9, 1974) is an American actor known for his starring role as James "Ghost" St. Patrick, the protagonist of Starz's "Power" and his role as Vanderohe in Zack Snyder's "Army of the Dead" (2021). He is also known for his roles in "Saved" and "Dark Blue", in Spike Lee's "Miracle at St. Anna" (2008), "Kick-Ass" (2010), Tyler Perry's "For Colored Girls" (2010) and as Andre in BET Network's "Being Mary Jane".


title: Omari Hardwick

text: Hardwick was born in Savannah, Georgia, the son of Joyce and Clifford Hardwick III, an attorney. Growing up in Decatur, Georgia, Hardwick wrote poetry on a regular basis, and participated in many sports. For high school he attended Marist School in Brookhaven, Georgia where he played baseball, basketball and football and attended University of Georgia on a football scholarship. Even though he was a star on the field, Hardwick continued in acting and poetry, and thus minored in theater.


title: Omari Hardwick

text: After graduation, Hardwick initially pursued a career in football, hoping to join the San Diego Chargers. He declared himself for the NFL Draft, where he was not selected, after which he returned to acting.


title: Omari Hardwick

text: As a struggling actor, Hardwick did odd jobs in order to pay for acting classes. After being unsuccessful, he started living in his car, and he finally got his break in the 2004 TV movie "Sucker Free City". Next, he booked roles in the feature film "The Guardian" and a series regular role in "Saved". For the role, he spent two years training as a fireman and a paramedic.


title: Omari Hardwick

text: In 2010, Hardwick became a founding member of "Plan B Inc. Theater Group", and a co-founder of "Actor's Lounge" at the Los Angeles Greenway Theater. He also founded production company "Bravelife Films". Hardwick was also featured in the urban lifestyle publication, Prominence Magazine for its Holiday issue.


title: Omari Hardwick

text: In 2011, Hardwick received his best film reviews to date for his role as "Troy" in the critically acclaimed indie hit "I Will Follow". Hardwick has guest starred on an episode of NBC's "Chase" as Chris Novak, a hard luck criminal facing prison.


title: Omari Hardwick

text: In 2013, Hardwick was cast in the lead role of James "Ghost" St. Patrick on the Starz crime drama-thriller, "Power".


title: Omari Hardwick

text: Hardwick co-starred in the science fiction comedy film "Sorry to Bother You", which was released in theaters on July 6, 2018.


title: Omari Hardwick

text: In January 2021, it was announced that Hardwick was cast as Gordon Oliver in Netflix's thriller series "Pieces of Her", which is adapted from the Karin Slaughter novel of the same name.


title: Omari Hardwick

text: In April 2022, it was announced that Hardwick would star alongside Marsai Martin and Kelly Rowland in the Paramount+ film "Fantasy Football", released on November 25.


title: Omari Hardwick

text: Hardwick began a relationship with Jennifer "Jae" Pfautch in the 2000s. Pfautch, who is of Native American and German descent, was disowned by her family in the aftermath for dating outside of her race. In 2008, the couple's first child was stillborn. After losing his son, the actor lost his sister Shani Hardwick and brother Malik Hardwick. Omari and Jennifer married in June 2012 and have two children; daughter Nova and son Brave.


title: Eega

text: Eega () is a 2012 Indian Telugu-language fantasy action film written and directed by S. S. Rajamouli. The film was produced by Sai Korrapati Vaaraahi Chalana Chitram with an estimated budget of 30–40 crore (US$6–7 million). It was simultaneously filmed in Tamil language with the title Naan Ee (). The film stars Sudeepa, Nani, and Samantha. M. M. Keeravani composed the songs and the background score while K. K. Senthil Kumar was the director of photography. Janardhana Maharshi and Crazy Mohan wrote the dialogue for the Telugu and Tamil versions, respectively.


title: Eega

text: The film's narrative is in the form of a bedtime story told by a father to his daughter. Its protagonist Nani, who is in love with his neighbour Bindu, is murdered by a wealthy industrialist named Sudeep, who is attracted to Bindu and considers Nani a rival. Nani reincarnates as a housefly and tries to avenge his death and protect Bindu from an obsessive Sudeep.


title: Eega

text: The idea for the film originated in the mid-1990s from a conversation in which Rajamouli's father and screenwriter V. Vijayendra Prasad joked with Rajamouli about the idea of a fly seeking revenge against a human. Rajamouli reconsidered the idea after finishing "Maryada Ramanna" (2010), and developed it into a script. The film's production began on 7 December 2010 at Ramanaidu Studios in Hyderabad. Principal photography began on 22 February 2011 and continued until late February 2012. Makuta VFX and Annapurna Studios oversaw "Eega" visual effects and digital intermediate process, respectively.


title: Eega

text: The two versions of the film, alongside a Malayalam-dubbed version titled "Eecha", were released on 6 July 2012 in approximately 1,100 screens globally. The performances of the cast, Rajamouli's direction, and visual effects received critical acclaim upon release. "Eega" was one of the highest-grossing Telugu films of the year, earning more than 125 crore ($23 million). "Eega" won two National Film Awards (Best Feature Film in Telugu and Best Special Effects), five South Filmfare Awards including Best Telugu Film, Best Telugu Director, Best Telugu Actress (Samantha) and Best Telugu Supporting Actor (Sudeep) and three South Indian International Movie Awards. The film won nine awards, including Most Original Film at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. "Eega" was listed among "The 25 Best Foreign Films of the Decade" by The Ringer.


