May 14, 2007 07:19 PM
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I remain a Mani Ratnam fan after watching Guru.
The first half of the film, apart from being the integral part of the story, is like a series of picture post cards. Cinematographer Rajiv Menon and Art Director Samir Chandra passionately frame the scenes - be it Istanbul or Badami in Karnataka.Rehman’s tunes become a treat to watch_and so, an extra song here, an extra song there, is soon forgiven! A couple of songs play on you even after the film-Shreya Ghoshal’s “barso re” and Rehman’s “tere bina”.
A very confident Abhishek Bachan does justice to the role of Gurukant Desai.He understands his director’s demands to depict a range of emotions with the people involved in his life. Starting with his mother who stands by him. With his father who loves him but conditionally. With his wife, with whom he evolves as a mature, sensitive and successful businessman. With his friend, who is a father figure, whom he is guilty of displeasing. Then there are his twin daughters, his friends, his foes and his Company’s share holders. The actor comes across it all, convincingly.
So does Aishwarya Rai, performing the role of Sujatha. The cinematographer delights in making beautiful collages, with her fitting fine into his locales.
In their brief roles, a younger looking Madhavan with the pretty Vidya Balan make their presence felt. Even without the credits you can’t miss the guest appearances of Mallika Sherawat, Dhritiman Chatterji and Roshan Seth.Mithun Chakraborthy will bag a few awards for the Best Supporting Actor for his “Nanaji”, I bet!
At the houseful Cinema, the normally inter active, hooting crowd were a silent lot after the Mallika number. Listening in rapt attention. Every scene, every dialogue mattered.
In the end, the film mattered. Doesn’t matter if the hero businessman wasn’t all that clean. Wasn’t he sensitive at times, vulnerable at times? And if it was Bachan Jr.( watch him hug Aishwarya to the tune of “tere bina”, as soulful as the song), then it was “double munafa"!
