Eklavya: The Royal Guard

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Eklavya: The Royal Guard
Eklavya.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Written byStory & Screenplay:
Abhijat Joshi
Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Dialogues:
Swanand Kirkire
Produced byVidhu Vinod Chopra
Abhijat Joshi
Starring Amitabh Bachchan
Sharmila Tagore
Sanjay Dutt
Saif Ali Khan
Vidya Balan
Raima Sen
Jackie Shroff
Jimmy Sheirgill
Boman Irani
Cinematography Natarajan Subramaniam
Edited byRaibiranjan Maitra
Music by Shantanu Moitra
Production
company
Distributed by Eros International
Release date
  • 16 February 2007 (2007-02-16)
Running time
109 min
CountryIndia
Language Hindi
Budget₹ 30 crore [1]
Box office₹ 38 crore [2]

Eklavya: The Royal Guard is a 2007 Indian action drama film directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra which was released in India, Netherlands, the United States, and the United Kingdom on 16 February 2007. [3] It was a major box office disappointment as per the distributors and exhibitors. [4]

Contents

It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Sharmila Tagore, Sanjay Dutt, Vidya Balan, Raima Sen, Jackie Shroff, Jimmy Sheirgill and Boman Irani. The film marks Vidhu Vinod Chopra's return to directing after seven years.

The film was chosen as India's official entry to the Oscars to be considered for nomination in the Best Foreign Film category for the year 2007. [5]

Plot

Contemporary India. A majestic fort. A royal dynasty that no longer rules. A king without a kingdom. Yet Eklavya (Amitabh Bachchan), their royal guard, lives in a time warp. He lives only to protect the fort, the dynasty, and the king. For nine generations, Eklavya's family has protected Devigarh, a centuries-old citadel in Rajasthan. His marksmanship is the stuff of legends. His unflinching loyalty inspires ballads. Eklavya has spent his entire life serving the royals and closely guarding their secrets, but now he's getting old and increasingly blind. Unable to cope with the suffocating customs of his land, the heir, Prince Harshwardhan (Saif Ali Khan), has stayed away in London. But the sudden demise of the queen, Rani Suhasinidevi (Sharmila Tagore), forces the prince back to the kingdom he had left behind. The queen leaves a letter for her son in which she tells him that his biological father is actually Eklavya.

The prince's return brings a rush of joy into the moribund fort. His mentally challenged twin sister, Princess Nandini (Raima Sen), and his childhood love, Rajjo (Vidya Balan), are delighted to see him. But the joy of reunion is short-lived.

There is unrest in the kingdom: farmers are being stripped of their lands. The king, Rana Jaywardhan (Boman Irani), influenced by his brother, Rana Jyotiwardhan (Jackie Shroff), supports the atrocities being forced upon the helpless peasants. The king receives a death threat over the phone. An irreverent police officer, Pannalal Chohar (Sanjay Dutt), is called in to investigate. But he might be too late. The fragile peace of the land is suddenly shattered by a barrage of bullets. Jaywardhan instructs his brother to kill Eklavya in a fit of rage, but his brother betrays him and kills him and his driver (Rajjo's father). And amidst the mayhem, the safely guarded secrets of the fort are revealed.

Eklavya suspects Jyotiwardhan and his son, Udaywardhan (Jimmy Sheirgill), are responsible for Jaywardhan's death. He kills Udaywardhan and leads Jyotiwardhan to Udaywardhan's body, intending to kill him and fulfill his oath, whereupon Jyotiwardhan reveals to Eklavya that it was the prince who ordered the murder of the king. Shouting in denial, Eklavya kills Jyotiwardhan, knowing he must face the young prince, his son, to finally fulfill his dharma.

