And Finally!. Review on Guru (2007)

*Story:

*Mani is back with yet another well known secret. Last time it was the lives of two well known politicians of Tamil Nadu. This time it is an alleged biography of a well known industrialist. Guru Kant Desai, a villager and a visionary. A bad mix of the personal, professional and moral(or lack of it) aspects of his life has been put together in the name of a story.

Guru is sure a great movie, but it would have been a spectacular movie, had the mix of the aspects mentioned above been good. The focus erratically shifts from childhood history to romance to relationships to professional struggles to moral debate and ends no where. The script is weak and the details are missing.

*Performances:

*No better time to chose Abhishek than now, when ‘Get-up Hype’ is the only ‘In’ thing. He has put on weight; he wears safaris; his body language is quick and energetic in the first half(that’s incredible considering that Abhishek is usually deadpan); he talks with slow but sure voice, and that’s what is called getting in to the ‘skin’ of the character!

Then the village belle, fairer than a British woman, speaking with a cutting, classy voice. No doubt, Aishwarya in those simple attires looked trillion times better then she was in ‘Devdas’. Her character shows signs of intelligence, surge of spirit and enterprising nature almost equaling the hero, but she ends up as the sophisticated backward support system of Gurubhai. The intelligent wife of a Powerful man, standing behind with dignity! It’s sadly symbolic of Aishwarya’s impending doom; her marriage with Abhishek.

The best would be from Mithun Chakroborty who had already degraded his talent by acting in those B & C grade movies which every Indian who claims to have sense would have loathed or laughed at. However, this performance reminds you that long ago Mithun has won a national award for acting.

Does Vidhya Balan’s role have some symbolic link to the real story on which this movie is based on? Why the hell was she needed? It is this interesting question that irritated me whenever she came on screen. Otherwise she is fine. Nothing much to do for Madhavan. He appears smug and irritates Guru’s friends.There are many well known actors like Roshan Seth and Pratab Botham being used in small significant roles. I am not sure, why they were there. Is it an attempt to create an impression of ‘Guru’ being an important movie?

*Honest Observations:

*A Mani Ratnam movie is bound to be great, simply for its unique technical quality, total non-conformance to the present day’s hot selling clichés and most importantly for that quintessential ‘Mani Ratnam touch’. But sadly, even Mani seemed to have conveniently assumed that the finally maturing Indian audience, newly in search of realism can(mis)take anything that has a graying middleclass house and an underplaying actor for technical authenticity and cinematic brilliance.

This movie is yet another well designed product of a particular director, whose direction once had an extra-ordinary appeal. The same acclaimed director had sadly fallen in to a self create groove, he now makes the same kind of cinema with a different story. If you had really known what Mani is best known far, who would not enjoy this movie. Because, the famous ‘Mani Ratnam touch’ is missing. What exactly is ‘Mani Ratnam touch’? One would love to ask. Mani’s typical brilliance is not in his famous lighting preferences or in the characteristic camera positioning(which keeps moving from one person to another).

It’s his dialogues(Remember ‘Mr. Chandra Mouli?’ in ‘Mouna Ragam’) and that evergreen romance in it. But here the dialogues and romance are not as fresh, childish and naughty as before. All they have is a heavy hangover of Mani’s past movies. Haven’t we already seen a Mani Ratnam heroine dancing in the rain(Ithayathai thirudathey), another running away from home(Thiruda Thiruda), the hero coming home and hugging his house wife amidst damp clothes put up for drying(Iruvar, Bombay, Alaipayuthey, Aayutha Eluthu)?

And of course, there are scene by scene similarities between this movie and ‘Iruvar’. Guru and his friend meet on a high rock next to a temple; there is an exactly similar scene in ‘Iruvar’ when Mohanlal and Prakash Raj meet. Slightly aged Guru and his wife, wave at the crowd; the mapping scene in ‘Iruvar’ had Mohanlal and Aishwarya wave. The ‘smooch the house wife scenes’ have already become a constant repeating element in Mani’s films. If you hadn’t watched Mani’s other movies, you’ll love that(over used) style of film making. To me, it’s already stale.

*Conclusion:

*The pre-decided conclusion has been justified yet another time. Abhishek Bachchan has finally arrived. WOW! He had done the impossible and reached the pinnacle of glory, that too at such a young age! He deserves the UP Government’s most prestigious award, Amitabh Bachchan’s praises, Jaya Bachchan’s happy tears, Aishwarya’s giggles and Amar Singh’s whistles.

It’s almost like ‘Guru’ was made only to trigger such responses. The movie was made to zing up Abhishek’s career. An exceptional movie from a classy director could give him a little name if not commercial success. This was the thought. Isn’t that obvious? The media has been waiting to declare the movie as a masterpiece and Abhishek’s performance as superlative. Everything went as per plan. Abhishek’s career is safe. The movie is making money. Now, Mani Ratnam can use this money to make his next big budget movie with Aamir Khan. Hopefully, at least that has a little soul in it.