Eklavya

I do not normally miss an Amitabh Bachchan movie but Eklavya was an exception. It was released during a time when me and my family was not going through the best of times. My father was to undergo a critical surgery and watching a movie was the last thing in our minds. I missed watching Eklavya in the theatre and for some reason I did not watch it till yesterday, almost 7 months after its release.

I had heard mixed opinion regarding the movie. Some people found it great, some found it boring since the pace was slow....some thought that its not worth watching in the theatre since it is a short movie (1.47 hrs).

I watched it yesterday and I found the movie simply great. (I do not think that my words are doing justice to my feelings). Amitabh Bachchan was simply superb. He had few dialogues in the movie yet he created an amazing impact with his expressions. When he was silent, his eyes did the talking. Every budding actor should see this movie to learn how to emote through the eyes.

Eklavya is a crisp film in which everyone has come up with good performances. Vidhu Vinod Chopra's direction is great as it always is. It is a simple short story and Vidhu Vinod Chopra has treated it beautifully. Not even a single scene or song that are there just for the heck of it. A small, simple story so a small, simple movie. We have to give the credit to the director for that. I don't think the other, more famous and successful Chopra would have taken up this subject but just in case he had, I am sure the duration of the movie would have been the usual three plus hours, with 14 songs!!!! I hope that Vidhu Chopra directs more movies from now on.

I would like to share a funny incident attached with the movie. Me and my wife were watching the movie on TV in our living room. There is a scene in which Amitabh Bachchan is going to hug Saif Ali Khan. It is an emotional scene since Amitabh Bachchan, inspite of being Saif's father has never hugged him. Several times in the movie, it is shown that Amitabh wants to hug his son but he could not. That made this scene pretty emotional and I was absolutely glued to the screen. But just when Amitabh steps forward to hug his son, I heard a strange voice in my living room. I was surprised and turned back to see what made that sound.....and there was my lovely wife, rubbing her eyes and yawning. The sound was actually the sound created by a huge yawn!!! I was like......how can you yawn in such an emotional scene!!!!!......but amidst all this...I missed the hug!!!!