Wah Guru !!!

"The country has lost iconic proof of what an ordinary Indian fired by the spirit of enterprise and driven by determination can achieve in his own lifetime."

-Atal Bihari Vajpaye, the ex-Prime Minister of India

Recently I read nobel laureate Amartya sen’s ‘The Argumentaive Indian’ and I hugely identified myself with the title. We Indians love to discuss gibberish. We talk about politics, cricket, movies, education and everything. We definitely love to ‘talk the talk’ but, we hardly ‘walk the talk’. I won’t blabber on this topic now and make your life miserable.

One of the many issues that we love to discuss and argue over is movies. I watch a lot of movies and consider myself a good critic. Ha ha! Do I sound pompous? I can undoubtedly say that I have a lot of competition in the criticism field. Half of my branchmates can give me a run for my money. When we start discussing about a movie we talk about everything from the acting skills, direction, screenplay, script, dialogues, music, makeup and what not? In short “hum film ki maa , behan…..”. Though I am sure that none of us has ever been to a film set.

Like a true movie freak I was ready to watch the first day first show of the new flick ‘Guru’ at a plush chennai multiplex this Friday. So what that the ticket price will drill a hole through my denim pocket, I want to catch the first show of this much awaited movie. After all it features Abhishek Bachan, Aishwarya Rai, Madhavan, Vidya Balan and my favorite childhood ‘hero’, Mithun Da. If I am correct, this is the first time that Bollywood is making a movie on a businessman. Hollywood has made a few, among which ‘The Aviator’ is the most famous one, which showcases the erratic lifestyle of Howard Hughes. “Abb Bollywood ki bari hai”.

I saw Guru and what I write now will definitely help my friends decide whether they want to watch it or save their buck.

Guru is a biographical movie on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of the Reliance Industries, though at the starting of the movie the screen reads that “the characters in the movie are purely fictional and bear no resemblance to any person living or dead”.

I can’t describe the movie in a single word as ‘Guru’elsome or ‘guru’pping(I meant gripping, I am so bad at these word games!). Though I can say the post interval part was definitely ‘guru’elling.

Mani Ratnam didn’t had to worry about the story, he could have named the movie ‘Dhiru’. The story is simply a cut-paste from Dhirubhai’s biography, minus some changes here and there. The story opens in a village in Gujarat named Idhar. Guru fails in his exams and his father who is a teacher in the village school, tells him to do whatever he wants in dejection. The young Guru moves to Turkey where he sells petrol cans. Here I must tell you that Dhirubhai moved to Yemen (not Turkey).

[Here is an interesting piece of fact that I gathered from the Internet. You may skip it if you are interested only for the review.]

“In the 1950s the Yemini administration realized that their main unit of currency Rial were disappearing fast. Upon investigating it was realized that all Rials were being routed to the Port City of Aden. There a young man in his twenties was placing unlimited buy orders of Yemini Rials. During those days the Yemini Rial was a pure silver coin and was in much demand at the London Bullion Exchange. Young Dhirubhai would buy the Rials, melt them in pure silver and sell it to the bullion traders in London . In the later part of his life while talking to reporters it is believed that he said “The margins were small but it was money for jam. After three months, it was stopped. But I made a few lakh of rupees. In short I was a manipulator. A very good manipulator. But I don’t believe in not taking opportunities..”

Back to review. Guru realizes that it’s best to work for himself and not for others. (The basic idea of entrepreneurship). Then he returns to India to realize his dream. Then it’s all about the shortcomings he faces and how he overcomes them.

What really stood out in the movie for me are the performances by Abhishek, Aishwarya (this is the first time she ‘acted’) and Mithun. Abhishek carried himself in the un-glamorous role flawlessly. Aishwarya gave a sober performance. But, for me Mithun Da stole the show. That’s the way to go Mithun da. ( Enough of “kasam paida karne wale ki” type of movie). The music of the movie is a clear upset from A.R. Rehmaan. Except for the two songs, ‘Ay hayrathe’ and ‘Barso re megha’ which are also not very good, the rest of the songs are too ‘pakau’. The cinematography is just ‘ossuum’.(It always is, in a Mani Ratnam movie).

There is an Arabic item number for all you cleavage hungry guys (Mallika Sherawat does the honours) and a smooch scene between Madhavan and Vidya Balan.(Is this the same girl who refused to wear minis in movies?).

What more do you want? Just go ahead and watch it.

Ques for Mr. Mani Ratnam: Sir if you are reading this post, why do you make these four lettered word movies? First it was Roja, then Yuva and now Guru. Maybe you can call the next one Mani.