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India · 2007
Rated PG · 1h 45m
Director Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Vidya Balan
Genre Action, Drama, Thriller
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Upon his mother's death, Prince Harshvardhan must return to his kingdom, only to learn that his true paternity has been called into question. With the kingdom in deep unrest and rifts in the family growing by the second, Eklavya, the family bodyguard, must help the Prince maintain (or repair) the status quo of both the kingdom and the family.
The main tribute in Guard, however, is to Mr. Bachchan, an aging Bollywood monument (and father of the rising actor Abhishek Bachchan), whose sunken, heavy-lidded eyes, grizzled countenance and noble bearing indisputably convey the presence of a seasoned star.
Eklavya contains only one song sequence, a lovely set piece for leading lady Vidya Balan (Salaam-e-Ishq), but it embraces the imperatives of dynastic family melodrama as fervently as any classic of Bollywood’s golden age. This is robust storytelling, with blood and thunder pumping through its veins, and real whiskers on its face.
The pic often plays like a Cliffs Notes version of a longer movie: Pacing and continuity aren't choppy, but there's enough material here for a full-length drama that would go deeper into the characters and their backgrounds. Eklavya is good as it is, but lacks tragic heft.
Los Angeles Times by John Anderson
Something about Eklavya: The Royal Guard suggests a lost film by David Lean. With some muted echoes of "Hamlet." And a whiff of "Rigoletto."
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