http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Entertainment/Movie_Reviews/F-I/Review__Guru_/articleshow/1162401.cms
Guru (drama)
Cast : Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, R Madhavan, Vidya Balan
Direction: Mani Ratnam
There was Gandhi, there was Nehru and then there was Guru Kant Desai, one
more name that needs to be added amongst the roster that boasts 'Architects
of India.' And in case you still don't know who Guru Bhai is, let's just
leave you with a few FAQs. Guru Bhai was India's first textile magnate who
grew from humble origins and dreamt of setting up a factory that was bigger
than Burma Shell. He towered over the Mumbai skyline with his polyester
fabric that became the national fabric in a post-khadi, pre-globalisation
era. And Mani Ratnam takes up this 'inspired' tale to script an ode to this
messiah of the middle class, who broke the rules, twisted the system,
rubbished the red tape and raced ahead, with impunity.
[image: /photo.cms?msid=1162414]
Yes, Mani has dared to present the top industrialist as a man who
introduced corporate crime in the lexicon of Indian industry. Guru Bhai's
business mantra was murky. He bribed politicians, smuggled machinery, evaded
sundry taxes and used people for profit. In short, he was the perfect
capitalist who created wealth any which way, even if it involved marrying a
woman for the dowry she would bring. His justification? The wealth was for
the public, because he was part of the public and if he hadn't broken the
law, the great Indian middle class (the millions of shareholders who grew
rich along with him) would still be non-existent.
And that's where the film slips. Although the director valiantly lifts the
lid off corporate crime, he suddenly cowers in the end and creates a hero
out a man who justifies every fraud in the name of public good. It is the
moral ambivalence of the film which somehow leaves you dissatisfied, for
isn't all cinema meant to be a moral fable? Till the very end, you seem to
keep remembering what Guru Bhai's brother-in-law said when he left him
midway in his grandiose ventures. The disgusted brother-in-law walked off
branding Guru as a complete mercenary who cared only about money, not
people. Guru had no answers for him! Nor for us.
Cinematically, the film is quintessential Mani. The frames are stupendous
with Rajiv Menon's camera working wonders, whether it be Mumbai, Pondicherry
or Istanbul. The combination of AR Rahman and Gulzar create magic with
melody and Abhishek Bachchan puts his heart and soul into a dream role that
sees him grow from a gawky teenager to a wizened adult. Sometimes however,
it does seem the role demands too much from him, specially in the climax
which ends up ekdum thanda. Aishwarya too is just okay and fails to register
the growth in her character.
The first half of the film is intensely dramatic as it traces the rise of
simpleton Guru from a small time salesman in Istanbul to a textile honcho in
Mumbai who just wanted to do 'bijnas'. It is the second half which becomes
prolonged and repetitive with the drama being reduced to a conflict between
the archetypal capitalist and the communist — a newspaper owner with leftist
leanings (Mithun Chakraborty) and his star reporter (Madhavan) who doggedly
follows the unveil-Guru beat. In between, he falls in love with his
employee's dying daughter (what's Vidya Balan doing in a wheelchair?) and
takes off to make dal takda for her. He's a crusader in all kind of roles,
you see!
In the end, Guru is an important film as it tackles a fresh subject and
raises a pertinent query about India's accelerating corporate juggernaut.
On 1/13/07, Gopal Srinivasan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arrahmanfans/355562590/
