"In the ancient times of the Mahabharata... a tribal boy... wanted to learn the art of archery." "He went to the great guru Dronacharya." "But Drona refused." "He was mentor to princes and kings." "How could he teach a low caste tribal?" "He returned to the jungle." "He made a statue of Drona... called it his Guru and practiced archery, night and day." "One day, Drona was out hunting." "Suddenly, his dog stopped barking." "Seven arrows had sealed its mouth shut." "The archer had shot the arrows with such skill that the dog felt no pain, and shed no blood." "No pain, no blood." "No pain, no blood." "Drona was astonished." "Who was this skilled archer?" "This magical marksman?" "Do you know who it was?" " Eklavya!" "His name was Eklavya." "Your name is Eklavya too." "Yes, my mother named me after that great archer." "Then?" " Then, Drona was baffled." "This untouchable tribal was superior to his star pupil, Prince Arjun." "He had to be stopped." "Drona said, 'Son, you have trained before my statue." "Claimed me as your guru." "You must pay my fee.'" "Eklavya smiled and said, 'Whatever you wish, O' Guru.'" "Do you know what Drona demanded?" " What?" "Eklavya's right thumb." " His thumb!" "Why?" "Without his thumb, how would Eklavya draw his bowstring?" "He could never outshine Prince Arjun." "Eklavya didn't cut off his thumb, did he?" "Eklavya merely smiled, cut off his thumb and offered it at his Guru's feet." "No pain." "No blood." "No pain." "No blood." "No No Nandini." "There was a lot of pain." "A lot of blood." "But without flinching, Eklavya fulfilled his dharma." "His sacred duty." " What kind of dharma is this?" "This dharma is wrong." "I'd have refused." "Eklavya was wrong." "Eklavya was wrong." "'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" "Thou art more lovely and more temperate." "Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May," "And summer's lease hath all too short a date." "Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines..." "And often it is his gold complexion dimm'd;" "And every fair from fair sometime declines," "By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd.'" "Remember this sonnet?" "I read it to you when you first came to Devigarh." "And you gifted me this flower." "It has withered away now." "'But thy eternal summer..." "But thy eternal summer shall not fade," "Nor lose possession... '" "Mother says call Eklavya." "Dear son, by God's grace, the Queen is recovering from her illness." "Yet gloom engulfs me." "Putting this pen to paper is my only solace." "Only through these letters, can my heart speak." "The rest is silence." "I am but a mere wall of this fort." "That exists only to protect the King." "Each moment of my life is a brick in this wall." "But this wall is now ravaged by age." "The eagle eyes that once watched over this fort are going blind." "But my ears miss nothing." "What does it yearn for?" "Perhaps, your voice calling out to me." "When an aging father's hands begin to tremble it is his son's duty to give him a helping hand." "Where are you, my son?" "Water?" "Some water, my Queen?" "Mother says, Call Eklavya." "Mother says, Call Eklavya." "Would you like some water?" " Eklavya." "Call whom, dearest?" " Eklavya." "Who?" " Eklavya." "No!" "No!" "Mother is dead." "Now we don't need Eklavya." "Eklavya!" "To the Queen's chamber." "Now!" "Send for my son, Eklavya." "Call my son!" "Now!" "Father." "How are your eyes?" "Absolutely fine." "Fine?" "Nothing is fine, Prince." "The sun's glare blinds him completely." "Rajjo took him to the doctor." "He said his eyes were..." "'photosensitive'." "Yes." "Mother mentioned it in her letter." "I will speak with the doctor." "How's Rajjo?" " She's fine." "Thank you." "Rajjo was with Her Highness through her illness." "She said the Queen really missed you." "Come here now." "Hurry!" "Should a Prince make such a public spectacle of himself?" "Should a Queen pull her Prince's ears like this?" "Oh?" "So she shouldn't?" "What would you have her do, mighty Prince?" "She should say sorry." " I'm sorry." "I'm sorry, okay?" "Good you came, Harsh." "Such a shame you couldn't be here when your mother really needed you." "Anyway, it's too late now." "Come on." "Let's