title: Eega

text: A young girl who is unable to sleep asks her father to tell her a bedtime story. Although reluctant at first, he tells her a story of a fly named Nani.


title: Eega

text: Nani is a young man based in Hyderabad who specialises in preparing fireworks. He is in love with his neighbour Bindu, a miniature artist who runs Project 511, a non-governmental organisation (NGO). Bindu also develops romantic feelings for Nani though she does not express them. Seeking to raise money for her NGO, Bindu visits the office of a rich and powerful industrialist named Sudeep, who also finds her attractive. He befriends her, donates 15 lakh (US$28,000), and gains her trust. Sudeep sees Nani as a rival and plans to kill him. One night, Nani inspires Bindu to help her finish a piece of micro art—a heart locket made from a pencil. While returning home, Sudeep kidnaps and strangles Nani to death, making his death look like an accident. Before dying, Nani curses Sudeep, swearing to kill Sudeep if he tries to hurt Bindu. Unaware of the incident, Bindu confesses her love for the dying Nani by phone; it is the last thing Nani hears before he is reincarnated as a housefly that cannot remember its previous life.


title: Eega

text: The fly's memory is triggered when it encounters Sudeep and Bindu, and begins to devote itself to exacting revenge on Sudeep. Sudeep asks the heartbroken Bindu to accompany him to New Delhi to meet the education minister; if she can impress the minister with a presentation about the NGO, he might help it gain national recognition. The fly causes Sudeep to have an accident on his way to the airport and writes "I will kill you" on the windshield; this makes Sudeep paranoid. The fly, who sees Bindu mourning Nani's death in her bedroom, reveals itself to be Nani by writing on the desk with her tears. It conveys the circumstances of Nani's death to Bindu, and they join forces against Sudeep. The latter's obsession with the fly affects his professional and personal life. In a chain of events, his money is burnt to ashes, leaving him almost penniless.


title: Eega

text: Sudeep learns from a sorcerer named Tantra that Nani is reincarnated as a fly and seeks revenge. Sudeep arranges to kill Nani at his home, but the fly escapes after causing a short circuit and a fire, which locks up the room. Tantra is killed in an accident and Sudeep is left unconscious from the smoke. Nani and Bindu assume Sudeep is dead, but he is saved by his business partner Adithya. Sudeep is enraged when he learns that Bindu is helping the fly. Sudeep kills Adithya to collect a 700 crore (US$130 million) insurance policy, as well as to prevent his investors from taking action against his company.


title: Eega

text: Sudeep takes Bindu to his home to interrogate her, and Nani follows them. Bindu, after attempting to stab Sudeep with a razor blade, has her life threatened as Sudeep demands Nani to appear. During the encounter however, Nani seriously injures Sudeep with a needle. After an intensive fight, the latter clips Nani's wing before fatally stabbing him with the same needle. Knowing that he is dying, in a last-ditch attempt to destroy Sudeep, Nani coats himself with gunpowder and jumps through the flame of a burning match and into a previously loaded cannon. The projectile passes through Sudeep and hits an oxygen cylinder, causing a fierce explosion in which Sudeep dies and his entire house burns down. A grieving Bindu (who hid from the inferno unscathed), pines for Nani and takes his wing and makes an amulet with it. One day when travelling to work, an eve teaser bothers her; Nani, again reborn as a fly, attacks him with a needle before announcing his return.


title: Eega

text: The young girl is impressed with the story of the fly her father narrates. During the credits, her father recounts the fate of a drunken thief who broke into Bindu's house earlier in the story, and who ultimately turns his life around after overhearing a loving speech given to Nani by Bindu and mistakenly believing that Bindu was speaking to him.


title: Eega

text: The idea of "Eega" originated in the mid-1990s in screenwriter V. Vijayendra Prasad mind. At that time, he was joking about a housefly seeking revenge on a human in a conversation with his son S. S. Rajamouli. Prasad later developed the idea as a script for an English-language film set in 1830s America, in which an African-American boy dies in an attempt to free his family from slavery and is reincarnated as a fly. After completing "Maryada Ramanna" (2010), Rajamouli reconsidered the concept after thinking of directing a film that was distinct from any other. He decided to make "Eega" a bilingual film in Telugu and Tamil – each scene including speech was filmed twice, once for each language. The Tamil version, titled "Naan Ee", was Rajamouli's directorial debut in Tamil cinema. The film was presented by D. Suresh Babu of Suresh Productions.


title: Eega

text: For the first time in his career, Rajamouli began casting after the script was completed because he felt the story required actors who were suitable for the roles. Nani, the protagonist, was the first of the three of the main cast members to be chosen; he completed filming his scenes in 25 days. Samantha, the second actor cast, was signed as the female lead. Rajamouli chose Sudeepa to play the fly's human adversary after being impressed with the actor's performance in "Rann" (2010), and cast rapper Noel Sean as Nani's friend in the film. Sudeepa drew inspiration for his role as the villain from the 1983 Kannada film "Bhakta Prahlada"; he was portraying a character he considered to be a "bad guy" with "grey shades" rather than an antagonist.


