Some Thoughts on Eklavya
Odes of Mahabharata, Shakespearean references and sonnets, a falling empire, a derelict palace, a royal guard who lives, well, royally.
Eklavya is a film for a laid back watch; it speaks through the silences, which are not many.
The technical aspect is near perfect, casting couldn’t be better; the BGM is not loud, just right. The film touches upon many themes, and sadly only touches, doesn’t go deep into what could have been what they call ‘an epic saga of love betrayal & sacrifice’.
The film circles around nuanced theatrics, very high on the deft scenes and performances; it is more of a costume drama juxtaposing the past and the present against the backdrop of a Rajasthani village still living in an age old illusion that the king is the lord.
Emptiness.Slick, mystic, sharp frames, well executed sequences.
Editing is what justifies the film’s length. I felt it could be better if it was longer, exploiting more of mystical elements(the backdrop has a great potential for it-dying kings, failure to propagate the ‘Raajvansh’, Pride vs Acceptance of the reality, Raima’s psycho character forming a Shakespearean prophet layer, and more), but the film does hold good even at whatever premise, length that’s its been made.
It is certainly not an easy plot, and VVC rightly proves he is good at screen-writing; he takes no time to establish the setting, nuances or the environment of the plot. He cleverly underplays many a stereotypes-Eklavya could have been a loud, self-proclaimed pseudo-body of power, but here is a delightful restrained tour de force, you sink in his silences, and his lapse of reaction irks you, the sweat feels for real. Though the sequences of brilliance are few and far between, the poignancy they are executed with cant be ignored.
Coming back to Shakespeare, there are few flashes of the dark elements, the King’s (Boman Irani) character comes closest to it, not because he mouths the sonnets, but because he is indecisive, inconsistent (shifts from powerless to power-hungry to self-pitying to remorseful to complaining to jealous). One scene where he takes off his wig is a searing testament of the dark element. It is not something that you normally come across in a contemporary film. Ditto for Jimmy Shergill’s character. It really diverted my attention from the goings-on to thinking about the character, a jealous pawn in the bigger scheme, who just watches films and films in the haunted palaces. Wow! (I mean it is so cool just to think about it).
Another such character is Sanjay Dutt, who takes no time to establish its quirkiness, he knows he has to play to the gallery and does it well.
One good thing in this film is the underplay of tear-jerker scenes and long flash-backs in sepia, they are there, but very few.
Saif looks his part, embodying the royal elegance and swiftness of the dignified emotion at every stance.
Amitabh Bachchan defies his age, he moves like a lion and lights up the screen. This was particularly tough considering the million beard sporting characters he has played till now, but with Eklavya, he seems to have hit a home run, it is not near perfect but does hold a promise. His voice is ephemeral, it’s his husky baritone that holds the viewer and builds up a dark element of suspense mixed with fear in the ‘hatya’s’ he executes. It is hard to hold the viewer in a blank frame (abey, light chaalu kar reactions come flooding), and AB is well exploited in one.
Check out the scene where he is watching Saif from a binocular, and see his expressions change. You see the anguish of someone who is holding so many years of pain borne out of patience, and the regret of not accepting the truth in his relationships with the people round him. He lets out a sigh, isn’t too exhortative of his feelings, but if you see the eyes, you can read the layers that lie within.
And the winner is the Palace, a romanticized relic like a pearl shining in the barren lands; you see it in myriad moods and colors, the morning and evening sun, sweltering noon, night sky. The palace/fort almost has a character hard to ignore. You need heavy dialogues around it to establish the sad state of affairs of the dying kingdom when you have such a powerful exploration of a space, well done camera. The now-famous train sequence might stand out in all the films of the year, for its unapologetically orchestrated treatment, it is staged beautifully.
The director has almost fallen in love with the desert imagery and you can see it, it might come across as indulgence but can as well be acknowledged for its well-exploited indulgence.
The lullaby, Chanda Re, has been used as an element of irony-the sleeping empire, the buried secrets, the sense of guilt on the young prince’s mind to fully express himself, being completely free and happy considering what has happened and the darker shape of things to come.
This is one film which will reveal further layers on repeat viewings, I would prefer a director’s cut, which doesn’t fall prey to commercial motives. The detailing might leave a lot of questions, ditto for the unexplained twists.
It is nonetheless a commendable feat, considering the unconventional plot and characters.
