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Eklavya |
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| Movie: | Eklavya |
| Director: | Vidhu Vinod Chopra |
| Genre: | Drama
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| Start Cast: |
Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff , Saif Ali Khan , Vidya Balan, Sharmila Tagore, Boman Irani , Jimmy Shergill , Raima Sen , Parikshit Sahani |
| Our Rating: |
*** |
| Review By: | Abhijeet Mukherjee
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 Vidhu Vinod Chopra like his earlier film Parineeta has played well with the audio-visual technique. The film undoubtedly has mesmerizing visuals and titillating sound effects, which grab the imagination of the audience. The life like sound of bullet fires, moving train, cheers of the crowd and water splash shows Chopra's knowledge to use tools of cinema to its full potential and thrill the audience. The film is a story of a royal family, which has a secret that the royal guard Eklavya (Amitabh) has buried in his heart and forgotten. The guard gets older and could hardly see but his strength to listen to the faintest of sound is mesmerizing which later becomes the USP (Unique Selling Point) of the film. Eklavya could hit targets with his sword blind folded with calculated accuracy and that too by just listening to the sounds, howsoever faint it may be. The film is about Rana Jayawardhan (Boman Irani) the owner of a royal palace who claims that the village farmers are after his life. DSP Pannalal Chohaar (Sanjay Dutt) investigates the matter and provides protection to Rana.
Rima Sen plays a mentally disturbed sister of Harshwardhan but reveals the secret of her mother's (Sharmila Tagore) death through one of her paintings. As far as acting goes no one else in Bollywood could have justified the role of Eklavya but Amitabh. Jackie Shroff and Boman Irani yet again proved their mettle. Saif was okay with his performance and was not much different from his last film under Chopra banner Parineeta.
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 As far as music is concerned there is nothing much to say as there was just one song ‘Chanda re'. But the real attraction of the film was its background score and the sound effects, which have been meticulously planned and designed by Biswadeep Chatterjee. The bullets when cross through glass shields the sound is bound to attract attention and applause. The cheers of the crowds, the religious chants, splash of water, the sound of swinging sword in the air all sound new and interesting.
Chopra has played well with the cinematographic technique. The film has used darkness to its full potential when the audience sees nothing but darkness on the screen waiting in curiosity for the next move by Big B. There are astonishing camera angles and movements used innovatively for the first time. These cinematographic treatments are the specialties of the film. If the film does not do well it is not because of lack of acting skills or a flawed story but the kind of treatment given to the film and the character. Avid theatre-goers would love the film but since the film starts and ends in a poignant note many may fail to digest the gloom surrounding them throughout the less than two hours show.
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 The credit for the film should go to Vidhu Vinod Chopra team comprising Biswadeep Chatterjee and Pradeep Sarkar who is the visual director of the film. Presence of Sarkar is also obvious by the type of shots used in the film, which have some resemblance to Parineeta. Cinematography is by S Natarajan Subramaniam while Shantanu Moitra is the music director. The usual ‘dishum dishum' and item songs go missing from this blockbuster and may disappoint many. But on the whole the film is a must watch for all, especially the Amitabh fans.
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