Eklavya The Royal Guard

Rating: 5/10

I watched Eklavya today after a botched first attempt. On the previous occasion, Id seen about 20-25 minutes and for some reason, couldnt finish it. And truth be told, I wasnt terribly inclined to either. I didnt really think too much why; it just didnt hook me in any way that I would want to know what happened next.

Then the official entry for the Oscars thing happened, and I was curious. Then Sajid Khan said that Chak De Indiawould have been a better choice. Vidhu Vinod Chopra lambasted Sajid Khan with some remarks about the latters limited knowledge of films, and Sajid Khan shot back with an open letter, and I got even more curious. Was there something worth watching in Eklavya that Id missed?

To find out, I rented the CD again, and my personal verdict is visible at the top of this review. Theres nothing truly Oscar-worthy about Eklavya. While its not a lousy film, neither is it even a patch on Rang De Basanti or Lage Raho Munnabhai, both of which are among the best Hindi films ever. Eklavya suffers from the same problem that I felt Devdas had grandeur and opulence without any substance. I was horribly bored during Devdas; I was bored during Eklavya too.

Im sure most people will have watched Eklavya by now, but for those who havent, let me outline that Saif Ali Khan is a prince, Boman Irani his father who strangles his wife Sharmila Tagore (i.e. Saifs mom), Amitabh is Eklavya the royal guard, Vidya Balan is the love interest, Jackie Shroff and Jimmy Shergill are the scheming brothers. So you can well imagine what the story is.

But thats not the point. The point is that you can make fun movies out of nonexistent stories and you can make crappy movies out of great stories. Jackie Chans movies are an example of the former, and unfortunately for our current case study, it happens to be an example of the latter. Lage Raho Munnabhai was written by Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijat Joshi, a professor in Ohio in the USA. The credits for Eklavya name Abhijat Joshi and Vidhu Vinod Chopra as the writers. So is it V V Chopras fault that Eklavya is, to put it diplomatically, boring? And there arent even any songs to put up as scapegoats, except for one beautiful lori composed by Shantanu Moitra.

After watching the movie, my humble opinion is that the blame lies at the directors door. The lines and scenes must have had a lot of potential on paper, but something got lost in transition from paper to reel. 70% of the dialogue is whisphered, and barely uttered with any sense of urgency. The performances arent bad with such a cast thats impossible but everythings very slow, very measured, and without any drama, energy, or humour. We dont really feel anything while watching the movie except wishing that something would happen. When Sanjay Dutt showed up, things livened up a bit and I though ok, now somethings gonna happen, but no, once he left, the proceedings started dragging again. Its my personal belief that you can always put humour in your films no matter what genre they are, unless its something deadly serious like Schindlers List. Eklavya fails to score there too only Sanjay Dutt provides a few light moments, the rest of the characters are morose and somber all the time.

I believe the primary goal of a movie is to entertain. A movie should make you feel something sorrow, exuberance, inspiration, laughter, awe, thrills, mystery some emotion or the other. Sadly, Eklavya fails to fulfil this primary function. I didnt feel entertained at all. The only thing I was thinking was what on earth the Oscar people might see in this that might induce them to vote in its favour. You may agree or disagree with the choices of Oscar winners, but one thing is almost certain an Oscar-nominated movie is anything but boring. When Devdas was sent, there were very few Western audience members who had the stomach (or backside) to sit through three hours of boring melodrama. Kilos of jewellery, kilometers of saris, litres of glycerine and crores worth of sets cant make up for what is essentially a boring script. (Before Sanjay Leela Bhansali reaches for his directors special axe, let me quickly say I loved Black and would give it 10/10.) Eklavya isnt three hours long, but it seems like it, and that is not going to find favour with Academy members.

So Sajid Khan, I agree with you Eklavya is not the best choice to be sent to the Oscars. Theres nothing really special about it. One hyped scene, where the screen is black for nearly a minute, is actually quite good, but apart from that, its hard to find anything to go wow about. The West might not find anything new about Chak De India, as they already have their fair share of inspirational sports movies, but theyll at least be entertained like hell. Im sure there must be several great regional movies that we havent got to know of, so out of the limited choices we have, Id throw my hat in with Chak De India.

PS: The day after I wrote this review, I watched Black Friday. Ive revised my opinion, and I believe Black Friday should have been sent to the Oscars. Read my review to know why.