GURU - Deal Maker or Deal Breaker?. Review on Guru (2007)

When you walk into a theatre for a Mani Ratnam experience, you go with certain pre-conceived notions and expectations in your mind. You know that .

Mani, undisputedly one of the best modern story tellers of this country, consistently produces stylishly made movies that have a fairly strong storyline, or at least one that tugs at your heart strings(Nayakan, Roja, Bombay, Mouna Ragam, Anjali - it is a long list that would name almost all of his films) good music, (he gave us A.R.Rehman)good cinematography, (P.C.Sriram, Rajiv Menon are among the best)stunningly shot dances(can anybody forget Chaiya Chaiya?)

and you want the newest film too to be nothing less that all of that. Can any artiste live up to that sort of hype and fulfil the expectations of millions of movie goers? Mani Rathnam, to his credit, rarely disappoints.

Mani Rathnam has made movies that belong to different genres - pure entertainment, relationship dramas, socio-political commentaries- and some of the best(Nayakan and Iruvar) have been those where he has borrowed freely from the experiences of those who have lived larger than life. GURU is said to belong to that particular category(borrow and issue a disclaimer) and this time Mani has looked at one man, who in many, and not always ethical, ways has changed the way India does business - Dhirubhai Ambani.

From polyester to petroleum and clashes with the government and press, there certainly are too many similarities to fool anybody, disclaimer or not. The movie follows Gurukant Desai who moves from his village to Turkey to make a living. After years of hard work, Guru spurns yet another promotion to return to India where he can make the dreams in his head come true, and take the country also forward with him. His father, sceptical, and completely unappreciative, sneers at him, predicting failure.

These are the reference points of the movie - Guru has dreams of striking it rich, he wants to make a difference to his country, and the determination to do both is cemented by his father's scepticism.

The first half of the movie is practically flawless, if somewhat formulaic. There is the sizzling Mallika Sherawat item number, the meeting with a teary Aishwarya Rai, the discovery of who she really is, the setting of the stage for his future success - the way he negotiates the financing of his business is certainly a scene to remember- the serendipitious meeting with an upright newspaper owner, and the bashing down of the bastions of the rich powermongers who control Bombay trading markets.

Come interval and you are left wondering what else could possible happen to take the story forward. It seems like Mani too was a little unsure, after this strong opening, what to do with his baby. The movie wobbles towards a shaky climax where Guru has to face the consequences of his ambition, greed, and refusal to take no for an answer.

Gurukant Desai before a government enquiry panel - You frame the rules that make it necessary for me to sometimes kick somebody down, and at other times to salaam somebody else. I wanted to succeed, and I did all of this, And now you ask me why I kicked somebody down, and why I salaamed somebody else? When you think of the licence raj that effectively crippled Indian industry before Dhirubhai came along, it is hard to argue with this logic.

Mani loves to put rousing words in the mouths of his heroes. He did that in Roja, and he does that in Guru. It works when the subject is patriotism, and while one can appreciate the truth in the words of Guru's speech, it doesn't have quite the same effect when the subject is commerce.

The cast of GURU is peppered with minor characters, some of whom make a big impact with small roles - Roshan Seth, Aryan Babbar among others, and many more who do nothing for the story. Performances are uniformally good.

Abishek, though not very good at depicting a man with physical limitations, is excellent. His body language suits the character perfectly, and this makes his characterisation far more real that the expressions on his face. There are fleeting moments when he reminds you of his father - the bhang song for example. Mithun is surprisingly good(is this the man who donned ridiculous costumes to wiggle about singing'i am a disco dancer'?) and a slimmed down Madhavan holds his own very well against the stars. Vidya Balan sadly is wasted in her role. Aishwarya proves once more that she can dance beautifully and look stunning, but that she can't act, even under the direction of a Mani Rathnam. Mani, who can afford not to fall prey to commercial traps, should have swapped her role with Vidya's.

GURU is a good film, but it left me feeling vaguely disappointed at how tame the second half is, and how badly dubbed the Tamil version is - it is hard to relate to people dressed in Gujarati costumes mouthing dialogues in Tirunelvelli Tamil.

GURU is a movie about a hardworking man unashamed of his pursuit of success, about his dreams of making a difference and his determination to overcome all odds; about his philosophies of both conviction and convenience. As the story of such a man, GURU succeeds. Ignore the voice inside your head that asks - "That's it?"