Guru - movie review

Guru definition: (Sanskrit) "Weighty one," indicating an authority of great knowledge or skill.

So then there you have it - the entire movie in a nutshell. The man who “lived” his name and lived it well – with grit, grandiose and utter aplomb.

Maniratnam (of Anjali, Roja, Bombay, Dil Se fame) keeps up with his reputation of touching on unconventional subjects with his latest work – Guru.

Gurukant Desai played by Abhishek Bachchan is a man of humble beginnings, who works in Turkey during his formative years and begins to understand and like how businesses work. On return he begins the uphill task of setting up his own business. Investments? No problem. He simply marries the daughter of the local money-lender who has enough saved up as dowry. So Guru leaves his village – with Rs. 25,000, a wife and a brother-in-law as his partner.

Bombay is nothing his simple mind imagined it to be. The doors of opportunity are locked and need grease of a different kind to open up. Not to be discouraged, Guru effortlessly hops onto the bandwagon and steers his way up, dismantling anything that comes his way – by hook or by crook and slowly builds his empire. He revolutionizes many business practices – one on hand bringing wealth to the public and on the other achieving impossible targets by tweaking the law or bribing officials. And as his business expands, Guru finds himself in the eye of a storm

The movie takes us through his journey and the relationships that form during it. The love he and his wife (Aishwarya Rai) share, the ‘father’ figure he meets in Manik Dasgupta (Mithun Chakraborty) and the animosity that builds between them later, the reunion with his dear friend from Turkey, the journalist who wants to take Guru head-on (Raghavan)…

The performers have been hand-picked and most of them do a swell job. Yet, the man of the movie-moment remains Abhishek who dons the robe of an uneducated, shrewd businessman with ease. His sneering, determined persona is convincing and awe-inspiring. Then comes his other half, Sujatha played by Aishwarya Rai. Their off-screen connection works wonders for their chemistry on screen and the love shines through. The steadfast way in which her character supports him is remarkable and touching. Mithun Chakraborty as the voice of truth of independent India does a wonderful job and handles the intricacies of his souring relationship with Guru very well.

And then there’s the music… A.R. Rehman is dependable in that way. He ensures you walk out of the theatre humming his heart-rendering tracks. Kudos!

Guru is a craftily created movie about a brilliant mind that made it big – judgments aside. And although it swerves right into melo-dramatic mode towards the end, I wonder which Hindi movie doesn't. So for all that it offers, Guru is worth a watch...

P.S. This review is also available on MSN India