Guru (2007)

First forget that its based on whom and what? thats not needed to see this movie. It has every thing a good movie needs to have. Casting, music ,cinematography, above all a great subject, that is still relevant.

Its a story you may or may not think is great. But its a story that was told in great way. Don't try to judge, you can't judge something practical with something that is theory.

If you want a movie that can project life-spectrum in another angle, here it is.

What I can say is DON'T MISS IT.

Fmovies: The beautiful photography of India, superb acting, and realistically told modern historical story make Guru a good choice as an eye-opener for someone who doesn't know Bollywood so well. And though the music is extraordinary, there is also somewhat less of it than sometimes.

Guru is the story of the rise of a man from a village to become the owner of maybe the most successful business in India (a textiles manufacturer), which also benefited its mass of middle-class shareholders in an unprecedented way. It spans 30 years. The film is said to be based closely on the story of a real person. It seems intended to inspire Indians to overcome the obstacles presented by corrupt practices, and it raises the question as to what is the appropriate response to a closed and corrupt system that forecloses legitimate opportunity.

It is a joy to find oneself in the hands of a master like Mani Ratnam.  I'd wondered if I'd find this movie at all dull or slow: I did not.  It moves along - there's a lot of plot going on all the time.  I would guess that we get from Guru's village origins to his years working in Turkey to his arrival in Bombay as an adult ready to go into business in less than 20 minutes.

Abhishek Bachchan gave a lovely performance as the son of a village schoolteacher who isn't much of a student, to his father's dismay. He declares his intention to have his own business, and disregards his harsh father's negative predictions about his prospects.  The character, Gurukant Desai, has a wonderful spirit - doesn't take no for an answer, also can laugh off irritants and obstacles, and the laugh is charming, at once boyish and manly.  He's "big" as a personality, and Abhishek is emotionally and physically up to it - you feel his great reserves of self-regard in the various ways he meets opposition, whether from family or business-world characters.

One of my primary responses to seeing the film today was gratitude to be able to see it on a big screen.  The movie occurs in city and countryside, the 50s through the 80s. Every visual image, and the whole field of the movie - scenes, sets, costumes, ambiance, acting style, music - worked together to tell an appealing story with a strong appreciation for India, as well as a potential inspiration and warning. 

I think a good test of a bio-pic, or pseudo-bio-pic, is whether or not somebody who doesn't know much of anything about the putative subject, which is me (in this case, the reference subject is a super-businessman named Ambani), experiences the story as having integrity, and for me this entirely passes that test.

And it's nice to see a Hindi movie in which parental disapproval is met with a "cut your losses" response rather than the sometimes maudlin kind of pining or carrying on about an "incomplete" life we often run into.  Moreover, this dynamic is not at all irrelevant to other levels of meaning in a story about a man in India who take on large defeatist cultural expectations to achieve success.  How should we respond to Father or principles or rules that are truly not serving our interests? It is also not irrelevant to how he plays his hand in relation to the corruption and cronyism he meets when he goes to Bombay to make his way.

Aishwarya is fine in a wife-from-the-village role who is a partner all the way, and I love her dancing. She also shows a definitely womanly aspect as the movie goes on. I am glad to see her in a role that does not

This movie is all about the vision of a person – Gurukanth Desai (Abhishek Bachchan) & his efforts to realize the dream, fighting against all odds. Some people say it is based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani. I can see why they say so. But, this is actually a movie about a simple guy trying to make it big in this world. It can easily relate to just about any successful entrepreneur who has been able to achieve his vision.

This movie follows Guru's journey, starting from his teenage days; his first work in the petrol industry in Turkey. As he matures in age as well as in riches, he decides to start working for himself & begins his "bijjness"- His foundation stone & his first business takeover being his marriage with Sujatha (Aishwarya Rai). He steps into Bombay and bids to cut out his own route in textile trading, through the weed-infested fields of the trading unions. His entry into trading, is greatly influenced by the works of a news editor with great principles, Manikdas Gupta (Mithun Chakraborthy). The relationship between these two, then, goes on to progress to a father-son standard. Flanked by his innovative ideas & his sole will of realizing his dreams, he dares to foray into other areas, manufacturing polyester, producing chemicals etc.

