Guru [2007]

Guru
[Reviewed: March 27th 2007]

Expectations: I love ‘Dil Se’ and thought ‘Yuva’ was an interesting concept (but went wrong somewhere along the lines)… I’ve always known of Mani Ratnam as a ‘good filmmaker’ but I’m not a fan of his…so my expectations for Guru weren’t really high at all, which is why I’m watching it after such a long time of its release.

My Favourite Scenes: There were a lot of good moments in the film, especially in the first half. My favourites have to be the following…These scenes really ‘made the film’ for me.

* The train scene when Sujatha is running away, realises her lover does not feel the same as her, and then meets Guru on the train.

* The scene where Guru goes to Sujatha’s house to ask her father for her hand in marriage…what a unique way to ask haha

* The golf scene when Guru asks for the letter and the scene after when Guru and Sujatha are ‘dreaming’…Guru about the future and what he aspires to have, and Sujatha more about reality…about washing the clothes and cooking the meals.

* Not really the scene itself but I loved the dialogue when Guru says ‘Mumbai ko aap logo ne kutta bana kar raka hua hai’ That was damn hilarious!

* The scene when Guru and Sujatha are in bed and keep slapping each other LOL it’s hilarious, cute and romantic!

* Just before ‘Tere Bina’ when Jignesh leaves Guru’s partnership…when Sujatha finds out why Guru married her.

* When Guru goes to see Nanaji and Shyam points out all of Guru’s low points…

* When Sujatha takes the twins to get the Nanaji’s blessings…I really hated that Nanaji character urghh

* When Shyam proposes to Meenu

* When Guru goes to see Shyam and realises that he’s married to Meenu

* When Guru goes to meet Ghanshyam in hospital

* When Guru and Sujatha are remembering the old days and then Guru has an attack and falls to the ground.

* In hospital when Sujatha takes her twins to see Guru, that was really touching…

* When Guru and Sujatha go to see Meenu and she’s critically ill…and then also Meenu’s funeral.

Songs: Not a great album but it’s average. Tere Bina is a gorgeous song, by far the best on the soundtrack. It was pictured very well too. Mayya Mayya was OK being in the credits and all but I wasn’t fond of the initial part when Mallika was wearing the golden outfit – that was a bit boring, though Mallika did look hot! Barso Re is a nice song audio-wise but it’s the choreography that really made me love it, it was so gorgeously shot that I felt like going to those locations and dancing in the rain myself LOL…Ek Lo Ek Muft was a terrible song…pictured OK because it fit the situation fine but my GOD! The audio of this song gives me the biggest headache in the world…horrible song, one of the worst I’ve ever heard in my life.

Performances

Abhishek Bachchan: He’s a great actor and has been so since the day he debuted. Abhishek is a natural and he uses this opportunity to the max to prove just how talented he is. I don’t think it’s ‘handsdown his best performance’ or anything, I’ve liked him a lot more in a couple of other movies (namely ‘Bluffmaster’ and ‘Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna’) but this is definitely one of his best performances. He fits into the character so well and so naturally…it’s a really tough character but he pulls it off as though he IS Gurukant Desai. No complaints against his performance at all… be it his dialogue delivery or his body language, right from his first scene to his last, Abhishek Bachchan delivers flawlessly.

Aishwarya Rai: I don’t think much of Aishwarya Rai as an actress. She’s a beauty and even here in ‘Guru’ she looked absolutely gorgeous! The difference this time though was that she churned out a stunningly natural performance…something I didn’t even dream she was capable of doing. I wish she put this effort into all of her performances because though she’s not born to act, she obviously is able to churn out great stuff… As Sujatha she was perfect! Her dialogue delivery, her actions, the way she emoted through her eyes…she really touched my heart. This is definitely her finest performance after a long time. She really impressed me a lot! Earlier I’ve loved her performances in Josh, Mohabbatein, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Humaara Dil Aapke Paas Hai (in that order) and this matches them, if not surpasses them, easily.

Madhavan: I’m no Madhavan fan! I think he’s been terrible in everything I had seen of him up till Rang De Basanti (he was great in that) but in ‘Guru’ he was just so natural and fit the role perfectly. A great performance.

Vidya Balan: This girl doesn’t know how to give a bad shot…she performs like an absolute dream! But I really wish her character was given more importance. Sketchy characterisation but this legend-in-the-making performs the role so well and looks so gorgeous…she really makes the most of it and definitely leaves a mark.

Mithun: He didn’t have much to do at all but whatever he did have, he did with perfection... a nice and natural performance.

Others: Everyone else did a good job too…most notably Manoj Joshi (I think that’s his name…the actor who played Ghanshyam)…he did a fantastic job, especially in his hospital scene.

Overall: ‘Guru’ is most definitely a really good film, but it’s not amazing and it’s not perfect IMO… It could’ve been a lot better. Some parts are too boring and dry (like a lot of the initial portions and some scenes near the end) but I still enjoyed the film for its beautiful performances, great concept and all those many scenes I mentioned as my favourites…those scenes make the film worth every penny and more… ‘Guru’ is definitely a good film and definitely worth watching at least once!