A Guarda Real

Vidhu Vinod Chopra has always been the master stylist...repertoire is full of cinematic brilliance...whether it was Parinda where he showcased a underworld gangster with haunting memories...or 1947 a love story..a power house packed romantic film in the backdrop of Quit India movement...or it was Mission Kashmir where estranged son and father fought and valley burnt in their anguish...his narration has always been packed with a grip, sheer brilliance of dialog delivery, daunting back score music and use of lights and camera angles which reminds you of Guru Dutt's work...no doubt Vidhu has his traits in all his protégé, be it Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Hirani or Pardeep Sarkar... so when one hears it took him five years to pen the screenplay of Eklavya, the expectations had to be high.

But then Eklavya is no disappointment. a failing dynasty with frail rulers, a secret seeded deep in heart, and dilapidated royal guard trying to keep secret intact. There is heresy, treachery, pain, unrequited love all wrapped beautifully in four walls of a grandiose palace (..Heard its Maharani Gayatri Devi's. Palace).... shimmering chandeliers, royal swords, candle lit harem's...they are mesmerizing...and so are the actors who have slipped into their characters as if they are living them from ages.. Mr. Bachchan is powerhouse at its best...Saif is yet again reserved but impact full...Jackie and Jimmy are at their evil best. It's amazing to see Balan making her presence felt among all stalwarts. So does Raima impress. Sanjay is flawless in his rustic, vindictive demeanor. But its Boman with niceties of queen, which make you realize, he is one hell of an actor.

The narration is what makes it impeccably, nicely told, not a scene out of context. Good camera work during panoramic view of palace. The use of special effects adds gravity to story. It's another brilliance from master stylist and best story narrator in film industry.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra has seemed to me in recent times to be a better film-marketer/producer than a film-maker, thanks to his marketing genius none of his recent films have ever received a low rating. Also he has a great eye for untapped potential (backing the likes of Saif , Nana Patekar, Vidya Balan when they were around but never stars and Sanjay Dutt who was giving one flop after the other till Munnabhai came along).

His weakest movies are the ones which involve stars at the top (mission Kashmir, 1942 ) and Eklavya suffers from the same fate.

Now if we consider this movie like an Auto-rickshaw (for the uninitiated it has 3 wheels) then ...

THE REAR WHEEL.

The first thing that struck me and everyone else too was the fabulous cinematography, its easily one of the most visually pleasing movies to come out in recent times, but is the effort really that good Rajasthan is one (if not the) of the most beautiful places in India, anyone who has visited will tell you that its any camera lovers nightmare as you can easily polish of a reel or 2 in a day even ordinary photographs of the palaces look spectacular, in any case this movie is my candidate for cinematography next year.

Technically in all aspects to this movie is extremely sound with great sound, computer graphics, etc.

The editing is slightly patchy but I don't think that has anything to do with the editor.

So on the all important Technical Aspects this film is near perfect and like brand new, perfectly balanced wheel and tyre.

THE OTHER REAR WHEEL.

The acting in this movie is superb all around, there were a couple of scenes that were over-acted, but other that everyone including Boman, Amitabh, Saif were great.

Special mention to Jackie who despite being a mighty fine actor and looker has been reduced to character roles, I really wish he goes back to playing a more central character in films.

A wheels go this one is like the most expensive alloy wheel with run-flat tyres even.

THE FRONT WHEEL.

Anyone who experienced punctures in a four wheeler will tell you that a puncture in any of the front tyres will immediately affect your car while a car may go on four kilometers with a rear flat.

If a movie is to be compared to an auto-rickshaw this spot will definitely go to the script.

And this tyre (script) has not deflated but burst.

The characters are so badly written that in the end you have nothing but contempt for all of them, you actually end up feeling bad for the so called bad guys,THIS MOVIE IS LIKE A SLAP IN THE FACE OF THE CONCEPT BEHIND ADOPTION.

