One word for this film - G for Guru & G for great.
Power-Play
The main power play in the movie is its plot, director(The Madras Talkies Man – Mani Sir), and last but not the least - Guru Kant Desai(or is he Abhishek Bachhan?). I mean he is so convincing that the character is completely looks different from his real persona.
Movie
*Visionary - off course Mani sir is a visionary & only he can make a film with so much of vision, I bet that this film will always come in a list of 10 best films of Indian Cinema History on any criteria. You enter the theatre & will come out with a completely different emotion which is hard to forget. You(especially if you belong to Middle class) will feel different from inside such is the clout of the movie.They say that this movie is based on Shri Dhirubhai Ambani’s life, while the director/producer claims that it’s not true. But truth is there to see, it definitely reflects on the life of a business legend of India, and all for right reasons.
However there are some issues on story-line, as once Guru starts looking like a manipulative business man and a villain; he marries for dowry to start his own business. He indicates to be bribing officials & using media to enter the trade and in a scene his bro-in-law tells his sister(Guru’s wife) about the dowry, Guru almost develops into a negative character. But in the last 1/2 hr of the picture the director successfully tried to push a message that "nothing is bad if it is done for a larger good"(though it is a morally debatable issue), implies that Guru did nothing wrong while bribing & forcing his way through the permit raj & beaurocrasy, as he was working for Lakh of share holders.
Abhishek is all over in the film & with great vigor & one of the best performance in Hindi cine-industry; looks so flawlessly convincing that Big B must have been mesmerized with the performance of his son. Guru marks the arrival of another Big B. Many have given this credit to Mani sir, I do agree but then Abhishek did the things with perfection. Look at him while he has the paralysis attack, and in climax - when he utters his first sentence in front of inquiry commission - "sahib mai to baniya hoon", he is so convincing with his style & diction as a Gujarati that it is hard to believe he is not the one actually. Awesome!
Music tracks are good but not extra-ordinary what AR Rehman is known for, but one hardly feels the need of songs in the movie. Everybody have done their bit, but others roles are too short to really prove anything. It is Abhishek everywhere.
Down-side*
Plot is great but still has some flaws; the role of Manik Das Gupta(Mithun) as a media baron is not adequately explored and is too minuscule, so are the others. Plot develops well with the idea of creating a middle class but fails to elaborate actually, it does raise the issue of red-tapism but did not put any light on it; these are the few weaker links of the plot.
Conclusion
*Great film to watch for the story of an ordinary man to a financial power-house; and for the power-packed & awesome performance of Jr. Bachhan. The film may not put a proper light on larger issues like - red-tapism, license-raj, and the great phenomenon called the "origin of middle class" in India; but one needs to watch it for the success of an average individual whose dream becomes the faith of millions of common-people.