Guru: Good not great...

“Ban-na chahte ho hindustan ki sabse badi company?” claims the protagnist. A defeaning roar assures him that he will indeed realize that dream one day. And Guru is born.
Loosely based on Dhirubhai Ambani’s life, Guru traces a villager’s journey from being a school master’s son in Gujarat to a Shell salesman to a textile company owner to being the head of the biggest congomerate in India. A journey spread over decades beginning in an era where india had gotten its independence from the british but was still ruled by rulers, albiet of different color. In his journey to make it big, Guru uses shortcuts when facing a hurdle and in front of the ambition to grow bigger and larger, everything else takes a backseat.
Mani Ratnam is one of the finest filmmakers in India today. But his track record in Hindi cinema hasn’t been very bright. But a canvass a large as this, and an interesting story to tell, I had huge expectations from the movie. I was expecting a movie that would move me, overwhelm me and I would leave the theatre thinking about the characters who would stay with me long after the movie had ended. Sadly, the movie doesn’t work the way it should.
It begins with three back to back songs in what appears to be a haste in getting over with the songs quota for the movie. Mallika Sherawat might sizzle the screen but you want the song to get over quickly so you can go back to the story. Barso Re Megha is choreographed on a very fresh looking Aish and choreography of this song deserves mention. Among other songs, Ek lo ek muft, in an already flawed second half, is a waste of time for everyone involved. It’s a below average song and its best to go out and answer the nature's call while the song is played. Tere Bina, the best of the lot, is worth a mention since it has a better placement in the story.
I felt the characterisation of Guru could have been better. He clearly comes across as a self-motivated man but the final speech (it did not stir any emotion) when he rants about India and its populace and its advancement and stuff which never seemed to concern him prior to that speech, left me confused. Also, as a viewer I was peeved at finding that he gets away after flouting so many laws by making a shallow speech. The first half reached a cresendo at the interval point (largely due to Mithun Da’s brilliant portrayal of an idealist newspaper owner) and it opened limitless possibilities for the second half. Second half could have been about the conflict between the right and wrong, the moral and immoral. It could have been about the meteoric rise of a man who wants everything at any cost. Strangely and sadly, Mani refrains from delving into those aspects. He chooses to go for the oft-beaten middle path where the protagnist is a one dimensional heroic character, with little flashes of his cunning and brilliance. And you are left with a mediocre second half which, at best, is run-of-the-mill cinema.
Abhishek Bachchan gets it right this time (after Sarkar). It might well turn out to be the movie which will make his career defined in pre-Guru and post-Guru periods. He reminds of his father in many scenes (espeically angry ones) but I am not complaining (he he). He rocks.
Of all the characters, I loved Manikdas Gupta (MithunDa) the most. Mithun excels in this role of a newspaper baron and I loved him, absolutely adored him in this beautifully etched character. For me, he is the true hero of this enterprise. His angst and the fire within is what took the movie to a fabulous cresendo in the first half.
The scenes between Abhishek & Mithun and Abhishek & Madhawan are the best moments in the movie. Vidya Balan and Madhwan’s romantic interludes are lovely if seen in isolation but they bring a jarring halt to the otherwise interesting movie. Aishwarya is pretty good, and I can again believe that she can act. Thank God for restoring my belief in her.
I think the movie works in bits and pieces. It’s definitly good cinema, the kind one doesn’t get to see often today. But coming from the master, I had thought of a defining movie that would become a timeless classic. Sadly, it fails to cross the line where a movie no longer remains a movie, it becomes a part of our consciousness, of our lives. Mani plays safe and delivers a masala potbolier. End of the day, its just another rags-to-riches story. Guru might have made Shakti Corp. the biggest company in India, Mani fails to make Guru the brightest example of exemplary cinema.