There is so little content in the film that even the extremely short film (by Indian standards) of 105 minutes seems like running forever, to add to it there are a number of over the top scenes (no fault of the actors), including the choking scene (at first I thought I had the dirty mind), and the Sholay scene.

Picking out faults in the script and the plot will take days, even if you are able to digest AMITABH BACHANS SUPERHUMAN POWERS.

THE RESULT Is exactly like what it would be if one the tyres of your rickshaw were to burst and had no other option but to ride it out till the end of your journey.

Your trip would be a slow excruciating one once the tyre burst and would involve frequent veering of the course.

You sat in a mighty fine rickshaw that looked superb (thanks to the cast), was famous (thanks to the Bentleys given as gifts), had a great engine (some of the names besides vidhu in the film crew have great talent), had great wheels, BUT HAD BAD MUSIC.

But halfway through the ride you realise that your tyre has burst you have no spare and you have no option but to continue on the slow bumpy ride, the only consolation being that the ride is not long as you expect.

Only recommended if you are a big fan of amitabh, bored, and willing to watch a movie that has lots of glitz and glam but no substance.

Watching the matinée on screen is recommended to enjoy the visuals,a large screen TV (on DVD) will just about do but cable is a no-no.

I for one would not encourage that we fall pray to such gimmicks and encourage more ordinary films in India.

+s FINALLY AN ORIGINAL FILM +1 FOR THAT ONLY, SUPERB ACTING, SUPERB TECHNICALLY,short length.

+/-s only one or 2 songs, hardly any romance.

-s EXTREMELY WEAK SCRIPT AND RELATED ASPECTS (plot holes, super amitabh, predictable, some over the top scenes etc etc).

total 5/10 (includes one for originality 2 each for acting and technical aspects didn't minus marks because after an hour i knew i was screwed but had enjoyed the movie till then plus this movie has many scenes that looked great and even though they were low on content managed to hold your attention)

Directed and written by: Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Boman Irani.

Enter a royal mansion of Rajasthan, India that is filled with secrets. The royal guard Eklavya (Amitabh Bachchan) is humble, sincere and ruthless. He is guarding the king Rana Jayawardhan (Boman Irani). Like one of the characters Eklavya from the epic Mahabharata, who cut his thumb off as a gesture of respect when his Archery teacher asks him to as fees for the teaching, this royal guard is also determined to protect his king so as to consider this job as his only Religion. What secrets this mansion is hiding? What happens when one tries to blow off the lid off these secrets? Will Eklavya be able to follow his religion? Well the questions are answered, except for one which you will see at the end.

After giving Khamosh (1985), Parinda (1989) and 1942-A love story (1993) Vidhu Vinod Chopra comes back with his own screenplay and his own vision blended in a big screen art piece. Like those other films he still has his cutting knife as sharp as it was before. Little rugged tip though. Mr Chopra has created a dark sequence that can only be understood from voices in the background. He has created a scene where camera is panning over the entire entrance way towards the mansion that reminds Kubrick and Fincher's fluid-track camera. He has created a thrilling sequence involving a car standing close to a running train along with sprinting camels in one of the deserts of Rajasthan. He has created a dark and glooming atmosphere throughout the entire movie which will keep you glued to your seat. He has a vision and he has stick to it all the way almost till the last 10 minutes of the movie. Actually he did give a sign of a grand finale with Harshwardhan's (Saif Ali Khan) gesture which if Mr Chopra has stayed with then this tale would have made sense and fit to all of the character's intentions. But unfortunately Mr Chopra goes a little further which will steer away this car ride out on a gravel road where the scenery is hazy due to the dust. At this point perhaps he could not decide if he can still continue to be an artist or rather make money out of this? Its upto you how hard you take those 10 minutes. Personally Mr Chhopra was already impressive enough to give an exhilarating experience through his quality cinema.

