Guru, first thing first., the title sounded corny, the promotion on TV- too ho-hum for a Mani Ratnam movie, the music though good sounded a trifle disappointing coming from Rahman’s baton and the promos pretty banal…so I surprised even myself with the low expectations I had from Guru as I sauntered in to watch it this Friday. However as the film began and the initial frames turned from black n white to sepia to the coloured hues of Turkey where Mallika Sherawat gyrates seductively to the strains of “Maiya Maiya”, I said to myself-“Fasten your seat belt…you are in for a special ride” and a terrific ride it is.
Right from the gripping story (strangely untold so far) of one of the most influential Indian of the last century-Dhirubhai Ambani, the captivating screenplay, the international class cinematography which has a “wow” feel to it and the sterling performances, this time around Mani Ratnam, the auteur, is in perfect form. If his earlier Hindi movies-Dil Se, Yuva left the general public cold, he makes sure that his latest outing- Guru, atones for all his past sins. Not for him this time the abstract romanticism of Dil Se or sweeping take on India’s youth as in Yuva. In Guru, Mani Ratnam discovers his cinematic mojo. Biopics have always been his forte-Nayagan, Iruvar etc. and Guru completes his Biopic trilogy.
The strength of Guru lies in its unwavering focus on its protagonist-Gurukant Desai. Every smile, every frown, every grimace of Guru Bhai is captured with unflinching honesty. Even when he is not on screen, the writing makes sure that he is the focal point of all discussions. The effect is that after a while you laugh when Guru laughs, you cry when he cries, you root for him when he takes on the city slickers and you clap when he passionately defends his slimy ways before a stern faced judicial commission… and therein lies the beauty of the script.
The script makes every character believable and well fleshed out. It makes allowances for the characters to grow and evolve over a 50 year period. The film is remarkable for depicting the moral ambiguity of the protagonist without really taking a stance on what is right or wrong. Despite Guru being the central character no attempt is made to pull any punches while attacking his shady, slimy ways especially in the second half of that film. The riveting 5 minute monologue by Guru Bhai in his defence at the end of the movie does try to even things a bit but thankfully the film leaves it to the audience’s intelligence to take a moral call.
The performances are consistently good. Abhishek Bachchan is Guru and Guru is Abhishek Bachchan. He takes you by the jugular from the word go and owns the role-difficult to imagine who else could have portrayed Gurukant Desai with so much finesse and confidence. The nuances he brings to the role (no doubt with ample inputs from Mani Ratnam’s army of researchers) - from the slightly goofy laugh, to the ungainly walk or the pot-belly he carries in the latter half of the film, this is an award winning, showy performance similar to Kamal Hasan’s portrayal of a gangster in Nayagan. Ash starts in her usual simpering, shrieking manner but suprises you with some fine natural acting as the film moves on. For a large part of the film she is not the porcelain doll she is in most of her movies.
The chemistry and the comfort level shared by Abhishek and Ash are palpable throughout the movie. Mithun da yet again proves that he is a supremely gifted artist who could have gone places if not for his penchant for playing the poor man’s Amitabh Bachchan in countless insufferable C grade movies. He has a complex role of Guru’s mentor, foster father and antagonist as the film progresses and he brings a lot of depth and gravitas to the role. Vidya Balan and Madhavan have at best supporting roles and they do their best with the roles they have been provided. The rest of the supporting cast-even bit players like Guru’s cashier, Guru’s company director or Ash’s father leave a lasting impression.
As with all Mani Ratnam movies, the technical aspect is a few notches above ordinary. Be it the striking cinematography by Rajeev Menon who lavishes his expertise on every frame of the movie, the razor sharp dialogues by Vijay Krishna Acharya or the detailed painstaking art work by Sabu Cyril which brilliantly recreates the period era, Guru has a great technical team and Mani Ratnam uses it to the optimum. The splendid music by Rahman complements the biopic feel of the movie and his wonderful symphony-“Jaage Hain” stays with you long after the movie is over.
In a nutshell, Mani Ratnam has made a please-all movie which just plays a little safe towards the end. Is it a great film? I wouldn’t go that far. However it’s a great start to the New Year as was RDB last year.
Cheers!!!