title: Eega

text: The script was doctored by Rajamouli's cousin, S. S. Kanchi, while Janardhan Maharshi and Crazy Mohan wrote the dialogue for the Telugu and Tamil versions respectively, marking their first collaboration with Rajamouli. James Fowlds was initially chosen as the film's director of photography, but was replaced by K. K. Senthil Kumar due to creative differences and scheduling conflicts. M. M. Keeravani composed the film's soundtrack and score, Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao edited the film, Ravinder Reddy was its art director, and Rajamouli's wife Rama worked on the costume design.


title: Eega

text: Production of the film began with a formal launch ceremony on 7 December 2010 in Hyderabad. The original version was filmed over a six-month period and cost nearly 11 crore; Rajamouli felt the quality of the material was poor and started again. The film's final budget was estimated at between 30 and 40 crore.


title: Eega

text: Principal photography began on 22 February 2011 in Hyderabad; ninety percent of the film was shot at Ramanaidu Studios in the city. A sequence was filmed at Sri Sita Ramachandra Swamy Temple in Ammapally near Shamshabad, in early March 2011. Scenes with Nani, Samantha, and Sudeepa were filmed during the first shooting schedule, which was completed on 16 March. Shooting was disrupted in April by an ongoing labour dispute between film workers and producers. Rajamouli considered moving "Eega" out of Hyderabad if the strike continued. Filming continued in Kokapet in early September 2011, and principal photography was completed in late February 2012 as post-production began.


title: Eega

text: According to Rajamouli, the film unit consulted a 3D video of the storyboard before shooting a scene each day. After the filming of each scene was completed, the editing and re-recording procedures were done with simple greyscale animation. An Arri Alexa camera, a prime lens, and Scorpio and Strada cranes were used for the principal photography, while a probe lens and high-intensity lighting were used for the macro photography. Senthil Kumar had to use a special lens with a minimum f-stop of f8.0; the wide apertures required high-intensity lighting to get acceptable shots. He used GoPro cameras as they were the smallest possible ones that offered close to professional resolution. Phantom Cam was used to film extreme slow motion sequences; certain scenes were shot at 2,000 frames per second.


title: Eega

text: Digital intermediate (DI) was conducted at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad. A high-end DI system was imported and the process took six months to complete. Singer Chinmayi, who dubbed for Samantha in "Eega", found the process difficult because the footage did not contain the animated fly. Rajamouli approached Anuj Gurwara to write the dialogue for the Hindi-dubbed version titled "Makkhi". The Hindi dubbing began in Hyderabad, and Gurwara dubbed for Nani in the film. Ajay Devgan and his wife Kajol, acting as parents telling the film's story to their child at bedtime, provided voiceovers during the opening credits of "Makkhi". The visuals accompanying the closing credits were altered to show the fly mimicking the antics of Devgan, Salman Khan, and Akshay Kumar.


title: Eega

text: R. C. Kamalakannan and Pete Draper of Makuta VFX oversaw "Eega" visual effects, and Rahul Venugopal was the film's set supervisor and matte painter. V. Srinivas Mohan, who later collaborated with Rajamouli on "", worked on a short sequence for the film. Rajamouli planned to complete work on the fly imagery in four months, but it took fourteen.


title: Eega

text: Ninety percent of the animation-related work was done in Hyderabad; the remaining ten percent was completed in the United States. In an Indo-Asian News Service interview, Draper said he collaborated with thirteen experts and a large team of animators to design the fly. Because the film's fly's eyes comprise 80 percent of its face, Rajamouli felt they could make it expressive; he used the 1986 Pixar American short film "Luxo Jr." for inspiration. The output of the first team of animators, using the reference material prepared, was unsatisfactory, and Rajamouli reworked the fly's detailing. Using a powerful lens, the film team conducted an arduous photographic shoot of unconscious flies in a bottle stored in a refrigerator. After enlarging the details, Rajamouli made cosmetic changes to the fly's face to make it look appealing onscreen. A new team, including Draper, three concept artists, three modellers, two shader designers, two hair and fur designers, three riggers and several animators, designed the animated fly in two months. Its head and fur were designed after shaping its body and wings. The fly was refined daily using clay models to expedite the process. The animators found the sequences between Sudeepa and the fly much more difficult to execute because the latter had to express emotions only through its slender arms rather than its face.


title: Eega

text: Some of the special effects could not be designed in India, so Makuta VFX engaged animation consultants in Armenia, China, Iran, Israel, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The company's 30-member team underwent a training programme on acting theory and insect formats. "Eega" is the first Indian film to use computer-generated imagery for nearly 90 minutes of its length; the film had 2,234 live-action animation shots. By mid-June 2012, Rajamouli had approved 1,970 shots; the final version was shown to the film unit after the approval of 226 pending shots. The visual effects cost an estimated 7 crore.


title: Eega

text: The film's main theme is revenge; the soul of a murdered man is reincarnated as a fly and seeks revenge against his killer. Rajamouli identified some similarities to David Cronenberg "The Fly" (1986), in which a scientist becomes a fly when his experiment malfunctions, and thought of "Eega" as a "socio-fantasy" rather than a science fiction film. At a meeting with students at the Annapurna International School of Film and Media Campus (AIFSM), he compared the battle between the fly and Sudeepa, which the underdog fly wins, to David triumph over Goliath and India's victory in the 1983 Cricket World Cup. Crazy Mohan compared the film with "Apoorva Sagodharargal" (1989), a revenge drama whose protagonist Appu (Kamal Haasan) is a dwarf.