But, as we near intermission, an important incident occurs, which makes Mithunda to take notice of the ways & means of Guru's success. To investigate Guru's work, he appoints a young reporter, Shyam Saxena (R Madhavan). This is where the story really starts developing its many twists & turns; involving many intricate plots bearing great emotion, building up wonderfully to a Grand Finale worth the huge expectations from this film.

Mani Ratnam as the Director does a commendable job of realizing his screenplay dreams. His attention to detail in every aspect of the movie is commendable, be it the evolution in the type of clothing which the characters wear or the concept of using different shades of colors for different decades in the movie, there is typical Mani Ratnam uniqueness written all over it. High points in the movie are the sequences between Mithunda & Guru, the simple chemistry between Aishwarya & Abhishek & of course, the Finale. The cinematography by Rajiv Menon is very nice, capturing the essence of the India of the bygone days. The editing though good for the most parts, was a little too flashy for my liking towards the end.

The music by AR Rahman is another huge point going in favor of the movie. The soulful song & tune of "Jaage Hain" & the ravishing song "Tera Bina" are pieces of musical brilliance. "Barso Re" is a melodious number, shot very beautifully with nice choreography. ARR plays his charm though his innovative & fresh music.

Coming to the performances, the beauty queen – Aishwarya Rai has given a wonderful performance, suiting her strong character in the movie. This is one of the few occasions, where her acting has done the talking & not only the looks. Madhavan does justice to the role of the sincere journalist. Vidya Balan runs her charm in the brief, but, important role she plays; portraying her unrelenting love for her quarreling caretakers. Mithun Chakraborthy's comeback role is the best that I've seen coming from this Disco dancer of yesteryears. He is involved in a few quite memorable scenes in the movie, adding his charm. Mallika Sherawath fans would be disappointed to find out that she doesn't have any r

Guru fmovies. ***** (5/5 Stars) I'm going to have to disagree with the poster above -- "Guru" is one of the finest Indian/Bollywood films I've seen in a long time. I think identifying with "Guru" is easy to do from the start of the movie. What we have is a young person who wants to "explore" beyond his village and become great one day. The movie is about him trying to accomplish his dream of becoming great; this is surely a story that almost anyone can relate to. Abhishek's performance was absolutely marvelous, without spoiling anything, when you walk out the theater you will have actually felt moved by the last few scenes. No Indian film has managed to move me to tears -- this one did. My eyes got watery watching this character fight through all the struggles that come his way. The music was fantastic and really makes you "think." Indian movies have become clichéd with the 'love-sing-dance' style that has permeated to many movies. Also what you have is Indians copying too much of the American style films. What "Guru" is is a movie that takes pride in being Indian; it is an original story that more Bollywood movies should try to be. Be warned though: it is not a movie that is your typical "razzle-dazzle" entertain -- its a movie that makes you think, that has drama, and has strong acting, and that has a great plot. I loved Guru from the start to the finish; it wasn't a second too long or short. As an American-born with Indian roots, "Guru" fuses the best of both Indian and American cinema to produce a masterpiece. I hope you all enjoy it, Guru is a must-see.

