WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SOME of the most revered names in the Hindi movie industry come together on screen? Magic? Nah
try again. Explosion? Maybe
but the word I am looking for is class. The defining part of Vidhu Vinod Chopra's latest venture 'Eklavya' is just that class.
OK so we have seen it all, you say. Several neat examples of well made decent and classy pictures does come to mind from the recent past Khosla ka ghosla et al. But what makes 'Eklavya' a tad different is just one name Amitabh Bachchan. Never have I seen an actor who said so much just by looking at you with those emotion filled eyes. Never have I been witness to a performance that relied so heavily on the magnitude of silence. Amitabh delivers this to a standing ovation.
'Eklavya' is proof, as if 'Black' wasn't a slap-in-the-face Amitabh is just getting warmed up after three decades example, that he is indeed a legend. When I saw Amit effortlessly slip into the role of an aging royal guard who has nothing left to guard this crumbling royal family from, I wondered about what a genius we have amongst us. I thanked the Almighty for having given us such a gifted talent who has stuck with our stereotypical masala fare for so many long years. Bravo Mr. Director for showing us Amitabh in a whole other frame.
So what is the movie about? The script relies heavily on the mystery that tends to revolve around every royal family in the world. The secrets, the lies, the deceits that hide behind the smiling regal chins who make their appearances in public with a fly swatter for company. We have the old royal guard Eklavya who is mourning the recent demise of the queen mother Suhasini Devi (Sharmila Tagore). She is married to a cynical, insecure and borderline insane king father, as it were, Rana Jaywardhan (Boman Irani). Mystery begins to creep its ugly head the moment the king willingly strangles the queen on her death bed. We begin to wonder hmm I wonder why he did that. A few heartbeats later as Eklavya comes running to her aid we begin to connect the dots.
The relationships are unearthed in true Vidhu Chopra style during the next few frames as we look at one ugly facet after another of this royal bunch. Enter Harshwardhan (Saif Ali Khan) from London who is home to finish the final rites of his beloved mother's mortal remains. We also meet his childhood sweetheart Rajeshwari (Vidya Balan) whose soul aches for the prince's attention. Somewhere in this mix of players we have Mr. Unafraid-to-speak-to-royalty-with-an-attitude Pannalal Chohaar (Sanjay Dutt) who is the local DSP and supposedly law enforcer. We also get a glimpse of scheming royal cousin Udaywardhan (Jimmy Shergill) and his equally sadistic father and the king's brother Jyotiwardhan (Jackie Shroff).
My my! What an impressive line up, isn't it? And indeed they all do complete justice with the tight one hour and forty five minutes of total screen time for this feature. One neatly placed lullaby for a song and 'Eklavya' is completely focused on the unearthing the various good, bad and ugly sides to the castle and it's king.
I will save you the pain of glorifying the performances since it is to be seen. I will also save you the trouble to read through my rendition of the cinematography and lens work as it is to be experienced. I will definitely spare you the bane of having to wonder why 'Eklavya' confirms quality in Indian cinema as it is to be understood and more importantly appreciated.
OK so we have seen it all, you say. Several neat examples of well made decent and classy pictures does come to mind from the recent past Khosla ka ghosla et al. But what makes 'Eklavya' a tad different is just one name Amitabh Bachchan. Never have I seen an actor who said so much just by looking at you with those emotion filled eyes. Never have I been witness to a performance that relied so heavily on the magnitude of silence. Amitabh delivers this to a standing ovation.
'Eklavya' is proof, as if 'Black' wasn't a slap-in-the-face Amitabh is just getting warmed up after three decades example, that he is indeed a legend. When I saw Amit effortlessly slip into the role of an aging royal guard who has nothing left to guard this crumbling royal family from, I wondered about what a genius we have amongst us. I thanked the Almighty for having given us such a gifted talent who has stuck with our stereotypical masala fare for so many long years. Bravo Mr. Director for showing us Amitabh in a whole other frame.
So what is the movie about? The script relies heavily on the mystery that tends to revolve around every royal family in the world. The secrets, the lies, the deceits that hide behind the smiling regal chins who make their appearances in public with a fly swatter for company. We have the old royal guard Eklavya who is mourning the recent demise of the queen mother Suhasini Devi (Sharmila Tagore). She is married to a cynical, insecure and borderline insane king father, as it were, Rana Jaywardhan (Boman Irani). Mystery begins to creep its ugly head the moment the king willingly strangles the queen on her death bed. We begin to wonder hmm I wonder why he did that. A few heartbeats later as Eklavya comes running to her aid we begin to connect the dots.
The relationships are unearthed in true Vidhu Chopra style during the next few frames as we look at one ugly facet after another of this royal bunch. Enter Harshwardhan (Saif Ali Khan) from London who is home to finish the final rites of his beloved mother's mortal remains. We also meet his childhood sweetheart Rajeshwari (Vidya Balan) whose soul aches for the prince's attention. Somewhere in this mix of players we have Mr. Unafraid-to-speak-to-royalty-with-an-attitude Pannalal Chohaar (Sanjay Dutt) who is the local DSP and supposedly law enforcer. We also get a glimpse of scheming royal cousin Udaywardhan (Jimmy Shergill) and his equally sadistic father and the king's brother Jyotiwardhan (Jackie Shroff).
My my! What an impressive line up, isn't it? And indeed they all do complete justice with the tight one hour and forty five minutes of total screen time for this feature. One neatly placed lullaby for a song and 'Eklavya' is completely focused on the unearthing the various good, bad and ugly sides to the castle and it's king.
I will save you the pain of glorifying the performances since it is to be seen. I will also save you the trouble to read through my rendition of the cinematography and lens work as it is to be experienced. I will definitely spare you the bane of having to wonder why 'Eklavya' confirms quality in Indian cinema as it is to be understood and more importantly appreciated.