Guru
Mani Rathnam does it again – each movie of his, so different and fresh, all masterpieces. First Roja, Bombay, Dil Se and Yuva, now Guru, even though the audience has started to expect a lot from him, he comes through every time. His mastery as a filmmaker reflects throughout the movie.
Loosely based on the real life story of industrialist - Dhirubhai Ambani – this post independence setting is around the dreams and ambitions of a village lad.
Gurukant Desai is the son of a schoolteacher. He would earn good amount of money, than earn a higher education. Much to the disappointment of his father, he leaves home to work in Turkey. He returns to India after 7 years of work, as he would rather work for himself.
He marries his friend’s sister, who has been jilted in love. He is practical about it as the dowry she would bring would be a stepping-stone to expand his business. He uses loopholes in the system to make big bucks.
Abhishek Bachchan is very convincing in his portrayal of Gurukant; he makes you forget that he is an actor and not actually the character. This is definitely his best performance till date. At times there is a feeling of deja’vu when you see him in the court scenes. You are reminded of the likes of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan – in Agnipath.
Aishwarya has done a better job in the second half of the film. She is too polished to make a convincing village belle.
Mithun has done an excellent job. Madhavan, Sachin Khedekar, and Manoj Joshi have all performed very well.
Mallika has excelled in her sizzling dance number, but Vidya Balan was wasted, as she hardly had any screen space.
The music by A R Rahman was outstanding, makes you affirm that he is the best music composer in India. The cinematography was excellent.