go." "I seek your blessings." " She kept calling your name." "And left us." "I said, 'I am here too!" "Your husband." "Call my name.' But she wouldn't." "Just kept calling your name." "Do you know how it felt?" "I felt so..." "Just called your name and..." "she's gone." "Brother." "Mild heart attack." "She was recovering but then..." "Go." "Get ready." "The funeral rites must begin before sunset." "Wear a white dhoti." "You'll find one in your room." "It's the culture here." "They are touchy about it." "Let's go." "Mother, your last words were, 'Take care of Harsh.'" "Give me the strength to ease his grief." "Guide me, Mother..." "How is he?" " Why so restless, child?" "See the fort?" "Your love cannot scale those high walls Did he ask about me?" " He did." "What did he ask?" " 'How is Rajjo?" "'" "See." "Lord, look after my daughter." "She's innocent, she's naive." "Please don't break her heart." "Nandini." "Nandini." "Where are you?" "O' Kind King, is Princess Nandini home?" "Princess Nandini is not here." "Oh!" "Where could she be?" "She's gone to the temple with her mother." "Please tell her that her brother Harsh had come to meet her." "She will..." "I mean..." "I will." "Ok then, I'll just go back to London." "Fooled you!" "Fooled you!" "Don't you get it?" "Mother is dead." "How could I go to the temple with her?" "I didn't think of that." " And don't talk about leaving." "Everyone leaves me." "Except Rajjo." "But she also leaves at night." "Rajjo stay here at night." "I get frightened alone." "Won't you stay, Rajjo?" "How are you, Rajjo?" " I'm well." "Your father told me, you took good care of my mother." "Rajjo was always there for her... always." "The Queen really missed you." "She left you this letter." "She asked that you read it alone." "Then she said, 'Take care of Harsh.' Didn't she, Rajjo?" "Dear son..." "Will it be me, or my letter that will greet you... on your return?" "I take every breath with caution, fearing each will be my last." "I hope I live to hold you one last time." "But I fear that will not be." "This letter then must reveal to you, the secret of your birth." "Son, King Jaywardhan is not your father." "He could never be one." "Nature didn't wish it so." "When it was discovered, he couldn't give the Kingdom an heir your grandmother resorted to an age-old tradition of begetting an heir from a sage." "The quest took us to the banks of the holy river Gangotri." "Eklavya was with us." "The Queen Mother trusted Eklavya more than any sage." "So did I." "You and Nandini have a noble father." "Eklavya." "I tell you this now because your father needs you." "He is growing old and blind." "If your father learns that I've revealed this secret he will believe I violated our vow." "I failed my dharma." "My sacred duty." "But I believe dharma is, as the great Mahabharata says." "'Dharmah Matibhyah Udghrutah.'" "Dharma is born from reason." "Dharma is born from intellect." "It is what your heart, your mind feels is right." "Dharma is what your soul accepts as true and sacred." "I have fulfilled my dharma." "Now son... you must fulfill yours." "Promise me, you will look after your father." "I promise, mother." "I'll chop off Eklavya's head and hang it at the gate!" "He has contaminated our royal blood." "Why didn't you tell me this before?" "I didn't know myself." "All these years I believed our mother." "She said it was some sage from Gangotri." "I believed her." "The Queen bore twins." "One, a mentally challenged daughter." "Even that, I accepted." "But today I find a worthless guard the father of my children." "He slept with my Queen." "Jyoti." "He sired my children." "My wife... and my guard!" "So submissive all these years." "Head bowed." "How he must've laughed." "Laughed at my inadequacies." "At my every shameful flaw." "Even this, Jyoti!" "Eklavya is coming." "Bastard!" "Sir?" "Tell him, Jyoti!" "His Highness has just received a death threat." "The caller said, we must return the farmers their land or the King will die." "How can this be?" "They failed to repay their debt." "We annexed their land." "Bhiku, their leader, was found dead on the railway track, with a suicide note." "But they accuse us of his murder." "The bastards!" "Now go." "Go!" "Find