Guru (2007)

Director:

Mani Ratnam

Writers:

Mani Ratnam (story)
Vijay Krishna Acharya (dialogue) ...

Release Date:

12 January 2007 (Canada)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

The life of the most controversial man of the year.

Plot:

A villager, Gurukant Desai, arrives in Bombay 1958, and rises from its streets to become the GURU, the biggest tycoon in Indian history.

Plot Keywords:

Business | Village | Turkey | Gujarat | Mumbai

Awards:

7 wins & 18 nominations

Cast

Mithun Chakraborty	...	Manikdas Gupta
Abhishek Bachchan	...	Gurukant K. Desai
Aishwarya Rai	...	Sujata
Madhavan	...	Shyam Saxena (as R. Madhavan)
Vidya Balan	...	Meenakshi Gupta
Roshan Seth	...	Thapar
Mallika Sherawat	...	Jhumpa
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arya Babbar	...	Jignesh
Arjan Bajwa	...	Arzaan Contractor
Mukesh Bhatt	...	Ram Lal
Dhritiman Chatterjee	...	Thapar Commission Member
Rajendra Gupta	...	Kantilal Desai
Darshan Jariwala	...	Anand Patekar
Manoj Joshi	...	Ghanshyam Bhai
Sachin Khedekar	...	Sujata's Father
Nina Kulkarni	...	Sujata's Mother
Padmarani	...	Mrs. K. Desai
Sudhir Pandey	...	Mathura Das
Prathap K. Pothan	...	K R Menon I.A.S
Ravi Prakaash	...	Board
Simran Singh	...	Young Meenu

Also Known As:

Gurukant (India: Telugu title)
Mani Ratnam's Guru (India: English title) (complete title)

Runtime:

USA:166 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | India:U

Filming Locations:

Assam, India

Company:

Madras Talkies

Trivia:

A.R. Rahman dedicated the song "Tere Bina" to the memory of the renowned qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Abhishek Bachan is addressing his first AGM in a "pandal", he is seen loosening his tie, but in the next scene his tie is fully knotted. Then again in the next scene, his tie changes length and becomes much shorter.

Quotes:

[Turkey 1951... ]
Gurukant Desai: I don't want to walk... I want to run!

Soundtrack:

Maiyya Maiyya

A perfect example of gripping storytelling and impeccable characterisation

Just returned from the theatres, now that I am home I feel genuinely very happy that Guru Kanth Desai is still going strong. I am also completely confident he will make Shakthi Corporation the biggest company in the world...by now you must be wondering what I am talking about, this is how many viewers would feel after coming out of watching Maniratnam's Guru.

First of all let me start by mentioning Abhishek Bachan's role, as this is the role that Guru is built upon. If there ever was a movie where one actor dominated so completely I would only compare Kamal Hassan in Nayakudu/Nayakan. Abhishek should be very proud of what he has accomplished in Guru, it is something that some actors haven't or will not achieve in a life time. He is impeccable for the hardest of critic to comment. His histrionics are brilliant and the way he lost and gained weight during different parts of the movie demonstrate how serious Maniratnam and Abhishek were in making this movie. Keep the awards ready please...Abhishek Bachan has his name stamped on them.

The story is quite simple; it is the narration and the characterisation that makes this movie so unique and interesting. it's about a common mans journey to build India's largest company with the help of its share holders by whatever means possible. In Guru, Guru Kanth Desai is not portrayed as an invincible man rather he is played as a very good business man who can talk and do right things at the right time. The narration of the story is so tight you never flinch. (This applies only to serious movie watchers, not the ones who cannot do without masala and comedy in a film) Maniratnam is one the best story tellers in our country if not the best, and he does that perfectly again. This will rate as one of the best works of Maniratnam; I would take the liberty of putting this Under Nayakudu/Nayakan which rates first on my list of Maniratnam movies.

The music is by A R Rahman, we all know what happens when Maniratnam and A R Rahman team up. Pure magic is created. More than the songs of Guru, the background score impressed me. It is the music in every important scene that brings the scene to life. Rahman is amazing and like Rang De Basanti the songs just blend into the movie. Not to mention Mayya Mayya and Barso re Megha in the first 20 minutes of the movie brighten up the whole theatre.

A word of mention...

Aishwarya Rai has a very strong role in Guru; strong roles are very scarce in Bollywood these days...especially for female artists. Aishwarya stays with Guru throughout the movie and stays on the top of Bollywood by doing that brilliantly.

Mithun & Madhavan are the adamant characters that fight for the right, when I say adamant they really are in the movie and you feel their willingness to stay on the right side of things all through the movie. All the other supporting roles including Vidhya Balan are brilliantly enacted. There is no character that was underplayed or wasn't justified.

Where does this leave us...? Maniratnam has made a wonderful movie full of strong characters, great screen play, brilliant music and marvellous photography by Rajiv Menon. He needs to be commended for this effort. It is no wonder he takes two years to make out one movie, Guru was worth waiting for...so here I am already waiting for his next