Movies, Review , Direction, Medium, Region & Language, Teaching Film-making
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tushar, that was brilliant review/analysis…
i agree with everything u said/shared…
JMD - Manan Singh KATOHORA
I guess Natty hit jackpot eh! From Black Friday to Halla Bol to Eklavya, he sure got into big league! Just wanted to know why he is not the cinematographer of No Smoking Anurag? Date problems?
I agree with the technical aspects of the film but your review is from the movie maker’s eyes. I saw the film, and found the pace lethargic. No matter how good the performaces may be, I feel that the story could have been told better. It seemed to be stuck at one point for the two hours. Just an honest opinion…
I agree with you, Hemang.
Like I said, the story could have explored many more dark elements in such a backdrop.
The wonderful possibilities were there because of the unconventional setting. There was no obligation to follow a linear narrative to begin with.
But I guess thats why films are fun-for the imaginations they ignite, for the things that they have and not have.
But don’t you guys think that the movie was very slow, despite the fact that its a short movie. The problem,i think was the screenplay. It was unfolding so slowly, that many of my friends started squirming in their seats.
I dont think movie was slow at all. It is more to do with depth in understanding of cinema (no offense). Absence of loud music and dramatized scenes is lot of times taken as slow cinema. But when you tend to enjoy subtle acting, expressions,lighting, sets,costumes,silences and a brand new story, you would like this movie.
Tushar - This is excellent write-up (you were the one who wrote on Guru as well, right?) and just when I was about to give up on POC replete with rubbish reviews, you gave another reason to continue here. Thank You.
Thank you !!! Great review !!! Finally someone who actually appreciates good subtle cinema.
It’s unfortunate that most of the audience prefers loud masala movies. No wonder that’s all you get from BW these days. [-(
I agree with Rocko…very similar feelings while going through the film. It was almost a perfect contradiction…relatively short yet not gripping.
Having said that let me also give a thumbs up for the technical brilliance the film achieved. One almost got the feeling that Chopra used this as a live project to brush his skills before he gets on the floor with his Hollywood directorial debut. The cinematography, music scoring which was written to the screenplay and not merely for selling music rights and last but not the least the casting and performances of Saif and the rest of cast. Despite this it just did not hold together as a tight film.
Just to get a little tough on the film…I personally felt the plot just fizzled out in the end. For all its slickness and near original script…the director seemed to have chosen the safe Bollywood Happy Endings option and killed it .
Throughout the film which was set in Rajasthan and the whole Rajput virtue of honour and integrity just crumbles when you have Bacchan crumbling when it comes to his son…out of the blue he makes a comment that the original Eklavya was wrong. Instead of owning up to the murders he has committed (should have come naturally to a person who has stood for all those values)…just takes the easy option provided by a Munnabhai ish solution by a Cop who has found a loop hole in the system to brush the matters under the carpet.
But anyways VVC should direct more movies in the future and keep giving us technically brilliant and original scripts.
thanks bolly, introspector.
good phrase-perfect contradiction…
agree with you about the ending, it would have turned out to be memorable if the director didnt try to ‘resolve’ it, like leaving some knots unravelled, some mysteries mysteries.
i didnt like mission kashmir at all, it was way too inconsistent, kareeb was better, parinda is still way up there, 1942 came close(very consistent detailed and polished).
nishabd and eklavya are good start for this year-to the point narratives,but i feel it should and could get much more ‘abstract’ and indie, and less of those popular faces would make it more relatable.
i cant picture anyone else than bachchan in both films but just a thought.
a very good write up on Eklavya:
http://brangan.easyjournal.com/entry.aspx?eid=3307343
Nice one, Tushar.
I saw Eklavya over the weekend and I think this is the post I most agree with… Well, I did enjoy the film.
Thanks Monica. Glad to know that you liked the film. I would like to revisit it some day, probably will include it in the list of films I would like to study some time soon.
I just wish I could watch films like this when everybody else does, instead of having to avoid reading their reviews during weeks/months and digging in for them when people are raving about something newer…
Oh well… :-<
Monica, On the contrary, I prefer watching films away from their ‘hype’ period. that is when the whole air influences your viewing experience.
sometimes,some films do fit in this structure, some dont. and eklavya would probably(though not being a great ‘film’ film) belong to the latter category.
its all very subjective though(as films are)
and as for reviews, they can be enjoyed or ripped any time alike