my son." "Tell him, his father's life is in danger." "Whose life?" "His father's." "Now go!" "Jyoti." "I spoke the truth." "Didn't I?" "Whoever is Harsh's father will die." " Rest assured, Brother." "Before sunset tomorrow, Eklavya will burn on his pyre just like the Queen." "Prince, I looked for you everywhere." "What are you doing here?" "Alone?" "Mother is the one alone, Eklavya." "Everyone abandoned her." "Will you sit with us?" "She will like that." " You are needed back at the fort." "Your father has received a death threat." "My father?" "Do I have a father?" "Have you seen my father?" "I want to meet him." "Tell him, I sit here alone with my mother." "Tell him, I miss him." "Can he join us?" "What was she to him?" "Nothing?" "Can't he do this much?" "Let's go Prince." "I want to cry, Eklavya." "But the tears don't come." "Will you hold me?" "Please." "Son, do not extend your hand." "If I hold you, it'd call for disaster!" "After that fateful trip to Gangotri... your mother and I were strangers till the end." "We swore not to let our children even realise... that I'm their father." "Nandini's guileless laughter..." "it breaks my heart." "I want to hold her and cry out, 'I am your father.'" "But this can never be." "Never." "Harsh!" "Are you crying Harsh?" "Why?" "Please don't." "Do you miss Mother?" "She's with us, silly." "We have many mothers." "One, two, three, four..." "Would you like to meet them?" "See?" "'Mother at Diwali.' Isn't she lovely?" "'Birthday Mother.' Please see." "'Mother at the Temple.'" "'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Mother.'" "And this one is..." "No." "Not this one." "It's a bad painting." " Show me that painting." "No!" "It's horrible." "It has blood." " It's alright." "Tell me." "What is it?" "The secret can never leave that room." "He will kill me." "Who?" " I can't tell you." "If the secret leaves that room, he'll kill me." "Which room?" "If the secret leaves that room, he'll kill me." "Which room?" "Now, the secret will never leave mother's room." "But the door is open." "Are you nervous, Bablu?" "Don't worry." "We live in a democracy." "These are mere cardboard kings." "My baton is far mightier than their sword." "Hey Bablu, see this wall?" "My ancestor was buried alive in this wall." "Just like a ribbon is cut to inaugurate a new building these kings killed us untouchables for good luck!" "Meet my ancestor, Kalwa Chohar." "If I didn't yearn to meet Eklavya again I wouldn't even piss on this fort!" "Come on." "Sir, recognize me?" "I am Pannu." "Pannalal Chohar." "Dhannalal Chohar's son." "I seek your blessings." "Remember the Dussera fair?" "I am the boy who caught the bell." "Remember?" "You were amazing." "I couldn't sleep all night." "I was inspired." "I wanted to become someone worthy like you." "And here I am." "Myself, Police Chief Pannalal Chohar." "Thank you, Sir." "I would give anything to see that feat again." "Will you... please?" "I'm not sure I can do it anymore, son." "No harm trying." "Please meet His Highness first." "Come." "One moment." "Promise?" "Yes." "Come." "These damn farmers have gone mad!" "They have threatened to kill me." "Are you writing the report, Bablu?" "I am not a bad writer myself, Your Highness." "Why does the troubled King hide in his mighty mansion?" "Does he fear those poor naked farmers harbor a secret passion?" "Should he not know that time and tide wait for none?" "You dare mock me?" "Don't forget, I'm King Jaywardhan." "And you are a mere..." " Untouchable?" "I wouldn't say it." "In our democracy, discrimination is a crime." "Under which act, Bablu?" "Never mind the act." "Handcuffs would be a fact." "For generations, we have been the law." "And you dare to speak of handcuffs?" "We have ruled for 2000 years." "And we have suffered for 5000 years!" "I'm the grandson of that low caste man buried alive in this fort." "Your good luck charm!" "I'm the child of those untouchables, whose hands were cut off for daring to touch the holy books." "Enough history!" "Your security will be here in an hour." "One hour?" "That's democracy for you, Your Highness." "Free will, you see." "Some cops will be at the tea stalls." "Some at the sweet shop." "Rounding them up takes