MoviemagiK reveiws GURU

GURU (2007)
CAST: Abhishek Bachcan, Aishwarya Rai, Mithun Chakraborhty, Madhavan, and Vidya Balan
Cinematography: Rajiv Menon
Music: A R RAHMAN
Lyrics : GULZAR
Screenplay & Direction : Mani Ratnam


"Growth has no limit. I keep revising my vision. Only when you dream it you can do it." - Dhirubhai Ambani


Mani Ratnam...the name itself spells quality in a world of half-baked celluloid dreams they call- ‘Bollywood’. Quality, but I repeat, never perfection. For if you fine comb through his wide array of movies that he has gifted us, you find that the lack of a few things and a miss here and there, always keeps the movie back from becoming the finest. Yet he visions and re-visions and brings us something beyond the norm.

Obviously with expectations that run high, disappointments are bound to happen. That is why I still consider DIL SE one of the most 'flawed' masterpieces on India Screen. It was a movie that fell flat on various occasions, but still rises to be one fine watch even till today. Similarly, IRUVAR is a movie that was one of his much talk about projects and somehow it is not strange that people are talking about it today, after nearly a decade of its initial release.

OR maybe that we need to embrace these flawed products because no one in our industry really braves up enough to give us that epic tale that seeps into history as well as create a mark in entertainment as well. How many GANDHI or a SCHINDLER's LIST or a PIANO or a BRAVEHEART can India's mangum opus Bollywood boast of. Obviously it hurts when year after year these so-called much hyped slice from the history dies a terrible death at the Indian box offices. It is equally disappointing when directors of top class and quality goes ahead and makes a mess of all the promises and hopes we vested into their dreams and projects. That is why when movies like MANGAL PANDEY and ASOKA comes out and get a deserving beating, we the moviegoers are not moved.

The reason I bring up this point now is …well because the 'desi' Citizen Kane has arrived into Bollywood screens in the form of GURU. Simply put …a tale of a villager who dared to dream, and eventually ends up running one of the largest companies of the country. And when the country in question is a third world country like India, it is not an easy task. So the way our protagonist has to rise up is no easy job like say, a dotcom company over at Big Brother USA.

So that is precisely what GURU is all about in a nutshell.

Gurukanth Desai (Abhishek) is shown to be a rather smart kid but not the academic one. So even before his unsuccessful school results are out, he decides to leave his village and set off to Istanbul in pursuit of money, dreams and a better tomorrow.

And so we are told that he had a successful stint in the city and works his way all the way up to a promotion and good paycheck. But the man with his ideals believes that if he is capable enough of bearing fruits, why not do it for himself. So he packs his back and returns back to his country to start his own business. However his greatest critic turns out to be his own father, who still disapproves of his sons' dreamy ways.

And in setting up his own dream, Gurukanth need not think twice about marrying his friend's sister Sujatha (Aishwarya Rai) not since she stole her heart, but simply because with it comes a hefty dowry. And so with enough money to start his business, a wife and a brother-in-law, who is now his partner, they move to Bombay.

And he need not think twice either when he finds a new friend with Mangaldas (Mithun) who runs a press that refuses to stand for anything unjust.
And with the support of these important people in his life, he gathers the strenght to take on the bullish market. And in the tricks of the trade, Guru does them all as long as he reaches his dreams. And with every old dream realised, he loves to dream bigger.

And within a decade, Gurukanth Desai 's SHAKTI CORPORATION just rises onto become a strong pioneer company in the field of garments and textiles.

But that is where his old buddy Mangaldas (Mithun) comes again to the fore and decides to show a mirror to Guru and point a finger at the unethical approach of Guru to reach his goals. And as his aide, he calls upon a new kid-journo on the block Shyam (Madhavan) to dig up eveything in and off the book regarding Gurukanth's astounding growth.

and so the lines are drawn, and what follows is a battle whereby Mangaldas and Shyam sets out to expose one of the most aspiring and powerful businessman of the country. The only thing that really works as a bridge between the two sides is the love and affection they both share for Mangaldas' daughter (Vidya Balan).

