… should have possibly been called Eklavya – the Royal Stud. Because that is really what the story was about. Once upon a time, somewhere close to now, in the beautiful state of Rajasthan – and [tag]Vinod Chopra[/tag] has shot the quintessential 'visit Rajasthan' film –

Once upon a time there is a very, very gay King – [tag]Boman Irani[/tag] wonderfully brilliant – who can't do it with his wife. So the mother-in-law and wife,[tag]Sharmila Tagore[/tag] ,go off to the banks of the Ganga along with the Royal Guard Ekalavya – [tag]Amitabh Bachchan [/tag] to find a priest who will do the neeful (as per ancient customs). Both Sharmila and the mother-in-law 'trust' Ekalavya more and he does the deed. Harshvardhan (saif) and the'idiot' savant (except that she is a painter) Nandini (Raima) are the offspring. The film essentially explores what happens when the King finds out, and what are the consequences of his actions on everyone. And of course the quandry that faces Ekalavya who has sworn to serve the kings.

A take of on [tag]Hamlet[/tag] with a heavy dose of the Mahabharat and exploring concepts of what is Dharma. The films opens up with a number of interesting possibilities – but the desire of the director to linger longingly on Amitabh Bachchan's grizzled close ups means that meat in much of the story is lost. There is style in the film – each scene looks wonderful, the low angle shots of the fort and the palace create a stratified atmosphere, some scenes are brilliantly shot – but it is more style than substance. I was truly disappointed with the film. The story sagged. The scenes creaked and the dialogues felt as though they were made up by actors as they went along. The audience at [tag]Fun Republic[/tag] was cracking up at 'emotional' scenes.

Performances wise – AB played Ekalavya as Atal Behari Vajpayee. Laboured, tortured and full of pauses. While he brings in a tremendous amount of pathos to the part, he is let down by the script. Of the cast Boman Irani as the Rana, who has been cuckolded by his Royal Guard, is brilliant. [tag]Jackie Shroff[/tag] as Jyotiwardhan has had a meaty role to bite into after a long time, and he makes the most of it – when they die, you lose interest in the rest – their performances were truly riveting – and that kind of performance across board, would have lifted it from what it is to a truly brilliant film. The elements are there – it just doesn't all add to gether. Of the rest, [tag]Sunjay Dutt[/tag] provides a menacing sort of comic relief in the film. But if you wrote out his part, it really would not be missed. An interesting story line is opened up with his introduction – the son of a 'Dalit' he has used modern Indian democracy to become a DSP – but the conflict between the old and the new, never really plays out. [tag]Saif Ali Khan [/tag] and [tag]Vidya Balan[/tag] had some of the worst dialogues I have heard ever. And I suppose delivering such lines with a straigth face can be tough, however good you are as actors. [tag]Jimmy Shergil[/tag] whose character is a catalyst for much of the drama – is good but doesn't really have the screen time. And Raima as the 'pagal' Nandini is not irritating.

The cinematography was brilliant. As far as the story telling goes – there were scenes that were absolutely fantastic. Like the scene where the Raja reacts to the Rani calling out to Ekalavya. Or the scene where Ekalavya confronts Udaywardhan. or the scene between Jyotiwardhan and Udaywardhan. Or indeed the scene where the car with Ekalavya and the Rana is stopped between a railway crossing and a huge herd of camels. But, by and larges scenes didn't hold. when audiences start laughing at supposedly 'serious' scenes, there is something really wrong. The single song in the film is decent. hummable. But the background score is heavy – an overlay of chants from the Bhagvad Gita, and an inexplicable use of the 'Gayatri Mantra'.

Worth a watch ? – don't know. I have seen more entertaining movies that glorify 'feudal' Rajasthan – Kshatriya, Rajput, . But, if you can find a Rs.50 ticket a great idea.