time, no?" "I'm off then." "Shall we, Sir?" "Will you show me now, Sir?" " You don't give up easily, Pannalal." "How do you think an untouchable got to be a highly decorated officer?" "Bablu, the blindfold!" " I don't need one." "The sunlight blinds me anyway." "But you did it with a blindfold then." "It looks impressive." "All right." "Ready Sir?" " Yes." "We can't do that with our eyes open." "How do you do it blindfolded?" "Drowned my father drowned protecting his King." "I searched the lake all night." "Then mother came." " Son." "This belonged to your father." "Now you must accept it as yours." "From this day on, he will live through you." "Henceforth, you have only one dharma." "The protection of your King." "Fail and nine generations of our family will burn in hell." "Like the unbending Eklavya you too must follow your dharma." "From that day on she named me Eklavya and my father's weapon became my only companion." "No one knows this story." "I don't know why I told you." "I'll tell you why." "It's because you like me." "Sir, were you present when the King received the death threat?" "No." "Only his brother Jyoti was there." "The one who lives in the red bungalow." "Near the railway tracks." "Right?" "Goodbye then, Sir." "By sunset, Eklavya will be by your side." "Do what you want with him." "What shall I do, my Queen?" "You were always my guide." "Should I call Jyoti or not?" "His Highness hasn't called yet." "His Highness!" "' 'His Highness!" "'" "My blood boils every time you call that eunuch 'His Highness!" "'" "If Harsh treated me so, I'd put a bullet through his head." "Uday, how do I look?" "'His Highness!" "' 'As you wish, Your Highness!" "'" "How can you call him 'Your Highness?" "' I'm ashamed to call him uncle." "How long have you been calling him uncle?" "27 years." " 52 years!" "52 years of 'Yes, Your Highness,' 'No, Your Highness,'" "'Your wish is my command, Your Highness.'" "Hello, Jyoti." " Yes, Your Highness." "The police have bought the story." "That's good, Your Highness." "We leave in half an hour." "What time is it in your watch?" " 5:25 p.m." "It's four minutes fast." "Please adjust it." "We will meet at 6:10 p.m. Your Highness." "Exactly 6:10 p.m." "Dad... we have a guest." "It's gone." "It's gone." "Rajjo lost her kite!" "I cut it!" "I cut the kite loose!" "Rajjo deliberately lost the kite contest." "Nandini is delighted." "Rajjo's a lovely girl, Omkar." "You've brought her up very well." " Hardly." "I was so busy driving these royals around I never noticed when my little girl grew up." "She's lovely." "I worry about whom she will marry." "It will all work out, Omkar." "Mr. Marksman I've been telling you for years." "If you had bothered to marry and produced a handsome son I wouldn't have had to worry." "They'd fall in love and marry." "We'd be in-laws, dear Marksman." "Look!" "The Prince is here." "Let me see." "What's the King done to deserve such a wonderful son?" "The Queen's death has left him very lonely." "I feel like giving him a hug." "Father." "No, little Prince." "Don't call me father." "I don't have that right." "I'm just a humble servant." "I would love to hug him too." "But I can't." "I don't have that right." "I'm just a humble servant." "You really take good care of her." "Thank you." "It pleases me to see her happy." "Now that you're here, shall I go?" "Please wait." "Do you remember mother's lullaby?" "The Moon Song?" " Yes." "Would you sing it for me?" "Here?" "Now?" " Please." "I miss mother." "Hear anything?" "You can only see with binoculars, Mr. Marksman." "Not hear." "She's singing." "My child, my moon." "Smile softly, my moon-child." "Come gently my eyes are your sky." "Frolic there forever." "Gently, O' tenderly." "Swing from the clouds." "Swing and smile." "Smile, my moon-child!" "Smile softly, my moon-child." "Come gently... my eyes are your sky." "Frolic there forever." "Smile softly, moon-child." "Frolic there forever." "His Highness has summoned you both." "Right away!" "Right away?" "Where to?" "The Queen loved this sonnet." "Shakespeare." "She died listening to it." "Eklavya, where would you like to be cremated?" "Sir?" "God forbid, if you were to die unexpectedly where would they cremate