title: Eega

text: Mohan told Malathi Rangarajan of "The Hindu" that although the film's script may resemble those of "Stuart Little" (1999) and "Shrek" (2001), the use of the plight of someone tormented by a housefly was an original idea. According to Tamil film historian and actor Mohan Raman, "Naan Ee"unlike the animal-centred films "Nalla Neram" (1972) and "Neeya?" (1979)lacks a human protagonist. Film critic Baradwaj Rangan found "Eega" protagonist realistic, contrary to the ones in the animated films by the Walt Disney Company, except when it displays a few anthropomorphic traits. "Mid-Day" compared "Eega" to "Cockroach" (2010), an Australian short film about a man who is reincarnated as a cockroach after he is accidentally killed on his wedding day.


title: Eega

text: The film's secondary theme is the survival of love beyond death. Rangan has likened "Eega" to a ghost film because a dead protagonist returns to his loved ones as a troubled soul. Malini Mannath of "The New Indian Express" found the scene where the fly foils Sudeepa's attempt to get close to Bindu reminiscent of one in the film "Ghost" (1990). Mayank Shekhar criticised the relationship between the lead pair, which he said advocates stalking as an accepted form of romance. Malathi Rangarajan said the antagonist took the "extreme step" of murdering the hero early in the film, in contrast with the stereotypical antagonist whose lust for the female lead has just begun and threatens the hero.


title: Eega

text: Commenting on the usage of Tantrism, "The New Indian Express" Kruthi Grover found the death of the sorcerer similar to the story of Bhasmasura, a demon in Indian mythology to whom Shiva gives the power to reduce a person to ashes by touching her or his head. When Bhasmasura tries to touch Shiva's head, Vishnu assumes the form of Mohini and makes Bhasmasura touch his own head, killing him. According to Malathi Rangarajan, the film's themes of Tantrism and black magic are reminiscent of the use of the occult as a plot device in films directed by B. Vittalacharya.


title: Eega

text: The soundtracks of "Eega" and "Naan Ee", each consisting of five songsone of which is a remixed version of the film's title song—were composed by M. M. Keeravani. Keeravani said because the film's theme of revenge and the protagonist (a housefly) are universal concepts, his "only challenge" was ensuring the music did not have a "distinct ethnic or regional flavour" and "appeal". He incorporated the buzzing sound made by flies into the score and exaggerated or reduced it according to a scene's emotional nature. Rajamouli approached Madhan Karky to write the lyrics for "Naan Ee" soundtrack after the release of "Enthiran" (2010), explaining the importance of each song in the film's narrative. As well as providing detailed profiles of the characters, Rajamouli enacted a few scenes, which helped Karky write the lyrics.


title: Eega

text: "Eega" soundtrack was released on 4 April 2012 at a promotional event at Shanti Sarovar, Brahma Kumaris' academy in Gachibowli, a suburb of Hyderabad. The soundtrack for "Naan Ee" was released on 2 May at another promotional event at Sathyam Cinema in Chennai. "Eega" soundtrack release on iTunes was delayed until 7 April to avoid piracy and illegal downloads.


title: Eega

text: Writing for "The Hindu", Sangeetha Devi Dundoo called the soundtrack "melodious ... sharply contrasted by the background score, which seamlessly moves from sober to playful to pulsating". Another critic for "The Hindu", S. R. Ashok Kumar praised Vijay Prakash rendition of "Konjam Konjam". Kumar appreciated the use of violins in "Eedaa Eedaa" and called "Lava Lava" "a good number". Karthik Pasupulate of "The Times of India" wrote that Keeravani "just seems to reserve his best for [Rajamouli]", calling the soundtrack "one of his finest".


title: Eega

text: "Eega", with "Naan Ee" and "Eecha", was released on 6 July 2012 on approximately 1,100 screens. The Government of Tamil Nadu levied entertainment tax on "Naan Ee" at the rate of 30%. "Eega" Hindi-dubbed version, titled "Makkhi", was released on 12 October 2012. The film was further dubbed into Swahili as "Inzi" and released with the slogan "Kisasi Cha Mwisho" ("Fly: the ultimate revenge"). "Inzi" was released in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Republic of the Congo, making "Eega" the first Telugu film to be released in Africa.


title: Eega

text: Global distribution rights for the Telugu version were sold for 34 crore (US$6.24 million), and PVP Cinema acquired "Naan Ee" distribution rights for 5 crore. Outside India, 14 Reels Entertainment distributed "Eega" and "Naan Ee" in association with Ficus, Inc. Reliance Entertainment acquired "Makkhi" distribution rights.


title: Eega

text: Weeks after "Eega" release, its pirated version was released; it was illegally filmed in a theatre in Varadaiahpalem, Chittoor district. A forensic watermarking investigation on the pirated copies determined that a camcorder was used in the process. The digital watermarking also helped investigators locate the source of the piracy of "Naan Ee" to a theatre in Coimbatore.


title: Eega

text: According to Rajamouli, "Eega" was illegally downloaded 655,000 times within a week of the pirated version being leaked on the Internet. Rajamouli added that a database of IP addresses of non-resident Indians who frequently download content was shared with immigration authorities which could affect their potential US residence permit applications. The anti-piracy cell delinked more than 2,000 links to the pirated versions of "Naan Ee" on the internet.


