Watch Eklavya: The Royal Guard For Free

Who payed the critics

Too many fans seem to be blown away

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The visuals, the characters, the mood and music all add up to a superlative entertaining experience. The photography and other technical elements without the cacophony that gets into all Bollywood movies makes this a cool experience. Very modern in technique and captures drama of royal living of kings of Rajasthan without the gimmickry of palace on wheels or the loud noise of festival of India. A must have DVD for all Hindi film buffs. All characters have been given equal opportunity to show their talents. Good luck to Eklavya! All actors have given performance that is expected from them. It is well balanced and does not have unnecessary cosmetic scenes that seem to be a staple of Hindi films. Perhaps that is the reason why it did not do so well at the box office. It must not be an accident that Amitabh Bacchan gets to play the lead role. It will be a befitting award for the great actor now approaching the sunset of his acting years.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra reinvents ancient legend by giving it the contemporary treatment in Eklavya, the ballad of the Royal Guard.Despite a dubious premise and various plot-related issues that usually plague ambitious projects such as this, there are some very intriguing themes at work here, slithering beneath the surface of what appears to be an otherwise conventional melodrama in the Bollywood mold.Like a sidewinder on the dunes, Eklavya (the film) moves laterally, waits patiently, and when it eventually does manage to sink its teeth in, it doesn't let go.At the very core of the film, beyond the concepts of loyalty, bloodlust and caste-ism, is the examination of male pride and masculinity.Rarely has a Hindi Movie tackled this subject from such close quarters. Eklavya is an attempt to expose the patriarchal autocracy that has existed in India in the form of culture and custom for centuries.Women are subjugated, peasants are exploited and "lower-castes" are sacrificed in eerie Poe-fashion – all in the name of tradition.The Rana, the Head of the Royal Family, is a man of innumerable wealth and prestige. However, his position and standing is merely a facade, behind which lies a shriveled, wretched creature.He is unable to beget children, and his own offspring have been fathered by his loyal servant. To add insult to injury, the king suffers from a severe case of male pattern baldness and must wear a wig to keep up appearances.The male ego is a fragile thing. As a result, the Rana's entire psychological makeup unfolds like a house of cards. Deeply insecure and threatened, he concocts a devious plan to reclaim his tattered manhood. But there are other forces at work, and in true Shakespearean/Greek Tragedy fashion, the fates eventually conspire against him.An early scene, where the Rana asphyxiates his queen, is one charged with sexual fervor – the only time in the film where he truly gets to exercise any form of authority.The Royal Emblem, a Golden Sun against a Red Flag, the ultimate symbol of virility and power, is but a sham. When the Rana draws his final breath in the arms of the Loyal Guard, the late evening Sun can be seen setting in the background.In counterpoint is the queen, who dies by the Full Moon, which represents the female element. Chopra pays homage here to Satyajit Ray's masterpiece Devi by dissolving from the queen's bindi onto the moon.In an interesting side-note, Ray's film also addresses pertinent issues regarding patriarchy. Sharmila Tagore plays the actress in both pictures.Vidya Balan's jewelry, the conch-shaped object that rests on her forehead and the crescent earrings are also symbolic of the feminine principle.The attention to minute elements in the film are borderline obsessive. In a certain shot, the camera picks up on a butterfly fluttering in the lower left corner of the frame as Eklavya pulls up into the neighboring castle in the distance. The butterfly has nothing to do with the narrative and will almost certainly go unnoticed, but it is moments like these that add to the overall fabric and texture of the film. The Devil is in the details.Chopra even uses darkness to great dramatic effect in a subsequent scene where the Royal Guard confronts an enemy. Like Bresson famously said, "the eye can see, but the ear can imagine." He also dazzles with set-pieces, and even though he is occasionally guilty of flying off the rails, the sequence in which a blindfolded Eklavya snaps off the tiny bells tied to a dove's feet, breaks new ground in Hindi Cinema. Literally.The original Eklavya incident from the Mahabharata is well documented. Obedient pupil cuts off thumb at command of his "teacher" as tuition payment.The Freudian theories of the Castration Complex aside, the thumb is also a mark of identity. The thumbprint is used as a form of personal signature even today.The Royal Guard must therefore abandon his sense of self and metaphorically cut off a digit – performing the ultimate sacrifice – severing all ties with his own flesh and blood, even going to the extent of executing his son - all to restore ancient tradition. A moral dilemma of Biblical proportions.Even though the resolution of the film is rather unsatisfactory, employing the typical Hollywood (read: Bollywood) ending, with everything neatly tied up in a bow – Eklavya does manage to successfully excavate old ghosts and even conjure up some new ones.The King is dead. Long live the King.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra has seemed to me in recent times to be a better film-marketer/producer than a film-maker, thanks to his marketing genius none of his recent films have ever received a low rating. Also he has a great eye for untapped potential (backing the likes of Saif , Nana Patekar, Vidya Balan when they were around but never stars and Sanjay Dutt who was giving one flop after the other till Munnabhai came along).His weakest movies are the ones which involve stars at the top (mission Kashmir, 1942 ) and Eklavya suffers from the same fate.Now if we consider this movie like an Auto-rickshaw (for the uninitiated it has 3 wheels) then ...THE REAR WHEEL.The first thing that struck me and everyone else too was the fabulous cinematography, its easily one of the most visually pleasing movies to come out in recent times, but is the effort really that good Rajasthan is one (if not the) of the most beautiful places in India, anyone who has visited will tell you that its any camera lovers nightmare as you can easily polish of a reel or 2 in a day even ordinary photographs of the palaces look spectacular, in any case this movie is my candidate for cinematography next year.Technically in all aspects to this movie is extremely sound with great sound, computer graphics, etc.The editing is slightly patchy but I don't think that has anything to do with the editor.So on the all important Technical Aspects this film is near perfect and like brand new, perfectly balanced wheel and tyre.THE OTHER REAR WHEEL.The acting in this movie is superb all around, there were a couple of scenes that were over-acted, but other that everyone including Boman, Amitabh, Saif were great.Special mention to Jackie who despite being a mighty fine actor and looker has been reduced to character roles, I really wish he goes back to playing a more central character in films.A wheels go this one is like the most expensive alloy wheel with run-flat tyres even.THE FRONT WHEEL.Anyone who experienced punctures in a four wheeler will tell you that a puncture in any of the front tyres will immediately affect your car while a car may go on four kilometers with a rear flat.If a movie is to be compared to an auto-rickshaw this spot will definitely go to the script.And this tyre (script) has not deflated but burst.The characters are so badly written that in the end you have nothing but contempt for all of them, you actually end up feeling bad for the so called bad guys,THIS MOVIE IS LIKE A SLAP IN THE FACE OF THE CONCEPT BEHIND ADOPTION.There is so little content in the film that even the extremely short film (by Indian standards) of 105 minutes seems like running forever, to add to it there are a number of over the top scenes (no fault of the actors), including the choking scene (at first I thought I had the dirty mind), and the Sholay scene.Picking out faults in the script and the plot will take days, even if you are able to digest AMITABH BACHANS SUPERHUMAN POWERS.THE RESULT Is exactly like what it would be if one the tyres of your rickshaw were to burst and had no other option but to ride it out till the end of your journey.Your trip would be a slow excruciating one once the tyre burst and would involve frequent veering of the course.You sat in a mighty fine rickshaw that looked superb (thanks to the cast), was famous (thanks to the Bentleys given as gifts), had a great engine (some of the names besides vidhu in the film crew have great talent), had great wheels, BUT HAD BAD MUSIC.But halfway through the ride you realise that your tyre has burst you have no spare and you have no option but to continue on the slow bumpy ride, the only consolation being that the ride is not long as you expect.Only recommended if you are a big fan of amitabh, bored, and willing to watch a movie that has lots of glitz and glam but no substance.Watching the matinée on screen is recommended to enjoy the visuals,a large screen TV (on DVD) will just about do but cable is a no-no.I for one would not encourage that we fall pray to such gimmicks and encourage more ordinary films in India.+s FINALLY AN ORIGINAL FILM +1 FOR THAT ONLY, SUPERB ACTING, SUPERB TECHNICALLY,short length.+/-s only one or 2 songs, hardly any romance.-s EXTREMELY WEAK SCRIPT AND RELATED ASPECTS (plot holes, super amitabh, predictable, some over the top scenes etc etc).total 5/10 (includes one for originality 2 each for acting and technical aspects didn't minus marks because after an hour i knew i was screwed but had enjoyed the movie till then plus this movie has many scenes that looked great and even though they were low on content managed to hold your attention)

