Eklavya: The Royal Guard

Posted on February 17, 2007 by E
Filed Under Reviews |

Eklavya: The Royal Guard
That a great deal of attention is paid to the visual aesthetic of Eklavya is apparent from the very first frames that begin to unspool on screen. The way the imagery is framed, the care taken to introduce each character in a manner fitting his or her role in the story …all of it is done with a deliberation I do not expect from most Hindi cinema.

When the end credits begin to roll, the film that has unfolded is essentially a simple tale of betrayals, passions, duty and the animosity that exists within families and between classes. Set against the awe-inspiring vistas of Rajasthan, a place I haven’t yet had the pleasure of visiting, the intrigues that unfold seem to happen at scale, which even as I type this, seems like an odd thing to say about a movie.

Cinema, as most of us know it, is always larger than life. Big voices, overwhelming physiques and/or cleavage, dramatic gestures and OTT acting and reacting. The dramatic flair exists in Eklavya as well but it seems that everyone, no matter their stature in Hindi cinema or the size of their role in the film, is struggling to rise above the drama that is inherent in the sweep of sand dunes, rows of camels, palaces atop lush green hills and attire that is the riot of colour the globe associates with India. It immediately gives everyone, watching and performing, a sense of the scale of their own individual place in the world.

To attempt to discuss the story would be to give plot points away and I think it is important that audiences see this with the relative lack of information that has appeared in the press ahead of the release of the film. Unfolding like a cross between Shakespeare and Agatha Christie, the setting, the performances and the director’s nuanced hand over the proceedings give this movie the heft it manages to possess.

I had a beef with the way the story is ended until it occurred to me that it was possible that the director was ‘taking back’ the legend of Eklavya with this story. And then it made sense and felt satisfactory.

As far as the performances are concerned, when Harsh (Saif Ali Khan) first arrives at the palace one gets a very clear sense that Pataudi Jr. is completely at home in a setting of this nature. He delivers a performance devoid of his usual chocolate boy mannerisms that were so been-there-done-that after Dil Chahta Hai. The beard, the hair and the measured movements serve to deliver a heretofore unseen version of the actor to audiences already in love with him.

It is impressive to see that Amiitabh Bachchan has the ability to tone down the force of his persona to play a servant. Right from the voiceover to his posture and manner, everything struggles to be smaller than it actually is. The son of the palace guard was born to serve and he has learnt to do it well. Commendable.

In his very short time on screen Jackie Shroff delivers in a way that is seldom required of him in all of the other forgettable works he has appeared in. It would be great to see the man used like this more often and less as the surprise package in drivel like Samay.

The rest of the supporting cast does their part effectively enough with the exception of Raima Sen who’s mentally ill daughter grates in the single note manner of most Hindi film portrayals of diseases of the mind.

Overall, I enjoyed the film but I was also left wondering about its fate at the box office as well as the way it would be perceived. In many ways this film is both perfect for Indian audiences and also the worst thing for the very same people. We love satisfactory endings but a lot of us also hate it when legend is messed with…The film will make sense to even those of us who know little to nothing about farmers, kings and the struggle for power outside of the major cities. However, to a non-Indian (read Western) audience this film could serve to take perceptions about the country back to the imagery of people riding camels to work, wearing turbans, living like savages and being able to perform tricks with rope.

And most importantly, I wonder whether this entertainer which, save for the theatricality of some of the actors, plays out like a low key British or European film will find takers in the same audience that makes excuses for having enjoyed, among others, celluloid merde like Krrish, Dhoom, Devdas, Black and Dus.

Director:
Vidhu Vinod Chopra

Cast:
Amitabh Bachchan
Saif Ali Khan
Jackie Shroff
Boman Irani
Vidya Balan
Jimmy Shergill
Raima Sen
Sanjay Dutt
Sharmila Tagore

   

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