title: Eega

text: "Naan Ee" satellite television rights were sold to Sun TV for 3.35 crore—a record price for a Telugu director's film, exceeding Rajamouli's initial expectations. "Makkhi" television-broadcast rights were sold to STAR Gold for 8 crore. According to STAR Gold general manager Hemal Jhaveri, "Makkhi" television premiere had a target rating point rating of 3.5; trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai called its performance "phenomenal".


title: Eega

text: In November 2012, Aditya Music released "Eega" on Blu-ray with English subtitles and DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround sound. The release also contained a two-hour DVD about the making of the film. J. Hurtado of Twitch Film reviewed the Blu-ray version, writing, "The most egregious mangling of the film comes in the form of a severely fucked contrast scale, which leads to absurdly crushed black levels rendering nearly all shadow detail completely obliterated". Hurtado called the audio a "thing of beauty, giving good separation and a booming low end that puts you in the middle of the "Eega" action in a way that even my theatrical experience couldn't do".


title: Eega

text: According to trade analyst Komal Nahta, "Eega" netted 17 crore in South India on its first day of release. On its opening weekend, it grossed US$538,996 from 31 screens in the United States—a per-screen average of $17,387. In ten days, "Naan Ee" grossed 13 crore from 208 screens in Tamil Nadu. On its second weekend, "Eega" grossed $253,334 from 42 screens in the US, bringing its ten-day total in that country to $913,046. By then, "Naan Ee" had grossed a total of $14,259 in the United States. "Naan Ee" earned 18 crore in three weeks at the Tamil Nadu box office—a record for a bilingual, Telugu-Tamil film. By early August 2012, the combined distributor share for the Telugu and Tamil versions was 57 crore. The Hindi-dubbed version, "Makkhi", had not achieved equivalent commercial success as of June 2015.


title: Eega

text: According to "Bangalore Mirror", the film grossed 115 crore globally as of August 2012. Its final global gross is estimated at 125 to 130 crore ($23–24 million). "Eega" grossed nearly $1.08 million in the United States; it was one of the country's highest-grossing Telugu films. It was declared the highest-grossing bilingual film in Tamil Nadu after it earned 24.66 crore, with a distributor share of 8.5 crore, in 50 days. The film broke the record held by "Arundhati" (2009), whose Tamil-dubbed version earned a distributor share of 6.5 crore.


title: Eega

text: Indo-Asian News Service stated that "Eega" was the highest-grossing Telugu film of 2012, but "Bangalore Mirror" said it was the second-highest (after "Gabbar Singh") in box-office revenue. According to "Deccan Herald", "Eega" and "Julayi" were the only 2012 big-budget Telugu films to break even and have a positive audience response. "Makkhi" opened poorly, despite positive word-of-mouth, eventually ending up as an average grosser. Regarding the performance of "Makkhi", Rajamouli felt the film was poorly presented and did not reach its theatrical audience even though it was better received on television, and so later on collaborated with filmmaker Karan Johar – whom he considered the "one missing link" – on the presentation of the Hindi-dubbed version of his later film, "Baahubali: The Beginning".


title: Eega

text: Baradwaj Rangan, writing for "The Hindu", said without a human protagonist, only a villain and a heroine, the audience is "led through a story that's funny, sentimental, action-packed, romantic—there's even a bit of the occult thrown in". Also for "The Hindu", Malathi Rangarajan wrote, "Let's celebrate the figment of [Rajamouli's] imagination that has made the housefly appear as invincible as any of our muscle-flexing heroes". Karishma Upadhyay of "The Telegraph" called the film "a winner from the first frame to the last" and praised Rajamouli's screenplay, writing that it made "the absurd seem real, willing you to accept anything that he throws at you". J. Hurtado of Twitch Film called "Eega" the "best, most insane, most inventive film of the year", and praised Rajamouli's scripting, the visual effects and Sudeepa's performance, calling the latter "legitimately hilarious". V. S. Rajapur, Indo-Asian News Service gave "Eega" four stars out of five, and praised the performances and music; Rajapur was particularly appreciative of the visual effects, saying the hard work put in by the entire team was "clearly visible onscreen". A reviewer from Sify called "Eega" an "escapist, comic book-like fantasy" that "throws you into an experience so profound that nothing else really matters".


title: Eega

text: Radhika Rajamani of Rediff.com awarded "Eega" four stars out of five; she praised its visual effects, performances and cinematography and said Sudeepa "is such a delight to watch on screen". Karthik Pasupulate and M. Suganth of "The Times of India" both gave "Eega" four stars out of five; Pasupulate said it offers a "mind-bending thrill-a-second ride of the season, probably the decade". Suganth called it a "bravura piece of commercial filmmaking that is an unqualified triumph in every aspect". Rajeev Masand of News18 gave the film four stars out of five and praised its concept, and said Sudeepa played his role with a "true comic book flair" and a "cartoonish tinge". Writing for Bollywood Hungama, Subhash K. Jha praised "Eega's" "sharp clenched narrative", which overshadowed the "shaky plot". He further wrote, "Gutsy sly and original, this is the entertainer of the season". Anupama Chopra gave the film four stars out of five in a review for "Hindustan Times" and called it a "mad roller coaster ride that's worth taking" and the "most outlandish film [she has] seen in years". Shabana Ansari rated "Eega" three stars out of five in a "Daily News and Analysis" review and called the animated fly a "new-age Indian hero" with "lofty ideas".


