...and a royal waste!

 

 

Eklavya is a perspicaciously dated, yet guilefully-directed saga boasting of stunning scenes painted by the master craftsman Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Chock-a-block with highly accomplished actors and with Chopra rolling out a Rolls Royce for Big B’s performance, the inimitable Bachchan and the setting remain the only gloriously fulfilled characters in the film.

A brooding movie about the travails of a former Indian royal family, it capitalises on the thundering talent that is Amitabh Bachchan, the Eklavya in the film, who stands as The Royal Guard protecting the mighty secrets of this morbid ménage of a dynasty (Sharmila Tagore, the adored Queen, dies at the beginning mumbling Eklavya, much to her husband King ‘Boman Irani’ Jayawardhan’s chagrin, who is killed midway). The story is then about the criminal and uncivil vicissitudes to seize supremacy, borne out by the King’s brother (Jackie Shroff), his nephew (Jimmy Shergill) – and Eklavya himself – on the return of the King’s estranged son Harshvardhan (Saif); supported by Vidya Balan and special investigator on the scene, Sanjay Dutt. Recording a dismal 50% opening, the movie is reduced to a cardboard cut-out of plots and characters. Though most of the big names are wasted, the film has its moments – the face-off in the dark between Amitabh and Shergill, the pivotal murder sequence with the camel herd, and the trains fir instance. Surprisingly short for a Hindi film, expect its stint at the theatres to be just that – short!