Sapne mat dekho, sapne kabhi sach nahi hote. This is what I’m going to tell my kids too. You know why, ‘cos, I had dreamed that Mr. Mani Ratnam is going to create a bollywood equivalent to the Martin Scorsese movie, The Aviator. But, sadly, Mr. Ratnam gives us no such pleasure. So, here we have another good story becoming a Bollywood mediocre movie due to directorial flaws and a weak script. Ok, enough complaints. Let me review the movie. The theme of the movie reinstates the fact that BEHIND EVERY FORTUNE LIES A CRIME and whether such crimes are pardonable because of the huge benefits that come along with them or does the person need to be punished regardless??
The story revolves around Gurukanth Desai (Abhishek Bachchan), a drop out of the village school who goes to Istanbul and works as a Petrol Bunk attendant with Shell Canada Ltd (Sounds familiar?? Much like Ambani huh?) Anyway, he works hard and gets noticed due to quality work. When a promotion is offered to him he doesn’t accept it and returns back to India to start his own business. He has a plan and he needs money to put that plan in action. He gets to know from his childhood friend Jignesh (Arya Babbar) that his dad has accumulated 25, 000 bucks as dowry for his sister Sujata’s (Aishwarya) marriage. Guru decides that he would marry Sujata ‘cos that would help him start his business.
So, a married Guru, along with his charming wife and brother-in-law comes to Mumbai to start textile business. When he fails to acquire a license to trade in the Market, Manik Das Gupta (Mithun), a Satyawadi, who owns a newspaper, helps him become a member of the MARKET by exposing to the world how the rich Contractors were misusing the presidential power entrusted to them by the traders. There begins the story of fortune. Somewhere down the line, the uneducated yet ambitious Guru starts cheating the law. He becomes a tax defaulter, avoids import duty on goods, cheats the share market by buying the shares of his own company, claims that foreign companies (which do not exist) have invested in his company, disobeys the law by installing more textile mills than registered etc etc. Manik Das, being a true Satyawadi decides to expose all these scams with the help of his able reporter Shyam Saxena (Madhavan).
Now, begins the battle between the strength of money versus the strength of the pen. This battle which could have been made more gripping is spoiled by the weak script. So, the intensity you expect after the interval doesn’t show up. The battle ends before it even begins and the audience is left dazed with the speed of the narrative in the second half. It just zips through without giving you a clear picture of what’s going on. You feel like you were cheated. You barely have time to think in the second half. Mr. Mani must have been scared that his movie would be rejected by the public if it were any lengthier, so he chops, snips and gives you a scrambled dish which is tough to digest. If only he had faith in his story, he should have made the post-interval session a bit more explanatory.
Another weak point about the movie are the songs which never fit into the situation well. Mallika sizzles up the screen with an item number (Maiyya, Maiyya) right at the beginning. Between this song and the next (Barso Re Megha Megha) there is a gap of hardly 5 minutes. Then there is Tere Bina which pops up at you when least expected. So, a good song is wasted. About the other songs, the less said the better (Ek Lo, Ek Muft…..Gosh!!!!). The only good thing about the soundtrack is the background Gujarati score which goes like - Gurubhai, Gurubhai Aavya Che...Dhoom Dhadaka Kayra Che!! High time A.R Rehman plans out a whole new plan to keep his music alive in the Bollywood industry.
About the performances Abhishek, Mithun and Madhavan light up the screen. Aishwarya does justice to the second fiddle role although the romance between Abhishek and her seems lukewarm. Vidya Balan (as Meenu) is wasted (other than the smooch between her and Madhavan…he he) with an insignificant role which would suit the likes of Dia Mirza types. Manoj Joshi does well as Ghanshyam, Guru’s loyal friend. Arya Babbar as Jignesh is also endearing. All other characters like that of Sachin Khedekar are very small and unnoticeable.
If you have a lot of expectaions from Mani Ratnam you will be let down. Watch this movie for Abhshek, Mithun and Madhavan and also all the vintage cars shown. I sincerely hope that a director is born in India, who can handle the concept of biographies in a more competitive way. And the competition shouldn’t be with the other Indian directors, it should be with Hollywood directors. Maybe then our films will lead the way on the path to Globalization.
Verdict: I would buy a DVD of The Aviator, but not of Guru.