you?" "Sir... my village, Dhachigam." "That just won't do!" "You've served us so long." "You will be cremated... in the royal grounds." "Alongside your Queen." "Down, Your Highness..." "Kill him!" "Kill him!" "What are you doing?" "Kill him!" "Are you deaf?" "Kill him now!" "Yes, Your Highness." "Your wish is my command." "Your Highness..." "Your Highness..." "Your Highness, they've taken my brother." "They say we murdered the King." "They'll hang our boys." " They call us farmers." "But we don't have enough land for our own graves." "First they take our land." "Now our sons." "We tried to protest, but they killed Bhiku, our leader and called it a suicide." "Your Highness." "Listen to us." "We are being framed." "It's a conspiracy." "Enough." "We can't take it anymore." "Whose camel is this?" "Whose camel is this?" "Speak up!" "Rajjo...?" "I will marry Rajjo." "I seek your blessings." "May I come in?" "This is now your home, Rajjo." "You can come and go as you please." "Thank you." "Thank you for what?" "Thank you for making my father smile." "Your promise of marriage helped him go peacefully." "I saw him smile." "But now that he's gone..." "I won't hold you to your promise." "Rajjo, I..." " Please let me finish." "Not that I'm not happy with your promise." "Ever since I was a little girl..." "...I dreamt of marrying you." "Dreamt of us being together." "Father thought I was naive." "But I had faith." "I always saw my dream fulfilled with your love." "Not your charity, or your pity." "May I speak now?" "Rajjo..." "Why did mother trust you with her last letter?" "Why does Nandini love you so dearly?" "Her face lights up when she hears your name." "Truth is I too feel the same way." "But I remain silent." "I can't express myself." "Nandini can." "She is the only sane person in this fort." "You know this fort..." "it does terrible things to people." "This citadel of customs, traditions, rites and rituals is driving me insane." "Rajjo..." "I am no longer the Harsh of your dreams." "For fifty years, you have enjoyed the comforts of this fort." "But when the King needed you most, you ducked behind the camels!" "Uday!" "Were you singing hymns when the killer kicked the gun from your hands?" "Uday!" "Show some respect to Eklavya." "For generations his family has protected our kings." "He was blinded by the sun, deafened by the train." "Otherwise those worthless farmers couldn't have touched His Highness." "Officer, what has your investigation revealed?" "We now know that the camel belonged to a farmer named Hariya." "He's being questioned." "Break Hariya's knees." "That'll sober his rebellion." "They were not farmers." "Eklavya?" "How many fingers do you see?" "Can't see from five feet away." "How do you know they were not farmers?" "Eklavya's father sacrificed his life protecting the King." "Ballads are sung in his praise." "So, tell me, Eklavya." "How did you escape all those bullets?" "The farmers spared him." "The same lowly blood runs through his veins." "Ah!" "I see." "A brotherhood of bastards." "Officer." "Please take his statement outside." "Sir..." "You can't counter verbal insults with a gun." "They asked me if I was busy singing hymns when the killer kicked away my gun." "And for that, you want to kill them?" "Yes!" "Sir, that's insane." "Why?" "I haven't told a soul that my gun was kicked away." "How do they know?" "What are you saying, Sir?" "They assassinated my King." "I recognize the clang of his shoe." "It is them." "Out of my way" " Sir..." "Sir." "Please calm down." "Leave them to me." "This is my sport." "They're my 'pigeons.'" "You won't be able to do a thing." "Move out of my way." "I give you my word." "I'll get them." "I'll find a way." "Straight or crooked." "Do you know they killed Bhiku, the farmers' leader?" "His suicide note was fake." "They will meet the same fate." "On the same railway track." "With a suicide note that is just as fake." "This is my job." "I'll do it." "Out of my way, Pannalal." "If I let you through, you will kill them, and hang for it." "So what?" "I do not care..." " If I must, I'll arrest you." "If I must, I'll kill you." "Give me the gun." "Enough bloodshed." "Give it to me." "You do not see what my blind eyes do." "They murdered