Well, Maniratnam has proved his worth as a director. To be able to make a hero out of somebody like Dhirubhai requires great skills. Not to mention that he made an excellent movie even with Ms Rai in it. (why did he cast her in that movie - did he lose a bet or was that a contractual thing for casting Mr. Bachan? Or was Tabu unavailable?) At the end of the movie the audience are most likely to come to the following conclusions: 1. Guru is a courageous, in-your-face, kind of entrepreneurial genius. 2. People such as Guru are the key to the success of our country and to the elimination of poverty 3. Guru is a hero of the poor people fighting for them against the club going, golf playing, influenced by the west, rich clique who prevented others from coming into their group with the help of the license raj, 4. People who stand up against corruption are honest, good people but really who are we kidding, do we really need these jokers? and 5. a small side issue is that the role of good women is at the side of their genius husbands even when they are treated as start-up capital. However, these are my questions: 1. If the poor are poor is it really because they are either lazy, or scared, or simply idiots. I wonder what would Mohd. Yunus of Grameen Bank have to say about this? 2. According to the movie people like Guru benefited 30 million people. In a country of 1 billion is 30million that much? It is just 0.3%. Not to mention these "poor people" had to be people who were at least of middle class status and living in cities. 3. Yes, it is true that the license raj did fetter the rise of dynamic capitalists - but will somebody ever talk about those toiling masses of this country who work until death to make this country run and people like Guru trilionaires? 4. And will someone ever say anything against making heroes of not only persons who are geniuses at exploiting others but also those who take dowry? what happened to all that social conscience of ours? It makes me very sad when talented film makers such as Maniratnam make such movies. Miracles can happen and may be Maniratnam will find his conscience....someday....

We went to watch the late night show of Guru on Sunday evening and I must admit, in recent times, it was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. There was not one moment which i regretted while watching this wonderful movie with the best in all departments. Full marks to Mani Ratnam and the whole cast. It is difficult to come out of a movie happy, yet charmed and to feel so proud of astute vision (also,to be an Indian if you are overseas!) Before I start raving about Abhishek and Aishwarya..have a couple of important things to do. Even the smallest roles (Abhishek's father, his mother,Aishwarya's father, her mother,the committee head and so many others) were done sincerely by actors who are very good at what they do but are unsung heroes in Indian Cinema..I mean i do see them in good, intense roles but because there is no glamor attached, I cannot recall their names.

A friend of mine suggested that I should give a balanced review by adding some bads of the movie too....huh!!was initially tough for me, since I was so overwhelmed;On serious thoughts, I thought let me do the worst job and then start the raves and praises!!!!!but come to think of it....here are some of my objections....there were too many songs;initially back-to-back (with my husband groaning.."oh no, not another song!!!!");I kept asking what happened to Jhignis (Aishwarya's brother) because he just disappeared;when Aishwarya and Abhishek broke up, the scene shook me, but I did not understand why it broke into my most favourite song..."Aye Hairathe"!!!; And last but not the least, Mithun da deserved more screen time, given his powerful performance!!

Nonetheless, this media called cinema has matchless power to shape and influence minds. The analogy drawn with Dhirubhai Ambani was just too good! I mean I know about his milestone work in industry, trade and commerce, but never would have wanted to read a biography on him. Now I am really curious and am inclined to dig the net.Let me clarify, not to come out and mock on how he made it big by breaking/making/kicking/obeying rules. But to know more about VISIONARY and ENTREPRENEURIAL thinking!! One of the most touching statements to prove this point were made by Abhishek Bachan (Gurubhai)when he justified his stand. He said to the tune of "I saluted when asked to salute;I kicked when asked to kick, now why ask why did you kick so much and salute so much??") reflected how bureaucracy, heavy entry barriers and closed doors policy in India stiffled business growth in that era. A typical 'rags to riches' story (I am stealing my husband's expression:D) but done so well with 'into the character' acting by everybody. How Abhishek managed to get all the Gujju expression (just part of his character) to portray his larger than life vision in life speaks volumes about his homework for this film. Being born and brought up in that region myself(Western India), I am totally familiar with local talk-walk!! He looked so ordinary, yet he did such extra-ordinary things!! In fact, in this context, the actor-character line looked so bleak. I did not know whom to reckon with more, with Abhishek for being Abhishek Bachan the son of Amitabh Bachan or with the so obvious Dhirubhai reference!! Aiswarya Rai was so down-to-earth, identifiable in this movie. I really liked her work and also appreciated how she chose to dance a little awkwardly in 'Barso Re Megha Megha' (despite the fact that she is a perfect dancer) just to portray that rusty, village belly