Harshwardhan, overcome with guilt, reveals his hand in the murder of Jaywardhan to Rajjo, who leaves him because his actions also caused the death of her father. When Eklavya comes to the palace to kill the prince, he explains why he killed the king. The King had murdered the Queen when she, in her semi-conscious state, kept saying Eklavya's name. Eklavya finally fulfills his dharma by sparing his son's life and declaring the original Eklavya wrong. Rajjo eventually forgives Harshwardhan because she believes that he is truly sorry for his actions, and Pannalal finds a suicide note saying that Udaywardhan and Jyotiwardhan, afraid that they were about to be caught, jumped in front of a train. Harshwardhan finally reveals Eklavya to be his true father in front of the entire village.

Cast

Production

Eklavya: The Royal Guard was originally titled Yagna. [6] Production began in early 2005. The principal shooting of the film was completed in November 2005. [7] The primary location for shooting was in Rajasthan, at Devigarh and in Udaipur. According to the official website, shooting took place inside the living quarters of the Jaipur Royal Family. Prince Raghavendra Rathore and Subarna Rai Chaudhari designed the costumes for the film. [8] Eklavya's cottage was built from scratch.

The action sequences were to take place in Egypt but were shot near Bikaner. 600 camels were used in the shoot. [9]

Shantanu Moitra, who was the music director of Parineeta (2005), composed the music for the film. [10] The global distributor for the film is Eros International. [11]

Music

The soundtrack to Eklavya: The Royal Guard was released on 15 February 2007. [12]

#TitleSingerTime
1"The Revelation"Pranab Biswas, Ravindra Sathe3:25
2"Chanda Re (The Moon Song)" Hamsika Iyer 4:36
3"The Gayatri Mantra Theme"Ravindra Sathe2:27
4"Jaanu Na" Sonu Nigam, Swanand Kirkire 4:29
5"The Killing" Sunidhi Chauhan, Pranab Biswas4:33
6"The Theme of Eklavya"Pranab Biswas4:28
7"The Love Theme" Hamsika Iyer 2:26
8"Suno Kahani (The Legend of Eklavya)" Swanand Kirkire 3:22

Controversies

There was a controversy regarding selecting the film as India's official entry to the Best Foreign Film Academy award. Bhavna Talwar, the director of Dharm (2007), accused The Indian selection committee (Film Federation of India) and claimed that her film was rejected in favor of Eklavya: The Royal Guard (2007) because of the personal connections of the latter film's director and producer. [13]

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References

  1. ↑ "Eklavya – the Royal Guard – Movie". Box Office India.
  2. ↑ "Eklavya – the Royal Guard – Movie". Box Office India.
  3. ↑ "glamsham.com". Release date for Eklavya: The Royal Guad confirmed. Retrieved 30 June 2006.
  4. ↑ "EKLAVYA is a major box-office disappointment", say the film's distributors and exhibitors". glamsham.com. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "sheetudeep.com". Eklavya: India's Official Entry for Oscar Award. Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
  6. ↑ "indiafm.com". Yagna to Eklavya: The Royal Guard. 7 January 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2006.
  7. ↑ "indiafm.com". Eklavya shooting is complete. Archived from the original on 26 November 2005. Retrieved 27 January 2006.
  8. ↑ "eklavya-movie.com". Royalty designs for the cast of Eklavya. Archived from the original on 18 February 2007. Retrieved 27 January 2007.
  9. ↑ "eklavya-movie.com". because of the 800 Indian camels used for action sequence, which would then have had to be exported. Archived from the original on 12 February 2007. Retrieved 27 January 2007.
  10. ↑ "indiaglitz.com". Shantanu Moitra back for Eklavya. Archived from the original on 22 January 2007. Retrieved 27 January 2007.
  11. ↑ "indiafm.com". Eros to distribute Vidhu Vinod Chopra's next. Retrieved 27 January 2007.
  12. ↑ Eklavya CD : movie Eklavya CD songs Eklavya CD film Eklavya CD song Eklavya CD mp3 Eklavya CD lyric Eklavya CD hindi movie Eklavya CD music review Eklavya CD cd Eklavya CD dvd Eklavya CD picture Eklavya CD movie song Eklavya CD"> Audiorec[indian music store]
  13. ↑ "India's entry to Oscars caught in a legal tangle", Reuters India, 2007-09-29. Retrieved November 14, 2007.
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