title: Eega

text: Kruthi Grover of "The New Indian Express" wrote that "Eega" lacks a proper structure despite having effective visual effects and editing. She added that the film turns into a "silly animated movie for kids" after the fly's birth. Reviewing "Makkhi" for "Dainik Bhaskar", Mayank Shekhar said the film's premise is stretched beyond its potential and that as a result, it "just goes on and on and on" in its "original, tacky, raw form".


title: Eega

text: "Eega" received the Best Feature Film in Telugu and Best Special Effects awards at the 60th National Film Awards. It later received a B. Nagi Reddy Memorial Award as Best Wholesome Entertainment from the Government of Andhra Pradesh. At the 60th Filmfare Awards South "Eega" received seven nominations and won five awards, including Best Film – Telugu, Best Director – Telugu, and Best Supporting Actor – Telugu (Sudeepa).


title: Eega

text: Samantha received Filmfare Best Actress awards in the Telugu and Tamil categories for her performances in "Eega" and "Neethaane En Ponvasantham", becoming the third Indian female actor to win these awards in both languages in the same year (after J. Jayalalithaa and Revathi, who won 1972 and 1993 Best Actress awards for "Sri Krishna Satya", "Pattikada Pattanama" and "Thevar Magan" and "Ankuram" respectively). At the 2nd South Indian International Movie Awards, "Eega" received seven nominations and won three awards; Best Film, Best Cinematographer, and Best Actor in a Negative Role. Ravinder Reddy won the Best Art Direction Award at the 2013 Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival in Brazil for his work in "Eega". The film won nine awards, including Most Original Film, Best Film to Watch With a Crowd, and Best Special Effects at the eighth annual Toronto After Dark Film Festival in November 2013. At the 7th Vijay Awards in 2013, Sudeepa won the Best Villain Award for his performance in "Naan Ee". "Eega" won eight awards at the 2012 Nandi Awards, including Best Director, Best Villain and Best Music Director for Rajamouli, Sudeepa and M. M. Keeravani respectively.


title: Eega

text: The film's Telugu version was shown at film festivals worldwide. In December 2012, it was shown at the annual Chennai International Film Festival. After showings at the L'Étrange and Sundance film festivals, it was the only Telugu film screened in the Marché du Film section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and the panorama section of the 2013 Shanghai International Film Festival.


title: Eega

text: "Eega" is the only Telugu film to receive six nominations at the Madrid International Film Festival, and is the first Indian Best Film nominee. Nominations at the 2013 edition of the film festival included Best Film, Best Supporting Actor (Sudeepa), and Best Cinematographer (Senthil Kumar). The film was invited to the 2013 Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea, and was the fifth foreign-language film shown at the 18th Busan International Film Festival in October 2013.


title: Eega

text: Sudeepa received national recognition for his performance in "Eega"; Rajinikanth told him, "I thought I was the best villain to date. But you beat me to it". His performance was appreciated by other celebrities such as Nagarjuna, Mahesh Babu, and Ram Gopal Varma; Varma said he recognised Sudeep's potential after watching "Eega", adding, "Many take his acting in that film for granted, with respect to his expressions when interacting with the fly, but as a director, I know how difficult it is to act when you are imagining the fly to be there". Sudeepa's performance in "Naan Ee" impressed filmmaker Chimbu Deven, who cast him as the antagonist in "Puli" (2015).


title: Eega

text: Speaking about the centenary of Indian cinema at the CII Media & Entertainment Summit 2012, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur said regional cinema is surpassing Hindi cinema in content and story, and cited "Eega" as an example. Kapur said he was impressed with its story and use of technology, and called it "no less than a Hollywood superhero film". Shah Rukh Khan called "Eega" an "awesomely original" film and a "must watch" with children. Lavanya Tripathi cited Nani's performance in "Eega" as one of the reasons she worked with him in "Bhale Bhale Magadivoy" (2015).


title: Eega

text: "Eega" was parodied twice in Bhimaneni Srinivasa Rao comedy film "Sudigadu" (2012); when a young girl asks her father to tell her a bedtime story in the opening credits, and in a scene in which the protagonist threatens to kill a female crime boss with weapons designed by Rajamouli, including the fly's needle. In December 2012, "Eega" and Sudeepa topped Radhika Rajamani's Rediff.com "Top Five Telugu Films of 2012" and "Best Telugu Actors of 2012" lists; according to her, Sudeepa left an "indelible" mark on the film and gave an "exceptionally good account" of himself as the antagonist. Shobha Warrier of Reddif placed Sudeepa on her list of "Top Tamil Actors of 2012", writing that his performance was "so superlative and far superior to any other actor's in Tamil" that it "has to be termed as the best performance of the year". Radhika Rajamani ranked Rajamouli first on her "Top Telugu Directors of 2012" list, which was published in January 2013. In 2020, Sankeertana Verma of "Film Companion" included the film in her list of "25 Greatest Telugu Films Of The Decade".


