Before I start this review of "GURU", let me clarify that I was a big fan of Mani at one time.
From the very start of the movie, I knew what Mr Mani had planned. If you have watched his old movies, you can easily tell, that this movie had no originality. I felt sad that a person like mani
would materialize a formula to make his future movies.
The film depicted a villager from Gujrat . Maybe I am wrong or just too conservative but the
language patterns which were used for communication, especially between Gurukant desai
and his mother were shocking. The scene where the main character while communicating with
his friend says "so what if I call your sister "DIDI", I would still like to marry her". I was having
a hard time explaining to my daughter parts of the movie.
The character, although a businessman is depicted as some sought of a "DON" . His body
language, dialog delivery, mannerisms none of it convey a character from Gujrat. Rather,
I felt that he could easily pass out for some UP wallah bhaiya . I guess mani forgot to study
his character completely.
The film becomes a big drag, when the character is shown in the city. Switching between color and
B&W, you completely looses track of what was present and what was past. My wife made a
funny remark that when Mr Desai is with his wife the movie turns B&W else it is in Color. Guys you
can imagine that I needed 3 days to completely watch the movie( had to watch in parts.) .
The most disputable and improbable scene of the movie is the part in the end, where Mr Desai
justifies his illegal business activities by putting the blame on the system argumenting that he
received no support to make more money( Unimaginably silly argument .).He compares himself
with Mr M.Gandhi, that he also went against the system. Mr Desai, strongly adds up to his argument, saying that he made money for the people and finally finishes off the statement saying that he is a "BANIYA" and nobody else knows the worth of money more than a "BANIYA".I don’t know about others, but this was a little bit too much for my small mind to digest.
I can go on speaking about the miscast in the movie, the significant characters who had no significance, the talented actors who were completely sidelined and so on but that will only hide the important critical aspects of the film .
In a country where nationalism, morality, culture are degrading at a fast pace being replaced by capitalist economy where money rules, what example will this movie set for the society. Would it be that, if you want more money just do illegal activities, become rich and force the society and system to bend it for you and finally justify it as morality. For it is you with money, who has the power over the law abiding citizens, who you treat as cows.
Mr Mani has forgotten some of the values india stands for or maybe he is now under influence.
If this movie is really made on the life history of Mr D Ambani, then I must say it is made
in a very bad taste.