 Sudeep 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 Akkineni 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".