title: Eega

text: Adam Nayman of "The Ringer" listed "Eega" among "The 25 Best Foreign Films of the Decade". In August 2015, Pooja Darade of "The Times of India" included "Eega" in her list of "Telugu movies one must watch before dying"; she said it "has set a high standard of how creativity can be used effectively". In an April 2016 interview with "The Hindu", Tamil actor Suriya said films like "Sagara Sangamam" (1983), "Eega", "Baahubali: The Beginning", and "Manam" (2014) are remembered much longer than more conventional films.


title: Eega

text: In 2019, the film's plot was widely shared on social media in Spanish-speaking countries because of its unique plot that involved taking revenge on a fly.


title: Maasai people

text: The Maasai (; ) are a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the best-known local populations internationally due to their residence near the many game parks of the African Great Lakes and their distinctive customs and dress. The Maasai speak the Maa language (ɔl Maa), a member of the Nilotic language family that is related to the Dinka, Kalenjin and Nuer languages. Except for some elders living in rural areas, most Maasai people speak the official languages of Kenya and Tanzania, Swahili and English. The Maasai population has been reported as numbering 1,189,522 in Kenya in the 2019 census, compared to 377,089 in the 1989 census, though many Maasai view the census as government meddling and therefore either refuse to participate or actively provide false information. Many Maasai tribes throughout Tanzania and Kenya welcome visitors to their villages to experience their culture, traditions, and lifestyle, in return for a fee.


title: Maasai people

text: The Maasai inhabit the African Great Lakes region and arrived via South Sudan. Most Nilotic speakers in the area, including the Maasai, the Turkana and the Kalenjin, are pastoralists and are famous for their fearsome reputations as warriors and cattle rustlers. The Maasai and other groups in East Africa have adopted customs and practices from neighbouring Cushitic-speaking groups, including the age-set system of social organisation, circumcision, and vocabulary terms.


title: Maasai people

text: Many ethnic groups that had already formed settlements in the region were forcibly displaced by the incoming Maasai while other, mainly Southern Cushitic groups, were assimilated into Maasai society. The Nilotic ancestors of the Kalenjin likewise absorbed some early Cushitic populations.


title: Maasai people

text: The Maasai territory reached its largest size in the mid-19th century and covered almost all of the Great Rift Valley and adjacent lands from Mount Marsabit in the north to Dodoma in the south. At this time the Maasai, as well as the larger Nilotic group they were part of, raised cattle as far east as the Tanga coast in Tanganyika (now mainland Tanzania). Raiders used spears and shields but were most feared for throwing clubs (orinka) which could be accurately thrown from up to 70 paces (approx. 100 metres). In 1852, there was a report of a concentration of 800 Maasai warriors on the move in what is now Kenya. In 1857, after having depopulated the "Wakuafi wilderness" in what is now southeastern Kenya, Maasai warriors threatened Mombasa on the Kenyan coast.


title: Maasai people

text: Because of this migration, the Maasai are the southernmost Nilotic speakers. The period of expansion was followed by the Maasai "Emutai" of 1883–1902. This period was marked by epidemics of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, rinderpest (see 1890s African rinderpest epizootic), and smallpox. The estimate first put forward by a German lieutenant in what was then northwest Tanganyika, was that 90% of cattle and half of wild animals perished from rinderpest. German doctors in the same area claimed that "every second" African had a pock-marked face as the result of smallpox. This period coincided with drought. Rains failed in 1897 and 1898.


title: Maasai people

text: The Austrian explorer Oscar Baumann travelled in Maasai lands between 1891 and 1893 and described the old Maasai settlement in the Ngorongoro Crater in the 1894 book ("Through the lands of the Maasai to the source of the Nile"). By one estimate two-thirds of the Maasai died during this period.


title: Maasai people

text: Maasai are pastoralists and have resisted the urging of the Tanzanian and Kenyan governments to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle. They have demanded grazing rights to many of the national parks in both countries.


title: Maasai people

text: The Maasai people stood against slavery and never condoned the traffic of human beings, and outsiders looking for people to enslave avoided the Maasai.


title: Maasai people

text: Essentially there are twenty-two geographic sectors or sub-tribes of the Maasai community, each one having its customs, appearance, leadership and dialects. These subdivisions are known as 'nations' or 'iloshon' in the Maa language: the Keekonyokie, Ildamat, Purko, Wuasinkishu, Siria, Laitayiok, Loitai, Ilkisonko, Matapato, Dalalekutuk, Ilooldokilani, Ilkaputiei, Moitanik, Ilkirasha, Samburu, Ilchamus, Laikipiak, Loitokitoki, Larusa, Salei, Sirinket and Parakuyo.


title: Maasai people

text: Recent advances in genetic analyses have helped shed some light on the ethnogenesis of the Maasai people. Genetic genealogy, a tool that uses the genes of modern populations to trace their ethnic and geographic origins, has also helped clarify the possible background of the modern Maasai.


title: Maasai people

text: The Maasai's autosomal DNA has been examined in a comprehensive study by Tishkoff et al. (2009) on the genetic affiliations of various populations in Africa. According to the study's authors, the Maasai "have maintained their culture in the face of extensive genetic introgression". Tishkoff et al. also indicate that: "Many Nilo-Saharan-speaking populations in East Africa, such as the Maasai, show multiple cluster assignments from the Nilo-Saharan [...] and Cushitic [...] AACs, in accord with linguistic evidence of repeated Nilotic assimilation of Cushites over the past 3000 years and with the high frequency of a shared East African–specific mutation associated with lactose tolerance."


