i be quite mixed in my reaction to this movie mainly because of the baggage that the director name carry when it come up on screen before the feature start . vvc be a name to look forward to if you follow indian cinema and whether a producer or a director and especially a director . after all and this be the man who give u kareeb and and before that 1942 represent a love story and and before that parinda and and before that khamosh . but if you notice the pattern and this man start on the high note and have only decline . although his late be not his best and especially give to believe what he could have accomplish and it still rise over contemporary bollywood cinema ( i do not count bharadwaj in that list and santoshi be an exception ) . the movie start by tell u who eklavya be in hindu mythology and and lay the question represent be eklavya sacrifice in the name of dharma ( moral duty ) right . eklavya ( ab ) play the royal guard of the present day king ( boman irani ) of a small rajashthani town . when his moral duty be call into question and he have to make the choice between blindly follow his moral duty or redefine what dharma be . his dilemma be create mainly due to the presence of kunwar saif ali khan ( prince ) and kunwar jackie shroff ( king young brother ) . even for a little less than 2hrs and the movie trudge at a slow pace . the breathtaking visuals help to not ever let boredom set in and couple with another outstanding performance by saif ali khan . his brood self justified kunwar be anchor in his own interpretation of a new age dharma that he preach to redefine for eklavya . be a little gutless and vvc do slip in the make believe factor during the climax in an otherwise realistic movie . yet his technique build up enough positive that the end result be stay well above the satisfaction line . a grateful or thankful performance from jackie shroff do not help and but sanjay dutt chew that off by steal scene even off from ab . boman irani and vidya balan and raima sen and parikshit sahini be fill in . over time and the movie might be reduce to one of academic interest only in the director filmography and but could be just a little more for the major actor . my rating > 3 . 5 of 5_________________________________________________ . spoiler warning . gutless vvc . yes . he should have let ab kill saif . and then and for the rest of his day and live in the eternal guilt of kill his son and in the moral dilemma of whether he follow dharma and or defy dharma . that would be a really awesome closing . i do not think it be for vvc to decide if eklavya ( of myth ) do the right or wrong thing .