Trama

As the kingdom of Devigarh comes apart at the seams, an aging bodyguard attempts to protect the Royal Family, as well as keep its darkest secrets from ever coming to light.

It has been chronicled in the Geeta that Eklavya wanted to be Sage Dronacharya's disciple in order to excel at bow and arrow shooting, but was refused because of his low caste. He decided to teach himself, and did excel to such an extent that Dronacharya felt threatened that he would beat his ace disciple, Arjun, so he asked Eklavya for his fee - his right thumb, which Eklavya dutifully cut off and presented it to his Guru. Now in modern India, Nishab, whose father was Eklavya, who gave his life trying to protect his master, has now been re-named Eklavya himself, and has been entrusted to guard the lives of Rana Jaywardhan, Ranimaa Suhasinidevi, and their children, Harsh and Nandini, will be called upon to pay the ultimate price, after he learns that his master, the Rana, has been killed. Eklavya, who also carries a dark family secret, slays the two assailants of the Rana, but then in the process also finds out that th! e one who hired them is his very own son. What will prevail - duty or the love of his son?—rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Contemporary India. A majestic fort. A royal dynasty that no longer rules. A king without a kingdom. Yet Eklavya (Amitabh Bachchan), their royal guard, lives in a time warp. He lives only to protect the fort, the dynasty, and the king. For nine generations Eklavya's family has protected Devigarh, a centuries old citadel in Rajasthan. His marksmanship is stuff of legends. His unflinching loyalty inspires ballads. Eklavya has spent his entire life serving the royals and closely guarding their secrets but now he's getting old and increasingly blind. Unable to cope with the suffocating customs of his land, the heir, Prince Harshwardhan (Saif Ali Khan), has stayed away in London. But the sudden demise of the queen, Rani Suhasinidevi (Sharmila Tagore), forces the Prince back to the kingdom he had left behind. The Prince's return brings a rush of joy into the moribund fort. His mentally challenged twin sister, Princess Nandini (Raima Sen) and his childhood love Rajjo (Vidya Balan) are delighted to see him. But the joy of reunion is short-lived. There is unrest in the kingdom: Farmers are being stripped of their lands. The king, Rana Jaywardhan (Boman Irani), influenced by his brother, Rana Jyotiwardhan (Jackie Shroff), supports the atrocities being forced upon the helpless peasants. The king receives a death threat over the phone. An irreverent police officer, Pannalal Chohar (Sanjay Dutt), is called in to investigate. But he might be too late. The fragile peace of the land is suddenly shattered by a barrage of bullets. And amidst the mayhem, the safely guarded secrets of the fort are unveiled. What follows is a contemporary, edge-of-the-seat dramatic action thriller with a stellar ensemble cast - Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan, Boman Irani, Jackie Shroff, Jimmy Sheirgill, Raima Sen and Sharmila Tagore. The film marks the return of Vidhu Vinod Chopra who directs after a hiatus of seven years—Vinod Chopra Films

Contemporary India. A majestic fort. A royal dynasty that no longer rules. A king without a kingdom. Yet Eklavya (Amitabh Bachchan), their royal guard, lives in a time warp. He lives only to protect the fort, the dynasty, and the king.

Eklavya was a tribal boy during Mahabharat times. He wanted to learn archery from Drona, but he refuses as Drona was a guru to the Princes. Eklavya went to the forest, made a clay idol of Drona and studied archery. One day Drona passed through the forest and found his dog's mouth sealed with 7 arrows, which were shot with such precision that the dog did not bleed or felt pain. Drona was alarmed that a tribal boy was a better archer than Arjun himself and asked for his right thumb in Guru Dakshina. Eklavya fulfilled his Dharma without caring for his pain or hurt.

For nine generations Eklavyas family has protected Devigarh, a centuries old citadel in Rajasthan. His marksmanship is stuff of legends. His unflinching loyalty inspires ballads. Eklavya has spent his entire life serving the royals and closely guarding their secrets but now he is getting old and increasingly blind. Unable to cope with the suffocating customs of his land, the heir, Prince Harshwardhan (Saif Ali Khan), has stayed away in London.

