" Ekalavya the Royal Guard ." is the title of the latest magnum opus of Vidhu Vinodh Chopra ,who is said to have presented the big B the hero of the film with a Rolls Royce phantom as a gift for acting in the movie !!
Amitabh Bhachan and several others with their healthy ripe beards and colourful turbans look good in profile in the stills of the movie .
The film starts in low key with whispered dialogues and dark interiors of a Rajput palace ,one looks forward to the mystery of the desert which is strengthened by the strangling of the bed ridden rani ( sharmila Tagore ) by the old Rana ( Bomman Irani ) for uttering the name of the royal guard Amitabh as the father of her twins the heinous act is watched by the mentally challenged twin sister of Saif ali Khan
( prince Harshavardan ) the heir .
She promptly paints the scene and keeps it a secret till her brother discovers it to plan his revenge ,after much bloodshedding and half the characters of the film eliminated the remaining victors become king and Pitamaha ..
Photography is excellent with the desert palace shimmering in its magnificience and the royal guard shows his skills by slicing off a ghungroo tied on to a flying pigeon claw and catching it , all done blindfolded as requested by Sanjay Dutt ( pannalal ) the low caste DYSP !
Poor Sanjay is wasted with a presence so short and insignificant ,probably he was added because he looked good in the profile .He did a good job even then .
So are dear Jackie Shroff the villainous brother of the Rana .( Vidhu could have saved a few crores by taking lesser actors without much difference and a couple of Malayalam films could have been made in the bargain )
All royal intrigues and backstabbing are shown with finesse and desert sequences with running camels and chugging trains executed with élan .
The only song in the film is melodious and worth listening .
Amitabhs baritone is the redeeming feuture ,he thunders in the silence ,even his low key whispers are husky and appealing .
Good movie surprisingly for a hindi one , but something seemed missing
Probabaly it was the too earnest effort to make it different .
Watchable .
Amitabh Bhachan and several others with their healthy ripe beards and colourful turbans look good in profile in the stills of the movie .
The film starts in low key with whispered dialogues and dark interiors of a Rajput palace ,one looks forward to the mystery of the desert which is strengthened by the strangling of the bed ridden rani ( sharmila Tagore ) by the old Rana ( Bomman Irani ) for uttering the name of the royal guard Amitabh as the father of her twins the heinous act is watched by the mentally challenged twin sister of Saif ali Khan
( prince Harshavardan ) the heir .
She promptly paints the scene and keeps it a secret till her brother discovers it to plan his revenge ,after much bloodshedding and half the characters of the film eliminated the remaining victors become king and Pitamaha ..
Photography is excellent with the desert palace shimmering in its magnificience and the royal guard shows his skills by slicing off a ghungroo tied on to a flying pigeon claw and catching it , all done blindfolded as requested by Sanjay Dutt ( pannalal ) the low caste DYSP !
Poor Sanjay is wasted with a presence so short and insignificant ,probably he was added because he looked good in the profile .He did a good job even then .
So are dear Jackie Shroff the villainous brother of the Rana .( Vidhu could have saved a few crores by taking lesser actors without much difference and a couple of Malayalam films could have been made in the bargain )
All royal intrigues and backstabbing are shown with finesse and desert sequences with running camels and chugging trains executed with élan .
The only song in the film is melodious and worth listening .
Amitabhs baritone is the redeeming feuture ,he thunders in the silence ,even his low key whispers are husky and appealing .
Good movie surprisingly for a hindi one , but something seemed missing
Probabaly it was the too earnest effort to make it different .
Watchable .
2 comments:
Doc, this is the way to go :) Excellent first attempt... clap...clap...clap
we saw the movie too..pretty good actually, though not made for the masses...i liked saif ali, as always, and bachan, well he was efficient. then of course, hamsika iyers 'chanda re' sung for another iyer vidya balan is a great song.
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