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at 10:24:36 pm on February 25, 2007
Well I know this is late, but I just watched Eklavya – The Royal Guard, and all I can say is that I am speechless. I didn’t think much about the story line per say, but man!! The treatment is something that I just sat there watching in complete awe.
Reel Life – Eklavya, the royal guard’s sole purpose in life is to protect in every way, the king and the royal family. This means protecting them physically and also to make sure that their credibility is not stained in any way.
But a secret from the past comes out in the open and with that comes a series of insecurity amongst the immediate and distant royal family members. A death in the royal family brings back the prince who has then to come to terms with not just the way his father, the kind rules his kingdom, but on a personal note he has to come to term with the impact that the secret has on him. On the other hand, Eklavya decides to get to the bottom of the reason, behind the death in the family and to make sure that the secret remains just that – a secret. Finally the royal guard and the prince cross paths at a moment, where the prince has to embrace the truth behind the secret, while the royal guard has to weigh his duty towards a more human emotion.
Real Life – I love the sense of loyalty that the character of Eklavya brings to the screen. He is committed, loyal and disciplined to an extent that I wish we today still possessed some element of that. There are secrets in every family, I guess, but there is always that one custodian of that secret, and this was emphasized a lot in the film. Also I like the way, a person’s insecurities was highlighted in the film, something that we all face, and the shame is we never realize that our evil and negative ways are a reaction of these insecurities.
Cinematically – Wo!! Vidhu Vinod Chopra rocks. He is amongst the finest cinematic craftsmen of our country. Watch this for CINEMA. Watch this for craftsmanship, be it film making or even the acting skills. Amitabh is brilliant, but then again so is Sanjay Dutt, as a loveable police officer, Jackie as the King’s brother, Saif as the prince, Vidya as the village damsel in love with the prince, etc. If you really want to see how ‘Bollywood’ has technically progressed in film making, the let this film be the testament of that.
Tagore is a script writer, peace seeker and technologist who lives in Dubai. Read more about him at www.tagorealmeida.com