But the sudden demise of the queen, Rani Suhasini Devi (Sharmila Tagore) murdered at the hands of the king Jayvardhan (while asking for Eklavya to be summoned. Suhasini said Eklavya's name again and again while recovering from a mild heart attack). Jayvardhan strangled his queen while being distraught at hearing Eklavya's name from her mouth. Nandini was a mute witness to the murder of her mother at the hands of her father. This forces the Prince back to the kingdom he had left behind.

The Prince's return brings a rush of joy into the moribund fort. His mentally challenged twin sister, Princess Nandini (Raima Sen) and his childhood love Rajjo (Vidya Balan) are delighted to see him. Rajjo is the daughter of Jayvardhan's driver Omkar (Parikshat Sahni). But the joy of reunion is short-lived.

The queen leaves a letter for her son in which she tells him that his biological father is actually Eklavya. Delivered by Rajjo, the letter from Suhasini reveals that the King was impotent, so to keep the family line going, King's mother got Suhasini to get pregnant by trusted Eklavya to produce Harsh & Nandini. To fool the King the whole family went to Gangotri to meet a sage and to fulfill an age-old tradition to get the Queen impregnated by a sage. However, this was only a ruse, and the King's mother trusted Eklavya more than the sage.

King was angry at Suhasini for taking Eklavya's name in her last breath. King was earlier told a lie that a sage had sex with Suhasini, but now knows the truth. Suhasini says in the letter that now Eklavya needs Harsh, as he is getting old and blind. Eklavya is afraid to acknowledge Harsh as his son, even when Harsh reaches out to him. Eklavya says that after the rituals in Gangotri, Suhasini and he promised that they would never reveal the truth to anyone and never even look at each other.

There is unrest in the kingdom: Farmers are being stripped of their lands when they fail to pay off their loans on time. The king, Rana Jayvardhan (Boman Irani), influenced by his brother, Rana Jyotiwardhan (Jackie Shroff), supports the atrocities being forced upon the helpless peasants. Jay tells Jyoti that Eklavya is the father of Harsh and Nandini and Jyoti offers to kill Eklavya. Jay feels humiliated that Eklavya, an ordinary guard, slept with his queen. Jay is horrified that all these years Eklavya would have laughed at his master, at his every flaw.

The king receives a death threat from the agitating farmers over the phone. An irreverent police officer, Pannalal Chohar (Sanjay Dutt), is called in to investigate. Panna is an untouchable & hates Jay for the centuries of atrocities on his caste. He has immense respect for Eklavya. The fragile peace of the land is suddenly shattered by a barrage of bullets. Eklavya was told by his mother that protecting his King is his only Dharma, and if he fails, 9 generations of their family will go to hell. Suhasini had a different view and she believed Dharma is something that comes from the mind and is validated by the heart.

Nandini reveals to Harsh that Jay killed Suhasini. Jyoti lures Jay out of the castle with the promise of killing Eklavya, but Jyoti & his son Uday (Jimmy Shergil) kill Jay instead, while Eklavya escapes.

Harsh marries Rajjo. Ekalvya finds that Uday was involved in killing Jay & wants to shoot him, but Panna stops him & promises that he himself will take care of Uday as he knows Uday has also stirred the farmer's unrest. Eklavya doesn't know Jyoti was involved.

Now Harsh reveals to Eklavya that he knows he is his father. Then he dismisses him from service to protect him from the danger. Eklavya goes & kills Uday when he is alone. He goes & tells Jyoti that he has killed Uday & asks Jyoti who ordered Uday to kill Jay. Jyoti is livid & says that Harsh told Uday to kill Jay.

Back in castle Harsh admits to Rajjo that he ordered the killing of Jay. Shouting in denial, Eklavya kills Jyoti, knowing he must face the young prince, his son, to finally fulfill his dharma. Eklavya confronts Harsh who says he killed Jay because Jay killed Suhasini. Jay was paying Jyoti 2.5 Crores to kill Eklavya, but Harsh paid them 25 Crores to kill Jay. Eklavya knows that it is his duty to kill Harsh, but he can't bring himself to kill his own son & forgives him. Harsh returns the confiscated land of farmers.

Rajjo eventually forgives Harsh because she believes that he is truly sorry for his actions, and Pannalal finds a suicide note saying that Uday and Jyoti, afraid that they were about to be caught, jumped in front of a train. Harshwardhan finally reveals Eklavya to be his true father in front of the entire village.