Commented on shab155's review
Jan 16, 2007 12:38 PM
What in this review justifies your claim for ICFAI being a credible instution?
Grow up mate!
Commented on own review
Jan 16, 2007 09:58 AM
Madhavan and Vidya Balan have no chemistry whatsoever. When Madhavan proposes marriage I almost spat out the popcorn. I was like..what the $#@! is happening here? Madhavan’s costumes make for an interesting study item. Only when he goes out for stories does he wear khadi kurtas and while at workplac...e and home he is either in casual shirts or t-shirts! Hillarious that was! I mean stereotyping ki bhi koi hadh hoti hai yaar! (There must be some limit to stereotyping!)
Vidya Balan’s character was what I fell in love with. The objective lens of the movie. Everyone she loves is fighting with one another. But she knows the ’true’ thing. The ‘right’ thing. Stunning character. Whatever stars I give in my rating will be for Mani’s ability to visualise a character of this sort. But then the execution of her character on the big screen failed big time.
The art direction though very detailed and precise and all that engineering good stuff you want to say about it. It looked artificial. Maybe I don’t have the eye for “sets”, but then this is my review, right?!
Mani Ratnam could have slept though this movie. I believe in this man’s ability and know that he will make another classic in an year’s time and it will be called “Lajjo”. You have failed in Guru though, for me atleast, that’s the truth.Read More
Commented on own review
Jan 16, 2007 09:57 AM
But yeah, there are good parts in the movie too. The theme of the movie is an excellent one in today’s times. Dream big and get going. If someone tries to throw muck at you go further ahead. Amazing message. And finally there is the touch with reality too - showing the system and it’s fallacies. How... the system itself produces a person that it finally comes to hate is a fantastic concept. The narrative that it starts off with is suddenly given up somewhere along the line. Not that you miss it, but then you expect Mani to keep a track of such things.
The performances are good. Nothing to get excited about. Abhishek excels. And shows shades of his legendary father during the last scene. Especially when he says, “..yeh haath aise hi latakta rehta hai…” (…this hand that hangs…) you are instantly transported to the “Vijay Deenanath Chauhan” of Agneepath. Good work Abhishek.
Aishwarya is sadly relegated to nothing not even background. A cute song to start with, a few dialogues here and there, have kids and smile into the sunset. What a role Mani! I am sure Suhasini would have voiced her concern with you about it! But Aishwarya does justice to the role. She was not as plastic as I thought she would be. She is better today than she was in “Aur pyar ho gaya” (Her hindi debut movie). And she is made to glow through Rajiv Menon’s camera - credit to Rajiv where it is due!
Mithun da is the smashing package. You love him when he supports Guru and hate him when he criticizes Guru. That’s the dynamite that Mithn da is. And not only by seniority but also by performance he establishes why his name should be flashed first during the title credits.Read More
Commented on own review
Jan 16, 2007 09:55 AM
And in business those are the people that decide whether you go up or down. And Mani doesn’t show us how Guru develops that group of people. Guru seems to be a character that would have had a flair for sizing up people in the first look itself but Mani choses not to show that aspect. Guru is shown t...o be a man of just one aspect and that is MAKE IT BIG. But Guru is not a loner, Guru treats Nanaji as a father-like figure, Guru loves his wife, Guru loves his children, but then how did he develop such an apathy towards his brother-in-law? Or is it just that it was convenient to forget about Jignesh once he left Guru? Either the editor or the story has erred completely on these aspects.
And what is this obsession with rain? Who in his right mind would hold a shareholder meeting under rain? Especially when all the previous meetings had a roof, this one meeting there is no roof and it rains too! I mean God must be so mean! Abhishek Bachchan’s acting towards the end falters a little in terms of being consistent with the facial experessions.
And I would like to mention about art direction a little here. The sign of “Shakti Corporation” put up on the background of the shareholder meeting looked like a typical thermocol cut-out which a school-going kid would have made. No, am not saying you need to have a metal cut-out with shine and all that, atleast a classy banner would have done. Especially when you are talking about “India’s biggest company”! If I were Mani Ratnam, I wouldn’t have accepted such amateurish work. Don’t know what Mani was doing.
The songs are placed so badly in the movie that if I were A R Rahman I would just sit and cry because you don’t expect Mani to make such fundamental blunders. ‘Barso re’ and ‘Ek lo ek muft’ are the only songs that are in the place they were meant to be. All the other songs seem utterly out of place. ‘Jaage hain’ was the most dissappointing for me. The greatness of the song is totally lost in the awkard placement.Read More
Commented on own review
Jan 16, 2007 09:55 AM
For starters, nobody understands the concept of ’shout and trade market’ unless they have been through a similar experience somewhere before. So, for most part of it you don’t understand what is going on when Guru tries to get the ‘market’ opened after it’s closed down for apparent gambling. Nanaji ...seems to have just come along wanting to meet an angry chap on the road during his morning walk. His taking of a sudden interest in Guru’s case makes for a no-brainer to me atleast! And instantly the very next day he publishes a story about the closed boundaries of Mumbai’s trading market - I mean Rupert Murdoch would be proud of his ability to respond so quickly to an angry and shouting stranger’s case.