title: Maasai people

text: The modern Maasai display significant West-Eurasian admixture at roughly ~20%. This type of West-Eurasian ancestry reaches up to 40-50% among specific populations of the Horn of Africa, specifically among the Amhara people. Genetic data and archeologic evidence suggest that East African pastoralists received West Eurasian ancestry (~25%) through Afroasiatic-speaking groups from Northern Africa or the Arabian Peninsula, and later spread this ancestry component southwards into certain Khoisan groups roughly 2,000 years ago, resulting in ~5% West-Eurasian ancestry among Southern African hunter-gatherers.


title: Maasai people

text: A Y chromosome study by Wood et al. (2005) tested various Sub-Saharan populations, including 26 Maasai men from Kenya, for paternal lineages. The authors observed haplogroup E1b1b-M35 (not M78) in 35% of the studied Maasai. E1b1b-M35-M78 in 15%, their ancestor with the more northerly Cushitic men, who possess the haplogroup at high frequencies lived more than 13 000 years ago. The second most frequent paternal lineage among the Maasai was Haplogroup A3b2, which is commonly found in Nilotic populations, such as the Alur; it was observed in 27% of Maasai men. The third most frequently observed paternal DNA marker in the Maasai was E1b1a1-M2 (E-P1), which is very common in the Sub-Saharan region; it was found in 12% of the Maasai samples. Haplogroup B-M60 was also observed in 8% of the studied Maasai, which is also found in 30% (16/53) of Southern Sudanese Nilotes.


title: Maasai people

text: According to an mtDNA study by Castri et al. (2008), which tested Maasai individuals in Kenya, the maternal lineages found among the Maasai are quite diverse but similar in overall frequency to that observed in other Nilo-Hamitic populations from the region, such as the Samburu. Most of the tested Maasai belonged to various macro-haplogroup L sub-clades, including L0, L2, L3, L4 and L5. Some maternal gene flow from North and Northeast Africa was also reported, particularly via the presence of mtDNA haplogroup M lineages in about 12.5% of the Maasai samples.


title: Maasai people

text: The monotheistic Maasai worship a single deity called "Enkai" or "Engai". Engai has a dual nature: Engai Narok (Black God) is benevolent, and Engai Na-nyokie (Red God) is vengeful. There are also two pillars or totems of Maasai society: Oodo Mongi, the Red Cow and Orok Kiteng, the Black Cow with a subdivision of five clans or family trees. The Maasai also have a totemic animal, which is the lion; however, the animal can be killed. The way the Maasai kill the lion differs from trophy hunting as it is used in the rite of passage ceremony. The "Mountain of God", Ol Doinyo Lengai, is located in northernmost Tanzania and can be seen from Lake Natron in southernmost Kenya. The central human figure in the Maasai religious system is the whose roles include shamanistic healing, divination and prophecy, and ensuring success in war or adequate rainfall. Today, they have a political role as well due to the elevation of leaders. Whatever power an individual laibon had was a function of personality rather than position. Many Maasai have also adopted Christianity or Islam. The Maasai are known for their intricate jewellery for decades, have sold these items to tourists as a business.


title: Maasai people

text: Educating Maasai women to use clinics and hospitals during pregnancy has enabled more infants to survive. The exception is found in extremely remote areas. A corpse rejected by scavengers is seen as having something wrong with it, and liable to cause social disgrace; therefore, it is not uncommon for bodies to be covered in fat and blood from a slaughtered ox.


title: Maasai people

text: Traditional Maasai lifestyle centres around their cattle, which constitute their primary source of food. A man's wealth is measured in cattle and children (note that the wives or women are also counted as part of the children). A herd of 50 cattle is respectable, and the more children the better. A man who has plenty of one but not the other is considered to be poor.


title: Maasai people

text: All of the Maasai's needs for food are met by their cattle. They eat their meat, drink their milk daily, and drink their blood on occasion. Bulls, goats, and lambs are slaughtered for meat on special occasions and ceremonies. Though the Maasai's entire way of life has historically depended on their cattle, more recently with their cattle dwindling, the Maasai have grown dependent on food such as sorghum, rice, potatoes and cabbage (known to the Maasai as goat leaves).


title: Maasai people

text: One common misconception about the Maasai is that each young man is supposed to kill a lion before he can be circumcised and enter adulthood. Lion hunting was an activity of the past, but it has been banned in East Africa – yet lions are still hunted when they maul Maasai livestock. Nevertheless, killing a lion gives one great value and celebrity status in the community.


title: Maasai people

text: The piercing and stretching of earlobes are common among the Maasai as with other tribes, and both men and women wear metal hoops on their stretched earlobes. Various materials have been used to both pierce and stretch the lobes, including thorns for piercing, twigs, bundles of twigs, stones, the cross-section of elephant tusks and empty film canisters. Women wear various forms of beaded ornaments in both the ear lobe and smaller piercings at the top of the ear. Among Maasai males, circumcision is practised as a ritual of transition from boyhood to manhood. Women are also circumcised (as described below in social organisation).


title: Maasai people

text: This belief and practice are not unique to the Maasai. In rural Kenya, a group of 95 children aged between six months and two years were examined in 1991/92. 87% were found to have undergone the removal of one or more deciduous canine tooth buds. In an older age group (3–7 years of age), 72% of the 111 children examined exhibited missing mandibular or maxillary deciduous canines.