Many thanks to Twitch reader Harbinger for this review of India's submission for this year's Best Foreign Film Oscar.
Ah, Indian cinema. Where do I begin? Too long, have we lived on the accolades of Satyajit Ray and too long have we not churned out some influential cinema for the world to sit up and notice. Considering India as a country which is a story unto itself (it’s magical surrealism at play), I have not yet seen a movie for a long, long time that has excited me, thrilled me and captured my heart or made me feel for the characters on screen. Rarely do I go for a Hindi movie in my local multiplex. Rather, I go for most of the regular Hollywood hogwash which seems to find a huge audience in my town. Picture this, people coming out of the theatre watching Spiderman 3 commenting “Kya sexy picture thi yaar” (What a sexy picture dude). What I won’t give for someone to screen some movie of any language that makes me think, that makes people believe in the veritable power of cinema. At the present moment, the Indian film industry is lacking complete creativity. But it’s not completely the industry’s fault. People in this country come to the movies wanting to leave their brain at home and be entertained by over stylized song and dance sequences which serve as interludes in between the whole story. And then there are the producers, who just want to earn a quick buck. Add to that the handful of shoddy actors and actresses that directors and producers want to work with (after sleeping with them. No gender issue here) and we’re left with [insert vulgar dialogue]. Anyways on to the review.
The name Eklavya comes from Indian mythology and the name was given to the child of an army chief, who was a master archer at a young age. He once cast seven arrows into a dog’s mouth without hurting him. The whole story of the myth of Eklavya is illustrated in the opening credits. The narrator of the story and the star of the movie is Eklavya (played by Amitabh Bachchan, reigning king of Bollywood. Sean Connery, eat your heart out!).
For nine generations, Eklavya’s family have been guarding the Kings of Devigarh. Eklavya’s sole purpose in life is to protect the Kings, his family and the fort. But he is getting old and blind. Mind you, the film is not a period piece. It takes place in contemporary India around the beautiful locations of dusty Rajasthan. The King’s son, Prince Harshvardhan (Saif Ali Khan) has escaped to London, not coming to terms with the unfair laws and customs his family subjects to the villagers of Devigarh. But he returns at the time of her mother’s funeral. What follows is a simple thriller laid out evenly of which the ending can be guessed millions of miles away. For a film labeled as a thriller, there are simply no elements of one. Just a small story taking place in a village, that has been bloated up with its star power. Don’t get me wrong. The movie is ok in certain parts, but not that praiseworthy. Amicably shot, yet presented awkwardly are some of the words I have to add. The director took pains to get the feel of Rajasthani royals so right, he forgot about the conflict of interests or the potential this film might have had if he would have explored the Indian feudal system along with the main plot. But in India, the script is treated as fifth fiddle behind stars, exotic locations and etc. etc. This being also classified as an art house flick, the actors try to act, well intricately. They all need to quit their jobs and go back to grade school theatre except for Amitabh Bachchan and Boman Irani who plays Rana Jaywardhan, the King. Mr. Bachchan gives a calm and colloquial performance as soon to be blind Eklavya, when he is not shouting.
The rest of the cast is ho-hum including Saif Ali Khan (he’s a royal in real life. I am not kidding). Here we have a Prince who has run from the evils of feudal system and yet chooses to return to reclaim his throne and uphold justice and honor after the death of his mother. Guess Indian mothers can’t take violence. And the fight scenes, if only a handful of them are handled so badly that there is no real sense of danger. It almost seems as is the characters know beforehand what is destined to happen to them. So they don’t take the pain to show their integrity. Coming to the director, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, why oh why? I considered him a bright light in the darkness of Bollywood. But he has failed me yet again. His previous films also have had the same problem of him not getting his act right, mainly with the script (read: Mission Kashmir,). And thankfully there is just one song and dance sequence here which moves the story forward (a rarity in Hindi cinema). Otherwise, all we get here is a bleak resonance of what could have been a great movie. I can compare this catastrophe to Steve Zillian’s ‘All the Kings Men’ but in a far lesser scale. I appreciate the director’s intents. Agreed this resembles somewhat of a Shakespearean tragedy but when you see the ending you’d be saying something otherwise.
It just doesn’t make sense. Macbeth could have done better. Hell I could have brought more to the screenplay. This is not whining or exaggeration. Besides, there’s nothing more to be said here except that I plead to the board of selectors who chose Eklavya for the foreign film category for next year’s Oscar’s to please take time off from those stupid page 3 parties and watch some of the movies that are competing like ‘Persepolis’ from France or ‘4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days’ from Romania and learn at least something. It’s time to educate the audience and let their tastes grow. If Bollywood doesn’t mature and churn out quality stuff, theres no point to go behind the lens and tell a story.
News Flash : I’ve just heard that the director of ‘Dharm’, another film which was to be considered has sent a legal notice to the Film Federation of India, accusing the selection of Eklavya to be biased. One
juror from the film selection committee has even expressed disapproval of the selection. Now sing with me, ‘It happens only in India!’
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