GURU

Uh, a post in English after a long time...

Now that the much awaited GURU has hit the screens all over the
world, i got an oppurtunity to watch it this weekend.
GURU alias GURUBHAI alias DHIRUBHAI :) was screened in 3
theatres here in Cleveland and was HOUSEFULL everywhere. I was a
good 30 mts early (vera edukku, site seeing thaan) and grabbed a seat
in the last row only to realize that half an hour into the movie, i wud be in
the second last row... there was a row created behind me with xtra
chairs for the late comers!!!
Must admit it was a good North Indian crowd :)

Anyone who is a distant relative of Indian cinema would pay to watch
ManiRatnam's movies. Me,being his ardent fan,wud never miss it. I saw
only the Hindi version but thankfully with English subtitles :)

OK. My First take: Nice movie. No masala. Worth watching !!

Movie is about someone who dreams and dreams BIG. If you have the knowledge,courage,hardwork and never-say-die attitude , you can mend
your way to success. Thats GURUKANT DESAI. As per Maniratnam, he
can be anyone. Ambani / Mittal or anyone though in the movie there are
compelling reasons to believe GURUBHAI is a clone of DHIRUBHAI
(polyester business,license issues etc etc)

It has become a style in Mani's movies to portray the same scene at
different stages of the movie with different meanings.(Just like how
Alaipayuthey starts with 'Endrendrum punnagai' song and the same
sequence is revisited later in the movie with more meaning)
GURU starts and ends with Abhishek speaking at a stadium. Nice and
unique Maniratnam style !!!

Film starts at a small North Indian village with a resolute boy (Gurukant
Desai) pleading his Dad to send him to Turkey for taking up the job (of
delivering petrol cans) with Shell. (onsite at a young age,uh?)
He gets his Dad's nod and goes to Istanbul,works there for nearly 7 yrs
(grows to Abhishek) and even gets promoted @ the company. But he
rejects the offer in order to chase his own dream.

He comes back to India and wants to start polyester business in
Mumbai. However he falls 15,000Rs short.Marries Aish (his friend and
business partner's sister), gets the dowry of 25000Rs and amidst a lot
of initial hurdles with bureaucrats, gambles in polyester business, becomes
an instant hit and soon becomes a big/good businessman.
(Marrying Aish for the dowry stands as a testimony to the fact that
Gurukant wants to get to the end no matter how)

4 snapshots of his factories (SHAKTI) and he is now the BIGGEST
ENTREPRENEUR in India.The 2nd half is covered with a tinge of sadness
in every frame. Madhavan comes as a journalist who works for Mithun,
both living for the caption "Truth has to be exposed". They succeed in
exposing the public about how Guru breaks laws to get to his position.
An enquiry commission is set up against Guru and Shakti industries and
we reach the climax.

5 minutes. Thats the time given to Guru to justify his acts. Four and a
half minutes of dialogue with 30 seconds profit (thats business he says) is
all Guru takes to explain how he chased his dream inspite of all odds.
To succeed in chasing your dreams, you have to mend your own way.
If that means cajoling few politicians or breaking few laws, there is no
harm in doing it. Highly unrealistically,the enquiry commission members
leave Guru and Shakti industries with just 63 odd lakh rupess fine.

Movie ends with Abhishek addressing a packed audience in a football
stadium (much like Dhirubhai addressing RIL shareholders who were in
such huge numbers that the shareholders meet generally happens in
stadiums) with the words

"Now, Go, Win the world"


Positives:
Maniratnam,A.R.Rahman,Rajiv Menon (needless to say)
Abhishek(hats off, he has lived as Gurukant. pulikku pirandadhu
puliyaathaan irukkum)
Madhavan (his Guru's movie. so he has to act well and he does. has put
down a lot of weight for this movie)
Songs:
Mayya Mayya -- super hot Mallika's item number -- treat for the eyes :)
Barso Re -- Aish's intro song. Picture perfect location with the most
photogenic face.
Tere Bina -- duet @ Madurai Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal.
Extremely artistic !!!
(my house is a stone's throw away from the mahal and i cud have
watched the song from the terrace of my house with a cup of tea :)
how good it wud have been. Missed it :(
Jaage Hain -- Typical of Mani's movies, comes in bits and pieces but
never fails to create an impact esp when ARR is at his high pitch !!!
Oh yeah, i missed. Aish has acted pretty well in this movie :)

Negatives:
I must mention few here.
-- Not in the Top 5 of Mani's movies.
-- Climax was not really upto the mark.Eventhough the climax dialogues
are sharp,fails to justify GURU's acts and one just wonders how the
committee members leave him with just fine !!
-- Guru's vision/dominance and never-say-die attitude was portrayed
beautifully but the struggles in his business was not enforced as much
as i wud have wanted mani to... say, in bringing up the factory. Just 4
snapshots and he is owning the biggest factory in India !!! maybe mani
cud have shown how he mended his way thru the bureaucrats... how he
broke few laws to get to where he wanted to !!!
-- Vidya Balan looks beautiful but her character itself is not needed in
this film in my opinion.

So guys, this is not just a regular Rags-to-Riches story.
GO FOR IT !!!