| Eklavya: The Royal Guard | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Vidhu Vinod Chopra |
| Written by | Story & Screenplay: Abhijat Joshi Vidhu Vinod Chopra Dialogues: Swanand Kirkire |
| Produced by | Vidhu 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 | Natty Subramaniam |
| Edited by | Raibiranjan Maitra |
| Music by | Shantanu Moitra |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Eros International |
Release date |
|
Running time | 109 min |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹ 30crore[1] |
| Box office | ₹ 38 crore[2] |
Eklavya: The Royal Guard is a 2007 Indianaction drama film directed byVidhu Vinod Chopra. It starsAmitabh Bachchan,Saif Ali Khan,Sharmila Tagore,Sanjay Dutt,Vidya Balan,Raima Sen,Jackie Shroff,Jimmy Sheirgill andBoman Irani. The film marks Vidhu Vinod Chopra's return to directing after seven years.
Eklavya: The Royal Guard was theatrically released on 16 February 2007.[3] It was a majorbox office disappointment as per the distributors and exhibitors.[4] Despite this, the film was chosen asIndia's official entry to the Oscars to be considered for nomination in theBest Foreign Film category for the year 2007.[5]
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 inLondon. 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 hisdharma.
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.
Eklavya: The Royal Guard was originally titledYagna.[6] Production began in early 2005. The principal shooting of the film was completed in November 2005.[7] The primary location for shooting was inRajasthan, atDevigarh and inUdaipur. According to the official website, shooting took place inside the living quarters of the Jaipur Royal Family. PrinceRaghavendra 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 inEgypt but were shot nearBikaner. 600 camels were used in the shoot.[9]
Shantanu Moitra, who was the music director ofParineeta (2005), composed the music for the film.[10]
The global distributor for the film is Eros International.[11]
The soundtrack toEklavya: The Royal Guard was released on 15 February 2007.[12]
| # | Title | Singer | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Revelation" | Pranab Biswas, Ravindra Sathe | 3:25 |
| 2 | "Chanda Re (The Moon Song)" | Hamsika Iyer | 4:36 |
| 3 | "The Gayatri Mantra Theme" | Ravindra Sathe | 2:27 |
| 4 | "Jaanu Na" | Sonu Nigam,Swanand Kirkire | 4:29 |
| 5 | "The Killing" | Sunidhi Chauhan, Pranab Biswas | 4:33 |
| 6 | "The Theme of Eklavya" | Pranab Biswas | 4:28 |
| 7 | "The Love Theme" | Hamsika Iyer | 2:26 |
| 8 | "Suno Kahani (The Legend of Eklavya)" | Swanand Kirkire | 3:22 |
There was a controversy regarding selecting the film as India's official entry to theBest Foreign Film Academy award.Bhavna Talwar, the director ofDharm (2007), accused The Indian selection committee (Film Federation of India) and claimed that her film was rejected in favor ofEklavya: The Royal Guard (2007) because of the personal connections of the latter film's director and producer.[13]