Day of the Knight

Rating: **1/2

Finally,we have an Indian film with world class animation. Arjun,The Warrior Prince is that one film we’ve been waiting for,the one that we can watch without cringing. Each frame is lovingly and beautifully detailed. And the rhythm of a warrior’s prince’s life,as told in epic form,is captured well. Clap,clap. What lets the film down is its patchy characterisation and voicing: not all of them work uniformly.

The story of Arjun,the ace Pandava archer,is so well known that it doesn’t need iteration. But whereas Arjun is just one part of the sprawling Mahabharat,in the film he is outlined more than the others for obvious reasons. So we get a leisurely unfolding of Arjun’s life,from the time he and his large clan of brothers and cousins (Pandavas and Kauravas) are under Guru Drona’s tutelage,how he proves that he is the greatest nishaanchi of them all (his ability to see only that which he must pierce with his arrow),how he wins Princess Draupadi’s hand (the manner in which he snags the golden fish is one of the most stunning sequences in the film),how he learns to obey and abide while his older brother,Yuddhishtra,is busy losing his kingdom and family to the wiles of Shakuni mama,and how he redeems the name of the clan while sticking to the path of righteousness.

The film piles on one scene of gorgeousness after another. Apart from the one in which the golden fish is ensnared,there are the wonderful battle scenes. These can be the hardest to do,and the easiest to flub. Arjun gets all its visual cards just right. But the way it fills in some of its characters is not equally impressive: the reedy-voiced Shakuni doesn’t transmit as much deceit as he should. Karna’s nobility doesn’t come through,either. Draupadi shows a distressing flash of cleavage,even if it is a hint ( why,why?). And Krishna is strangely colourless…

However,Arjun… shows us that it can be done. After years of watching embarrassingly bad animated junk,this one comes as a lovely surprise. And for that it needs to be applauded.

shubhra.gupta@expressindia.com