the King." "You're next." "They will kill you for the crown." "There's a jeep outside." "Take it and leave." "A monthly pension will reach you in Dhachigam." "You're free." "Please leave." "Leave?" "With my King's death un-avenged?" "I am but a mere wall of this fort." "That exists only to protect the King." "Each moment 'Each moment of my life is like a brick in this wall." "But this wall is now ravaged by age." "The eagle eyes that once watched over this fort are going blind.'" "You read my letters?" "Yes." "Every word was written for me, right?" "Who... who told you?" "Mother." "Adharm!" "She committed a sin!" "I kept our secret buried within me all my life." "The Queen has sinned!" " No." "Mother committed no sin." "Read her letter." "'Dharmah Matibhyah Udghrutah.'" "Dharma is born from reason." "It is what your heart and mind embrace." "Mother fulfilled her dharma." "And now I, your son will fulfill mine." "Please leave this place." "Your Highness." "Sir." "Son." "You cannot condemn me to exile." "You cannot!" "How can a son condemn his father to exile?" "But a King can banish his Royal Guard." "I, King Harshwardhan, with the utmost respect... command you, Eklavya, to leave Devigarh immediately." "Your Highness!" "Father, return to your peaceful village." "Enjoy the simple pleasures of farm life." "I will bring you back to this fort only when I have driven out the maddening echoes of 'dharma' and 'duty' and replaced it with the cheerful laughter of your grandchildren." "I want to see you smile." "You have suffered too much." "Harsh!" "Harsh, the villagers tell me you ordered Eklavya to leave." "Is it true?" "Why?" "Read this." "Hey!" "Who is it?" "You?" "What are you doing here?" "King Harshwardhan has..." " Speak up." "Louder!" "King Harshwardhan has banished me from his fort." "I seek employment." "No work is beneath me." "I'd even shine your shoes." "Out!" "I said get out!" "Don't let me see your face again." "Your wish is my command." "Now get out!" "This darkness cloaks my face, Udaywardhan." "But I see you only too clearly." "I see the face of my King's murderer." "Your bullets are all spent." "Any sound now will mean your death." "I still hear you, Udaywardhan." "I can see every breath you take." "Quiet." "Quiet." "Not a sound." "Your silence is your life." "If you breathe now I will follow my dharma." "Your death is my duty." "Why are you here?" "King Harshwardhan has banished me from his fort." "I've brought you a parting gift." "That's fine." "Leave it at the gate." "Won't you take a look?" "I said..." "What's in this?" "Open it." "Uday?" "What have you done to my son?" "Where is he?" "Where is Uday?" "He is strolling by the railway track." "Won't you join him?" "Have you ever seen Eklavya laugh?" "No one has... except me." "When he saved me from a beating." "Who was going to beat you?" " Father." "You must've done something." " Not me." "You did." "Me?" "What did I do?" "Don't you remember?" " I can't remember." "The Queen was pulling your ear." "You were yelping, 'Does a Queen pull her Prince's ear like this?" "'" "Oh yes." "When I kissed you in front of everyone." "Eklavya saved me from father's beating then." "Took me for a camel ride, fed me guavas." "But I was still miserable." " Why?" "I said, 'I never got to kiss him back!" "'" "When he heard that he laughed just like you did now." "I have to tell you something." "What's the matter, Harsh?" "This is my father's gun." "If it weren't for you and Nandini I swear to God, I..." "You're scaring me." "I'm scared too ...that you'll leave me." "Never." "I promise Wait." "Hear what I have to say and then make that promise." "What have you done?" "You killed my son!" "He killed my King." "I've fulfilled my dharma." " Fulfilled your dharma?" "Well done!" "Very well done!" "Now go kill the man who ordered the King's assassination." "Tell me his name." "And I'll bring you his head." "You'll bring me your son's head?" "Good!" "Very good!" "Harshwardhan ordered the killing." "Let's see you bring me his head!" "Harsh!" "Harshwardhan, your son!" "Behead your son." "Fulfill your dharma." "Harshwardhan!" "Wait, Rajjo." "Please." "For whom?" "You killed my father, Harsh." "You killed my son in the name of