MBA ke side effects !

This was something that I created for the year book, but it was not selected due to "space constraints"..so here it is , for the rest of the world to admire ! :P

PS: The anthem here refers to that great musical composition called the NMIMS anthem !

On Eklavya..

Eklavya, by Mr.Vidhu Vinod Chopra, is perhaps a movie ahead of its time. The movie explores the concept of "Dharma" , using the legend of Eklavya as an underlying theme.

In the original version, the young archer chops off the thumb of his right hand as Gurudakshina, thus ensuring Arjun's place at the top in the Archery Hall of Fame. To put it in the words of the royal guard, played by Mr.Bachchan - "Khoon bhi nikla, dard bhi hua".

The movie begins with Mr.Bachchan narrating this story to a young Saif, who questions the logic behind Eklavya's decision, and maintains that he should have given the finger to Dronacharya..though not quite literally !

The movie then goes on to tell the audience that Saif ( Prince Harshvardhan) and Raima Sen (Nandini), who plays his sister, were actually fathered by Eklavya, and not Sharmila Tagore's(the queen) husband, Boman Irani(Rana). This fact has been haunting the impotent Rana's existence since a while, and it manifests itself finally on the queen's ( sharmila's) deathbead, when he throttles her. Sharmila's constant recollection of Eklavya during her ailment is actually the trigger that lights the fuse to his explosive temper. After all, the poor man was trying to read her a Shakespeare sonnet, while she was going on and on about Eklyava !!

Saif learns the truth about his parentage in a letter from his mother. One of the sentences in the letter talks about using your intelligence to determine what Dharma actually is. This is the cue that teasingly suggests the actual implications of the movie.

The movie then takes off and shows the dilemmas faced by Saif and how he interprets his Dharma and fulfils the promise made to his mother, and how his interpretation is at odds with the one pursued by his father, Eklavya, who believes in the Dharma assigned to him on the death of his father. The last few scenes of the movie - the Saif and Mr.Bachchan encounter- superbly highlights the conflict between the two perspectives.

The plot at first may seem to be a trifle too simple, and one may feel that it was not worth such an effort, but the truth as I made it out to be, was that Eklavya actually illustrates this dilemma quite beautifully. At its heart is the conflict between ideology and pragmatism - the dilemma of doing what is said to be "right/correct" and what one may judge/feel to be right given the context of the situation- and the choice of using Eklavya as a particular metaphor to highlight this struggle is an inspired choice. Mr. Chopra is of course, a master of the visual art, and the movie has been shot in a poetically beautiful manner.

The best thing about the movie that I found out was that it grew upon me. I hated it when in the hall, but after I went back home and actually thought hard about what the movie was all about, I was floored ! It was like a slow acting drink...and the high was so amazing that I still am trying to get over it !

I would not recommend this film to people in the age group of 15-25, simply because the nuances are so many and so delicate, that they may not be fully appreciated by them. Also, if you expect to see a movie of a typical Bachchan performance, then you will be disappointed..so please avoid. However, if you are in the mood for some serious thinking, then the movie will be a virtual all you can eat food for thought banquet ! Yes, you may end up feeling that the actors were not actually made to deliver their full potential, but the restraint in the performances is probably one that is demanded for by the script itself, so not much fault can be found there too.

Hats off to Mr.Chopra ! This is surely a movie that I will see more than than once !