Sujata’s character could have been developed further in an intelligent fashion. She is reduced to cooking and household chores throughout the movie but in the end she becomes a 50% shareholder in Guru’s company and a promoter too! Voila! Wonder what the remaining 30 lakh shareholders were thinking! Come to think of it, the jury raises this issue without going through the company’s annual reports and articles of memorandum of assoication? That just goes to show how utterly under-prepared the jury is to handle the case. But I should mention that I was impressed with Roshan Seth. Good, subtle brand of acting.
Whatever Guru does in Istanbul is fairly Greek and Latin except for the three-glasses game. Guru’s character had great potential, but Mani concentrates on one too many things within the three hour 70 mm format and loses focus of everything. Guru shows so much of passion to achieve success abroad while studying in Gujarat and when he is offered a promotion he reveals to a stunned audience that he wants to go back to his village and make it big there. Huh?!! If not for the hazaar interviews and over a lakh of trailors on the television I would have fallen off the seat when that happened.
Guru develops a circle of people whom he trusts unquestionably.Read More
Reviewed Guru (2007)
Jan 16, 2007 09:54 AM
2149 Views
“My father advised me not to dream. Dreams never come true. But I saw a dream”, says the deep baritone of Abhishek Bachchan with ’Jaage hain’ track trying its best to make its presence felt through the background. Thus begins the movie with high expectations considering the starcast and the infa...Read more
Commented on nivia.99's review
Nov 29, 2006 05:16 PM
Navya,
Awww... poor guy ya! :) Very bad on your part to have played around with his feelings! What if he was sincere?
Commented on arundhati90's review
Feb 25, 2006 08:30 PM
Amazing review!
Really nice way of putting it! And you have also formatted the review so superbly! Carry on! Nice to see your growth with each review!
Keep writing!
Love,
Adi.
Commented on arundhati90's review
Feb 25, 2006 08:14 PM
I can never pick the best ads. Because I never watch the ads!
Anyways, I like that latest hutch series of ads where they have used kids to convey the ethics of using a mobile phone-camera.
When you wrote this review, this series was not even being aired I guess. Sorry about that. For commenti...ng late!
Love,
Adi.Read More
Commented on arundhati90's review
Feb 25, 2006 08:04 PM
Hi,
Shaan has one of the most gifted voices in this industry!
Your choices are really great. Esp 'Woh Ladki hai kahaan' shows his range!
Love,
Adi.
Commented on arundhati90's review
Feb 25, 2006 07:13 PM
Good review once again! :)
Sun-kissed beaches of Mauritius is it?!! I wish your boyfriend all the luck to satisfy your requirements! ;)
Keep writing!
Love,
Adi.
Commented on arundhati90's review
Feb 25, 2006 07:04 PM
I didn't know I could inspire somebody ever!
Great to know you started writing! Have read your works! Great job Aru! Keep going!
Love,
Adi.
Commented on arundhati90's review
Feb 25, 2006 06:57 PM
1. 'Vande Mataram' by A R Rahman.
2. 'Yeh jo Des hai tera' from Swades
3. 'Khoon chala' from RDB (Wasn't released when you wrote the review!)
4. 'Dil Se Re' from Dil Se
5. 'Gurus of Peace' from Vande Mataram.
Sounds like Best of A R Rahman. Nobody else is worth a hear nowadays! ;)
...
Nice pick. I like 'Aashaein' a lot.
Love,
Adi.Read More
Commented on arundhati90's review
Feb 25, 2006 06:49 PM
chand chupa badal main, from HDDCS! Amazing song!
Good review there!
Listen to a few old songs. Kishore, Rafi types.
There's one song 'yeh raatein yeh mausam nadi ka kinara'.. I can tell you there's no bigger romantic song than that!!
Love,
Adi.
Commented on arundhati90's review
Oct 15, 2005 01:40 PM
Nice to read your review! :)
I don't follow TV nowadays. So, no idea whatsoever about Fame Gurukul. But reading your review made me get some idea about it!
You write well!
Keep writing! :)
Love,
Adi.
Commented on lavender's review
Oct 15, 2005 11:19 AM
Nice to read your review! Appreciating the efforts behind the movie! :)
But I didn't like the movie yar! I am also a fan of Surya. But this movie wasn't upto his standards.
Love,
Adi.
Commented on zuludancing's review
Sep 21, 2005 05:47 PM
I am not a great fan of SRK! Don't expect anything better from him either!
Commented on zuludancing's review
Sep 20, 2005 06:40 PM
Aditya,
As usual a good review!
I am crazy about KBC-2 for some strange reason! :) Dn't agree with your logic though.
Anyways, great review. Unique point of view.
Love,
Adi.
Commented on Faerie's review
Sep 20, 2005 06:34 PM
Reading the second review on your profile from the top.
Haven't seen this movie. But trust your views.
If it's still on anywhere in the city, I shall give it a try.
Yet another smashing review from Sujata!
Love,
Adi.
