Eklavya can be regarded as one of the most awaited movie of the year. It’s directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who comes onto the director’s seat after seven long years. It also has a great cast and the promos promised some great entertainment and thrill. And Eklavya succeeds but unfortunately, it fails too. More about it, later.
The story of the movie: Eklavya (Amitabh Bachchan) is the royal guard who guards a century old citadel, Devigarh in Rajasthan. Eklavya has spent his entire life serving his masters and also guarding their secrets. Rani Suhasini Devi (Sharmila Tagore) was about to die and she, in unconscious state, says, “Eklavya”. Raja Jayvardhan (Boman Irani) gets enraged and he strangles her to death. Raja Jayavardhan immediately calls his son, Harshvardhan (Saif Ali Khan) back to Devigarh, who had lived abroad. When Harsh returns, her mentally challenged twin sister, Nandini (Raima Sen) and his childhood love Rajjo (Vidya Balan) rejoice. Harsh then comes across a letter, which was written by Suhasinidevi. Reading the letter, Harsh gets the shock of his life. What was written in that letter? What secret was Eklavya guarding? Is it the same secret which was written in that letter? Why did Suhasini Devi took the name of Eklavya and not of anyone else? And what made Raja Jayvardhan so angry that he immediately strangled her?
Eklavya has many advantages. Firstly, it has an excellent direction by the good old Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The movie was not easy to make and Vidhu Vinod Chopra does full justice to the direction of the movie. Secondly, the movie has an amazing cinematography. The aerial view of the citadel and the train scenes were wonderfully taken. Thirdly, the movie uses special effects, which were never before seen in Bollywood. Lastly, the performances are just superb. Each actor has done a fantastic performance.
There are various scenes in the movie which are nicely executed and captured. These scenes also come as a shock. Also, the movie is just of 1 hours 45 mins. It doesn’t waste time on unnecessary things, it just shows what is important and related to the story.
On the flipside, Eklvaya has some flaws too. The biggest flaw was the last 15 minutes of the movie. This portion was quite confusing and abruptly shown. The Writing department is to blame here. Also, in the Jackie Shroff-Amitabh Bachchan Scene near the train, the sound of the train is so loud that you just can’t here what Jackie says. This last 15 minute of the movie was supposed to be shocking but it does not evoke any shock at all.
Amitabh Bachchan gives a fantastic performance this time! He is back in form and performs in the same nice way as he had in Sarkar, Bunty Aur Babli, Khakee and Viruddh. He gets into the skin of the character and performs excellently. Great work, Big B!
Saif Ali Khan, too, gives a great performance after Being Cyrus and Omkara. He didn’t dissppoint even in a single scene. Vidya Balan had a very little role but she was nice. Raima Sen gives a superb performance. Jackie Shroff as Jyotiwardhan does a good job. He was perfect throughout the movie.
Boman Irani is an actor to watch. Throughout his career, he has been doing different roles and till now he has never disappointed. In Eklavya, too, he gives a stunningly natural performance. Mr Vidhu Vinod Chopra, even Boman deserves a Rolls Royce from you!
Jimmy Shergill as Udayvardhan gives the best performance of his career. Sharmila Taigore does a good job. Parkishit Sahani was natural throughout the movie. Sanjay Dutt as Inspector Pannalal was funny.
Shantanu Moitra gives both music as well as background score. The background score was thrilling as well as haunting. There was only one song in the movie and was very nice.
S Natarajan Subramaniam’s cinematography was amazing and excellent. Swanand Kirkire’s dialogues were sharp. Screenplay was top-notch.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s direction is just amazing. The special effects used in the movie were brilliant.
Some of the nice scenes of the movie:
The scene where Sharmila Taigore dies
The scene where Saif comes back to Devigarh
The scene where Saif reads his mother’s letter
The scene where Amitabh seperates the ’ghoongu’ from the peigon
The train and camel scenes just before intermission (This scene should be nominated for ‘Best Scene’)
The scene where Jimmy and Jackie are murdered
On the whole, Eklavya is a movie which deserves to be watched. It is a unique movie and has everything is perfect and very superior. The last 15 minutes is the only thing, which goes against the movie. Had the climax been powerful and shocking, the movie would have become one of the best movie of Indian history. But though, Eklavya should be watched.
(MAKE SURE YOU REACH THE THEATRE IN TIME SO THAT YOU CAN GET A CHANCE TO WATCH THE TRAILER OF ‘MUNNABHAI CHALE AMRIKA’ AND ‘TAALISMAN’. WHILE MUNNABHAI CHALE AMRIKA LOOKS LIKE A COMPLETE LAUGH RIOT, TAALISMAN IS A MOVIE VERY SIMILAR TO LORD OF THE RINGS. BOTH MOVIES PROMISE SOME NICE ENTERTAINMENT!)
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