We Indians are escapist. We say we believe in harmony and serenity and are philosophical sort. We have been raised with the idea that we are giving kinds. This is all sham. We think wicked, we do wicked and in the end we pretend to be bighearted. Watch *Eklavya *and
you will come up to to know what am I saying? Eklavya by Vidhu Vinod
Chopra is an alarming experience. An intimidating know-how one might
say. Starting from the puzzling death of Rani *(Sharmila Tagore) till the end scene of confrontation between the to-be-king *Harsh (Saif Ali Khan) and the protagonist Eklavya *(Amitabh Bachchan), the movie is one hell of a gruesome journey. *Rana (Boman Irani) squeezes his Rani *to death by strangling her in front of their supposedly mentally challenged daughter *Reema Sen. While on deathbed, *Maharani *keeps mouthing *Eklavya’s *name.
Rani and Rana cannot have children, possibly because Rana is impotent
(as per the movie), or possibly because Rana is gay (in my opinion).
So, Rani bears the fruit of the royal guard Eklavya and give birth to
twins (Saif and Raima). Rana comes to know of this moments before the
Rani dies and Harsh through the letter that Rani left for him in the
hands of driver’s daughter, Vidya Balan. Rana coming to know of the
verity is getting restless and longs to see Eklavya dead ASAP. He hires
father - son duo of *Jyoti and Uday *(Jackie and Jimmy) to kill
Eklavya. Eklavya, on the other hand is told his king is under threat
and can be massacred any given moment. Eklavya caught between Dharma and Adharma,
doesn’t hesitate even once to slaughter his own son, holding him
responsible for his Rana’s death. Boman Irani as a helpless king is a
gift to Indian Cinema. Better late than never is all I would say about
him. Sharmila Tagore has just two scenes to her credit. Nevertheless,
she is excellent in both. And so is Mita Vashishth in her single
scene. Vidya Balan and Raima Sen do seem like string-puppet in this
male dominated flick. However, I would say Raima is one talented
performer who has never been given any prospect to showcase it. Parineeta and Eklavya *may come and go, but her performance in *Godmother
is still the one to vouch for. Jackie and Jimmy as evil father-son duo
are in simpler words marvelous, especially Jackie. Be-spectacled Jackie
and his savagely cruel son Jimmy give new definition to the word
treachery. Jackie has done villainous roles before and has done it
well. Jimmy is doing it for the very first time and boy he comes out
with flying colors. Rana coming to know of the verity is getting
restless and longs to see Eklavya dead ASAP. He hires father - son duo
of *Jyoti and Uday *(Jackie and Jimmy) to kill Eklavya. Eklavya,
on the other hand is told his king is under threat and can be massacred
any given moment. Eklavya caught between Dharma and Adharma,
doesn’t hesitate even once to slaughter his own son, holding him
responsible for his Rana’s death. Boman Irani as a helpless king is a
gift to Indian Cinema. Better late than never is all I would say about
him. Sharmila Tagore has just two scenes to her credit. Nevertheless,
she is excellent in both. And so is Mita Vashishth in her single
scene. Vidya Balan and Raima Sen do seem like string-puppet in this
male dominated flick. However, I would say Raima is one talented
performer who has never been given any prospect to showcase it. Parineeta and Eklavya *may come and go, but her performance in *Godmother
is still the one to vouch for. Saif does it again. When he did
Parineeta and Omkara, he silenced his critics saying he is not only
meant for rich-son-of-a-rich-father romancing *rich-daughter-of-a-rich-father *roles.
After this he will completely shut them up. Finally, Eklavya himself.
Amitabh does not need comments like good or bad. He is someone for whom
all you can say is whether he should have done it or not. And I am glad
he did this movie. I cannot think of any better person doing this. The
pain, which he presented through his eyes without mouthing many words,
is gut wrenching. And this makes me wonder all over again that why is
he even compared to lesser mortals like Shahrukh Khan? Vidhu Vinod
Chopra sits on the director’s chair after seven long years. The last
movie he directed was Mission Kashmir. Meanwhile he gifted us with
three spectacular movies from his production house, Parineeta and both
Munna Bhais. He presented the dark storyline in such a tasty manner
that no other director could have achieved. From metaphorical beginning
till the dramatic end, he does it all with a panache. The movie takes
the unraveled path that leads you to the bitter destination of your own
wicked heart. It brings you face to face with the disloyalty and
unfaithfulness in a fresh form. And nothing of all the aforesaid
things would have been elegant without the breathtaking camerawork, the
stunning cinematography, and the awe-inspiring background music. Hats
off to all involved in creating this and making it possible.