duty." "Now in the name of duty, go kill yours." "Lies!" " It's true." "He..." "Is Nandini asleep?" "You?" "What are you doing here?" "Waiting for you." "You have blood on your face." "Whose blood is it?" "I do not know." "Udaywardhan's..." "Jyotiwardhan's..." "I've killed them both." "And now you are here to kill me." "Yes." "But before my dagger finds its mark I must hear the truth from you." "Did you order the murder of my King?" "I did." "Then I, the Royal Guard of this fort and your father must perform my sacred duty." "Prepare to die." "My own father here to kill me what better preparation for death." "I'm ready." "Why did you do it?" "I never imagined, you would kill for the crown You think I'd kill for the crown?" "Go ahead then." "Plunge your dagger into my heart." "Go on!" "You cannot throw that dagger." "Because you know your son would never stoop so low." "Why then?" "Why this terrible sin?" "Why?" "Dharmah Matibhyah Udghrutah." "I saved your life." "Look at this." "He murdered my mother." "Strangled her with his bare hands." "You know why?" "Because your name was on her lips." "I knew you would die next." "What is your price for this murder?" "Just two and a half million!" "I paid them ten times that to save your life." "Lies!" "All lies!" "This can't be true!" "My King could never do this." "Not in a million years." "He wouldn't." "All you have is Nandini's word." "This could be her wild imagination like her flying stallions." "Do not try to weaken my resolve Do not allow it to weaken, Eklavya." "Cut off your thumb." "Fulfill your dharma." "Dharma?" "Dharma is above all question." "Dharma is beyond debate." "If I sway from my dharma for this one moment nine generations of my family will burn in hell." "Mother told me to fulfill my duty, like the unbending Eklavya." "Your death is my duty." "And yet, your hands tremble." "When an aging father's hands begin to tremble it is his son's duty to give him a helping hand." "Where are you, my son?" " I am lost." "But I will find my way." "My hands are stained with blood." "The blood of Rajjo's father." "I can never wash it away." "Let this bloodstain burn with me on my pyre." "Be gentle with Nandini." "Tell her, mother was lonely." "So I left to keep her company." "I shall tell mother I kept my promise." "I shall beg forgiveness of Rajjo's father." "I shall fulfill your duty." "Your duty... is my death." " Stop Harsh!" "Don't!" "This is my dharma." "My hands may tremble but my heart is unflinching." "My eyes are weak but my ears miss nothing." "One..." "Just one word and my dagger will find you." "Father." "Father." "I thought you never missed." "I didn't miss." "That was my finest throw ever." "Instead of cutting off my thumb I struck the hand that was about to kill my son." "You were right, son." "Eklavya was wrong, Eklavya was wrong." "Eklavya was wrong." "So wrong." "Mother, give me the strength to follow your path." "Let my conscience guide me." "My heart tells me to forgive Harsh." "He faltered, but his heart is pure." "He was willing to pay for it with his life." "Too many lives have been lost." "Too much blood has been shed." "Someone must stop this." "Let it be me." "Bless me, mother so I may ease his pain and help him forget Take care of him, child." "He's a noble soul." "See what he's done for us The entire village is here to thank him." "He has returned our land." "Long live King Harshwardhan." "Long live..." "...King Harshwardhan!" "Long live King Harshwardhan!" "I have returned your land for selfish reasons." "I want to make my father proud." "Today with all of you as my witness I hereby acknowledge Eklavya as my father." "Son." "Father." "Why are the police here?" " To arrest me." "It's time to pay for the two men I executed." "I'm afraid I have some bad news." "I am ready." "Let's go..." " One moment." "Today, we searched Udaywardhan's room and in the D VD case, found a suicide note." "Bablu..." "Take a look." "It's a royal mess." "They knew I was closing in on them." "So they took the easy way out and jumped in front of a running train." "Suicide." "Too bad." "Escaped my clutches after all." "I would never have spared them." "Sir, good handwriting, no?" "Good." "Very good!" "Isn't it, Father?"