ABSTRACT
The Eklavya: The Royal Guard, directed by the celebrated film-maker Vidhu Vinod Chopra, has been described as a version of Hamlet. The filming locations establish the setting as Rajasthan, specifically Bikaner, Jaipur and Udaipur, all filmed in sumptuous detail worthy of a quality travelogue. The film is also explicitly situated in the historical ambit of Indian myth since the central reference is to the Mahabharata. Some recognisable elements are noticeable: Eklavya manifests the generic hybridity which is a hallmark of Hindi movies, shifting between murder mystery, romance, political thriller, and musical. There is, however, a far more international dimension to Eklavya, including the ubiquitous referencing to Shakespeare. The Eklavya's intertextuality invokes some of certain associations but in a way that involves both contemporary reference and a longer historical perspective, weaving together sources which hold mythical and cultural status, including different works by Shakespeare.