Mr Bachchan as the royal guard has a style and attitude that would take his character where you believe him completely. When he stands next to the bed where queen Suhasini devi (Sharmila Tagore) is lying, he has the eyes that will negate the possibilities of any words from the screenplay. The sequence of chopping off the bells tied to a flying dove's feet is at first seems little cheesy but sometime later helps you understand how unique his talent is. Though his expressions are not new but still he performs with utter honesty.

Saif Ali Khan as the prince charming lights the screen with his persona. His performance is the second memorable followed by Boman Irani as the king and Vidya Balan as Harshwardhan's lover Rajjo. Jackie Shroff makes a comeback to commercial cinema after quite a while. Seems like Mr Chopra wanted to bring Shubhankar from 1942-A love story. He is little more older, tired and less believable. Sanjay Dutt and Raima Sen contribute a little to the story.

Cinematography by Nataraja Subramanian is quite stunning which requires an auditorium viewing. Eklavya asks a question that how far can you go to be RELIGIOUS? This movie is a great attempt which deserves applause.

My rating: 7/10.

Two reasons why this movie is a good reason to watch: the first is the visuals. Rajastan is a beautiful place for sure, but dear god, does this movie make the most of it! There where times when I was actually holding my breath in awe of the sheer visual poetry that flashes across the screen.

The second reason: the acting. All the other commenters already cheered Big B's performance, and true, he really reaches unsurpassable form here. But be sure to also have an eye for Shroff, Irani, Sanjay Dutt and Saif Ali Khan: they also give an impresssive performance.

What's less good of the movie is the way the characters develop. VVD has a goldmine of a storyline here but he fails to mine it: we could have easily seen more of Big B's doubts about dharma, more of Saif Ali Khan's uneasy steps on the path of palace intrigue and treachery, more of Dutt's feeling as a scheduled caste DSP involved in outdated monarchical madness,more of Shroff's agitation as the king's younger brother - the story now is told in such a way that it leaves you guessing too much at what the characters would be going through, so that at the climax you recognize: this would have been a heart-breaking tragic scene of more then epic proportions, if only you would have felt more...

So,all in all, a good performance and a great visual tour of Rajastan - but not the brilliant movie you can easily understand it could have been.

Eklavya certainly does not do justice to the creation with such great actors of current era. The problem is lack of entertainment, which is consistently absent in failed movies of VV Chopra '1947 – A love story', 'Mission Kashmir', 'Parineeta'. May be this is the reason these movies do not do any good on box office. But still it is hard to say that the movies were bad. These movies provide a very less entertainment.

Eklavya too lacks entertainment. Moreover it fails to take best out of the actors. It also does not make a clear picture of what the director wants to convey. I guess introduction of unnecessary characters has killed the main theme. The characters of Sanjay Dutt, Boman Irani and Vidya Balan has very limited role which do not do any justice to the acting skills of these good actors.

The movie is really good for the eyes. One thing in which VV Chopra has scored point is the environment making. The sketch of rural India is very effective. The big palace, its surrounding, the entire town and also the dessert fits perfectly to the theme, and there is no issue there. The music is also matching with this environment and soothing to the ear.

All the actors have done a good job. You can not think any other person in the role of Eklavya other than Amitabh Bachhan. This man do not need dialogs to talk. Saif has also given full justice to his character. Audience can get his emotions and can find the battle he is playing with himself, not knowing what decision is right or wrong. Jackey Shroff and Jim Shergill have done decent in their negative characters. Others though have very limited roles has done their best and fits the characters that they have done.

The unrealistic and larger than life picture of main character is another weak point. The scene where Amitabh shows his aiming and concentration skills was unnecessary, and takes the movie on the fairy tale path. Not only this, but again many other scenes should have been shortened in length. This is what makes the movie boring.

I feel that if VV looks at his flop films, he himself will understand the problem. The movie is more than the main path Bollywood movie, takes the path of the art movie. So it dangles in between this, and at the end, ends nowhere.