It's artfully shot like other V.V.Chopra movies. The male star cast has given stellar acting performances. Amitabh is brilliant (for a change), Boman is starkly poignant and Sanjay Dutt is rock-solid. What then stops the film from being an engrossing entertainer or a classic art film? The reason, ladies and gentlemen, seems to be the director's confusion about whether he wanted an out and out commercial entertainer or a subtle artsy classic. The treatment goes from extremely spoofable (the screenplay is THAT mediocre) to intensely admirable between shots-and that is where the audience's attention wanes.Set in the here and now, the film is about skeletons in royal cupboards and illegitimate royalty. King Rana Jaywardhan (Boman Irani)'s impotence results in Eklavya (Amitabh Bachchan)'s sleeping with Queen Suhasinidevi (Sharmila Tagore). While she's bed-ridden, the queen gets foolish enough to ask her husband to fetch her lover and gets strangled. It is then upto Prince Harshwardhan (Saif Ali Khan), Eklavya and Sanju the brash and witty cop to seek revenge and justice and a very sweet'n'syrupy family reunion. Amitabh has done great justice to this role of a lifetime. - Ditto with Boman. - Sanjay Dutt is refreshing. - Vidya Balan plays a very unconvincing Rajjo, Harshwardhan's childhood sweetheart. (Someone could do with a few hours in the gym there.) - Raima Sen turns in an unremarkable but just about OK performance as Harshwardhan's mentally challenged twin sister, Princess Nandini. - Sharmila Tagore disappoints greatly. - Jimmy Shergill and Jackie Shroff are surprisingly good. - Saif doesn't have all that much to do differently-given a rather conventional role and a more conventional approach to handling it. But he seems to have done whatever justice he could.The music's nothing great, the romance lacks spark. But yes, it deserves a chance for sure.