Guru - The Review

What a year 2006 was for a Hindi movie fan. RDB, Lage Raho, Kabul Express, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Pyar ke Side Effects, and my favorite by far, Omkara just to name a few. Mind you, these are movies that i loved, and not just commercial successes. And if u're an industry insider add KANK, Fanaa and a few others to the success list....After a dismal 2005, 2006 was a great treat for hindi movie buffs worldwide. And the first major release of 2007 has left me begging for more. GURU promised a great deal and boy did it deliver. A stellar performance by the lead actors, a great storyline, excellent visuals and a mind-blasting soundtrack raises the bar for the industry. I cant wait for the other releases of the year, Guru has set the standard. I can only hope the others will catch up, and i cant wait for the movie that will actually better it !!!

But down to the point. No plot spoilers here, since the entire plot has been dissected by the media anyway. Yes, apart from what u read in the papers, there is nothing else in the movie. One mans rise to fame, a cursory enmity, some roadblocks, happy ending. End of story. But the absolute mastery with which the story has been told is what raises this movie from the average one-man-on-a-mission to something far far better. That and Abhishek Bacchhan. ( How the hell do u spell Bachchan anyways ??? think about it )

The man has delivered a performance, that people will remember long after they've forgotten all about the movie. In what is one of the best compliments i can pay him , he reminded me of his father word-to word , action-to-action at least on 3 occasions in the movie and few can better that. He does not play Guru bhai, he becomes the man. And Mani Ratnam seems to have this unique way of getting out the best in him. Remember the power-packed performance in Yuva ? Hope to see much more of the mani ratnam- Jr B collaborations in the future. The man has a presence on the screen, never mind the drooping shoulders , the mis-shapen butt ( so my girlfriend tells me) or the occasional forced gesture where he forces himself too hard. If he could only deliver such a performance more often, he would be right up my list of favorite actors, just a shade below Mithunda. If not for anything else , go watch the movie just for him... Believe me, it'll be worth the money.

Aayyeee saala, Mithun in the movie is a blast. Right from the very first time when he appears on the screen ( and as a mithun-bhakt i am ashamed to say this but for the first 4.69 seconds i could not recognize him) he is the only one who even remotely comes close to Jr.B's tour-de-force...but dont listen to me, i'm very very biased towards him...so go watch the movie yourself...but seriously someone needs to give this man more roles befitting his status.. This though was a role built for him...a bengali socialist...and someone else gets the role ??? there'd have been effigies burnt in calcutta..My only complaint was that he should have been given a bigger role...Accha laga,Bahut accha laga.

A very pleasant surprise in the movie was Aishwarya Bachchachhhchan nee Rai.....She can act , by god can she act...( I know , even i thought she can only do it once in a gazillion movies , and tht was in HDDCS, but u know what people...she really does do well in the movie.) Except in the songs, where she dances like a scarecrow on stilts, shes given an exceptional performance ( by her standards that is). In fact, i feel one of the benchmark moments of the movie was when she and AB are swinging in the swing ( i know, my idioms suck)..and she tells him " Main moti nahin banoongi". What conviction!!!!

Madhavan and Vidya Balan's plot is nice..a nice breakaway from the monotony of watching Guru conquer all, but really they dont have much to do in this movie. The last few moments are expected , nothing to look forward to, but its handled really well.

I watch like 5 movies in a year, and only if i get exceptional reviews from all...And I am very very glad i took the time to watch this one.

P.S. : My girlfriend arrived 10 minutes late for the movie and hence no mention of Mallika in the review...can someone upload the song on youtube or google videos please ???