Guru (2007)

Director: Mani Ratnam

Story: Mani Ratnam

Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, R. Madhavan

Music: A. R. Rahman

Time: 162 minutes

Bottom-line: A major success, with some minor flaws

Mani Ratnam’s drama, loosely based on the life of Dhirubai Ambani – a business tycoon and the founder of Reliance industries – Guru stars Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai in the lead roles, with R. Madhavan, Vidya Balan and Mithun Chakraborty in the supporting roles. A major critical and commercial success, the film is known for its direction and musical score.

1951, Gujarat: A young boy, Gurukant “Guru” Desai dreams of making it big in future. Despite his father’s discouragement, he does not give up. An adult Guru (Bachchan) goes to Turkey to enter the spice trade, but soon comes back to India with the idea of starting his own business. He marries Sujatha (Rai) because of the dowry she brings him. Along with her brother, Sujatha and Guru go to Bombay to start a market in polyester, and Guru establishes his own film, “Shakti Corporation”. As Guru’s business expands, Manik Dasgupta (Chakraborty) – publisher of a newspaper, and a well-wisher of Guru – calls reporter Shyam Saxena (Madhavan) to investigate Guru’s business. Shyam quickly finds out that Guru has been smuggling machines and manipulates stocks in the relentless pursuit of profit. Shyam and Dasgupta plan to expose Guru, who, by this time, is also a family man. How Guru’s life goes on is what the film is about.

 

Bachchan as Guru, and Rai as Sujatha

Guru seems to be one of Ratnam’s grander films, with a lot of detail given to the sets and costumes. From period settings to song sequences, the visual appearance is wonderful. The film also finds A. R. Rahman in full form, giving us beautiful songs like Tere Bina and Aye Hairathe. The camerawork is also another highlight, especially the technique of shooting continuously in 360 degrees – also used a lot in Iruvar. Guru’s speech towards the end, as well as several other lines in the film, are superbly scripted.

Madhavan as Shyam

Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai have both acted really well, the former also surprising me a little. From the energetic, determined lad to the successful family man to the paralysed “criminal” on the verge of losing everything, Abhishek Bachchan rises to the occasion and delivers every time. Of course, the only flaw is that he should improve on his dance steps a little! Rai plays the quiet, loyal wife, taking her husband’s side come hell or high water, and what a performance it is! Madhavan and Chakraborty have also done well. Vidya Balan plays a small role as Dasgupta’s granddaughter and later, Shyam’s wife – Meenu. I still don’t understand the significance of her role, apart from being responsible for a lot of sentimental moments which we could do well without.

The structure of the story is quite solid: starting from Guru’s childhood, his small progresses, the setting up of his empire, then a slow degradation with the entry of Dasgupta and Shyam, and finally, the conclusion. Interspersed with this main track is the bonding and loyalty between Guru and Sujatha, and also between Shyam and Meenu. While the story drags around 20 minutes more than needed, the remainder of the film is brilliantly made: engaging, dramatic and inspirational.

My Rating: 3.5/5