VIDHU VINOD CHOPRA is one film-maker who doesn’t care about the commercial dictums of cinema. Though his films are spectacularly mounted – a never-ending cast, rich production-design and awe-inspiring cinematography; but his every film is different.
The irony is that he looses the grip over narrative in the second-half. May be that is his style of cinema; silent languid sequences, but they don’t gel with the conventional Hindi audiences.
Eklavya is not for the conventional Hindi viewer. It has been produced for a new breed of viewers that throng to multiplexes to view something new. It doesn’t have a novel story-idea, but the treatment of the story is novel.
The film tells the story of Eklavya (played by Amitabh Bachchan) who vows to protect his King, Rana (played by Boman Irani). Following the death of Rani (Sharmila Tagore), the son Harsh (Saif Ali Khan) arrives. Once he is there, he comes to know the bitter secret that he is in fact the son of Eklavya.
When Rana comes to know of it, he wants to kill Eklavya. He hatches a plan with his younger brother (Jackie Shroff) and nephew, Uday (Jimmy Shergill) to eliminate Eklavya, but instead gets killed. And all is left to Eklavya to avenge his king’s death.
The film starts with the protagonist recollecting Eklavya’s story from Mahabharat. The entire sequence is brilliantly executed. Thereafter the brutal murder of Rani sets the tempo. The story had enough meat to be made into a taut thriller, but Vidhu opts for a dramatic narrative instead that unravels at a slow pace and this is precisely the problem with Eklavya. In spite of its short length the film is slow.
Apart from this, the character of Sanjay Dutt seems to be force-fit, probably to play it up to the gallery, and it succeeds.
The best technical aspect of the film is its cinematography. Subramaniam’s shots are simply breathtaking. One shot that remains etched; is the king dying in Eklavya’s arms, just before the intermission. The transitions used in the film are probably, the best ever seen on Indian screen, as far as one can recollect.
Amitabh Bachchan as Eklavya is amazingly restrained and delivers yet another power-packed performance. In the birds sequence he has done an incredible job. They say actors act with eyes. Here with eyes covered, Bachchan acts just with his facial expressions.
Saif Ali Khan as a son caught between right and wrong gives yet another power-packed performance.
Boman Irani is a revelation. Whosoever thinks Boman as a comic actor, will be surprised to see him essaying a brutal yet weak king with élan. Rest of the cast is apt, but doesn’t get much scope. If a slow paced drama is your idea of entertainment, you better check this royal guard.
Amit R Agarwal – MeriNews
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