Now talking about the structure on the whole, one must say after the initial bouncy ride the first half hit all the notes right upto the interval mark where we have Abhishek accepting the challenge of Madhavan to the game of 'cat and mouse'.

But after the interval, things does get tied down and we have a lot of screen time being given to other matters without really pushing the enterprise forward. We have a subplot of Madhavan and Vidya Balan which comes like a fresh breeze but dies serving no major purpose at the end.

Technically too things were not consistent. At times I found the flashy editing a bit too irritating in the initial reels or so. and Rajiv Menon's cinematography though mostlystood out marvellous, there were times where things were a bit unsteady. Rahman's music is another factor which fails to live up to its usual high expectations. Several times the songs were just not required and i failed to get my rousing background score this time, which usually Rahman seeps in well into the Ratnam movies. Here somehow i was not left with the scores lingering on way into my head. Except for the late addition of the 'Gurubhai Gurubhai' chant. But yes, couple of songs like Jaage and Tere Bina will stay on as gems.

Performances...oh boy, this one is an Abhishek tour-de-force all the way. He literally slips into the character that convers a wide range of emotions, physical attributes and oh yes, time period. This probably is the first film that will have a certain papa happy that he has the son in the industry.

Aishwarya, well has done better performances in some of her earlier outings with directors like Mani Ratnam and Rajiv Menon. However here her acting just does not stand out impressive and even the chemistry between her and Abhi just does not come out well onscreen. Probably its all these media talk is proving to be a distractive factor. (Oh Rani, how much I wish you were there).

Then it is talents in roles of lesser significance. Mithun was rocking and had me in awe most of the time. He is certainly one of the most underused talents we had in Bollywood. Madhavan and Vidya Balan were sufficiently restrained yet effective.

One scene wonders are something we always get a lot from Mani Ratnam. This time also we have Sachin Khedekar impressing as Ash's father. Roshan Seth who was impressive with his body language as the jury leader that had me wondering - why I never get to see more of him on Indian screens. Mohan Joshi who after impressing us with his comic timing in those Priyadarshan movies, now shows a different side with this outing. Even Arya Babbar had a moment or two playing the role of Ash's brother.

Mani Ratnam's direction is splendid throughout, I must say. And with a team of writers including his wife Suhasini and Anurag Kashyap, Ratnam and Vijay ganesh Acharya has managed to pen some pretty knockout liners to propel his screenplay. and like signature scenes, there were certainly some scenes that stood out like
-The train sequence where we have Ash joining her husband on his journey at the last minute. (Obviosuly train sequences are quite memorable and important in the Ratnam screenplay arent they).
-The scene where we have Mithun getting furious over his editors for dropping their values for monetory gains was also extremely well done. Mithun showed that he is still a far better talent that several of the so-called 'actors' in our industry today.
- The highlight sequence for me when we have Mithun and Madhavan cornering Abhishek for his unethical business and the way Abhishek tries to keep a face even with Vidya Balan realising the seriousness of all this talk.
-And then ofcourse, the climax sequence where Abhishek has to answer the Special Enquiry team which had the audiences clapping for more. The fact that the reasoning did not blow me away is another story all together.

Mani Ratnam is back at doing what he does best. Though he refuses to accept that it is a biopic on Dhirubhai Ambani, the coincidences are too many to ignore. Well, you can judge for yourselves by taking a look at the story of the man whom are talking about - Dhirubhai Ambani..

So how is the ride at the end of it all. Well, I found the movie good, but not great. The second half could have been kept more interesting with a little more work on the screenplay. However all said and done, it does not come up with the boring cliches of the usual documentary and instead Ratnam and his team has managed to create a movie that is quite commercial and entertaining. And a story of a villager-turned-powerful textile businessman cannot get any more entertaining that this, but the limitations of a real life character in play, Ratnam does not go on to take any further cinematic liberties.

A good progressive effort from the team that surely makes the movie worth the look and worth the admission into my collection right next to Ratnam’s other so-called bio pics of NAYAKAN and IRUVAR

rating: 3.5 / 5

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