ridiculous rating

Nice effects though.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

I watched 'Guru' many times and I like it very much. Here writer has given good script for the new person who wants to take stand in market without any support. Abhishek justified the character as a new comer in business. He was in full masti since beginning till end.He used good marwadi business tricks to fight with competitors who were well settled. Aishwarya Rai also played good role and giving him the moral support.Wonderful Music by A.R Rehman Well directed by Mani RatnamIt was actually a good package.

Welcome 2007. Now you will ask how come I am late in welcoming Bond Year. The answer is Guru. Mani Ratnam did his homework nicely, took his lessons after Yuva's debacle. He ventures into a territory which no other director(s) would have dared to. It is always difficult to show the passage of time onto screen. After all few would have thought to bring the life of India's Corporate Behemoth Reliance's founder Late Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani onto 70mm Technicolor. Guru is a work of art. Guru has lot of pluses. Mani has his team already set out. The person behind the camera is none other than his most trusted lieutenant Rajiv Menon. The cinematography of Guru is impeccable. It is a journey of a boy (Gurukant Desai) living in a Gujarat village who fails in board exams, gets scolded by his headmaster father, who mocks at his plans to go abroad to earn livelihood. The boy heads off to Turkey and starts working at a petrol delivery firm. He goes as a boy but returns back as a man that too after enjoying belly dance (Mallika Sherawat impresses as the belly dancer Jhumpa, check out Maiyaa Maiyaa Number), making a fast friend Ghanshayam Bhai, and gathering some money. He gets an lucrative offer too but rejects it out rightly. Guru as a character is over ambitious and manipulative. He turns to his friend (Jignesh played by Arya Babbar) for monetary help and reveals about his plans. Jignesh refuses to help him monetarily as his father has saved money (Twenty Thousand approx.) for his sister's (Sujata played by Aishwarya Rai) marriage. He heads straight to Mumbai. To quote Guru "When I came to Bombay I had two shirts, a wife, a brother-in-law and Rs.15,000 in a small suitcase to start a business. But all doors were shut for a newcomer." The Cotton trading business is controlled by few golf playing good for nothing idiots. The idiot in question is Arzaan Contractor (played by Arjan Bajwa). Guru meets his to be-mentor who later on becomes his biggest foe Manik Das Gupta (assayed by Mithun Chakraborty) who is owner of The Independent (a Mumbai Daily). Mani may deny the facts that Guru is not inspired from Dhirubhai's life, but comparisons are inevitable. Dhirubhai in his early days of struggle had Indian Express founder True Gandhian, Late Ram Nath Goenka as his mentor and Godfather. Mithun no doubt delivers powerhouse performance. Guru topples Arzaan Contractor and starts trading in Polyster a non cotton fabric. Wearing non cotton fabric in those days as shown in the film was considered a taboo. He wants to set up his own factory as Shakti Industries. He decides that Shakti Industries will go public. As Guru continues his journey in top gear towards his goal, his aides and friends turn foes and his biggest critics. Jignesh and Guru part ways due to the Public Issue decision. Jignesh divulges the reason for Guru marrying his sister. Guru bribes ManikDas Gupta's editor and uses The Independent to settle scores with the Contractors. The rift between Manik Das Gupta and Guru further widens due to the entry of firebrand reporter (Shyam Saxena played by Madhavan). But the beauty of Guru lies in the fact that no matter whether the world goes against him the protagonist never forgets the ones he loves. Take the case of Meenakshi (Manik Das Gupta's multiple sclerosis affected and wheel chair confined grand daughter) portrayed by Vidya Balan. Shyam Saxena marries Vidya Balan, but still Guru continues to love and care for her. In portraying relationships Mani Ratnam is unmatched. Now enough of Guru Bhai. Lets talk about his better half, Sujata. Their first rendezvous occurs in a train. Sujata running from her home, crying and heart broken, because her first love has ditched her. Aish sizzles in Barso Re (shot entirely in Badami, Karnataka). She as a doting, protective and caring housewife stands apart of all the characters and supports her husband even when the entire world is daggers drawn towards him and when he suffers a paralytic stroke. Superficially, Guru is a journey of a person from 16 year old boy to 60 year old senior citizen, the ups and downs he encounters during this journey chasing his dreams which keep on getting bigger and bigger but once you scratch the surface it is a beautiful love story of two people, namely Guru and Sujata. Their love withstands the upheavals of life. In testing times (Especially the Hearing of Guru's Case in front of Thapar Commission) their love, commitment, trust remains rock solid. Another plus of Guru is the music by A R Rehman. Rehman reserves his best for Mani Ratnam Guru's Character has flaws too. He wants to pursue and fulfill his dreams either by hook or by crook. He flays the Export Import laws, acquires land illegally, obtains tax rebates from Government by showing exports in the books whereas in reality he is exporting empty boxes, bribes a minister to name a few. In spite of Guru's flaws, what stands out for him is his sincerity in pursuing his dreams, his vision crystal clear in his mind, the love and affection which he has for his wife and lieutenants who are ready to sacrifice their lives for Guru (example Ghanshyam Bhai), the trust he has on the shareholders.On a concluding note, Guru is a movie for people who dare to dream, people who have very strong determination, people who cherish and long for the moment when their dream will get fulfilled. After all we all dream. You, yourself have to get into Guru's shoes and then watch the masterpiece, after all it is a journey. You have to grow with Guru.

I'll get straight to what I didn't like about the movie. The background score and the pacing. They are very inter-linked and both let down the overall experience. Every time in the latter half of the movie when Guru says just about anything the gung-ho "Guru Bhai" theme kicks in. This just pulls the focus away from the character and into his "cause". Instead of delving into the personal aspects of the character, his possible self-doubts, motivation, etc. it immediately becomes about a man fighting for the cause of the underdog in society. The poor pacing goes hand in hand with the music, with an entire song that seemed unnecessary.There is almost no development into the titular Guru, instead letting the characters play of that character while their characters are developed and more rounded out.The first half is an absolute joy, but after that it just wallows in mediocrity. Abshishek Bachchan keeps the character alive throughout it though. Aishwarya turns in a fair performance. Vidya Balan deserves more credit for her role despite it being weakly tacked onto the story. Madhavan does a good job of a character integral to the story.Mithun shows why he is the one with the most experience though. It's a shame he didn't have more scenes as his character was the heart of the movie and it really would have helped to see more interplay between his and that of Guru throughout it all.A missed opportunity that really should have been better.

I was very eager to watch this movie. I heard rumors that Aishwaria and Abishek are going to get married, so the love should be splashing off the screen in this movie! No it didn't. The movie starts with the horrible actress Aishwaria. Make no mistake, she is a beautiful woman, as a model. But as an actress she is horrible. She overacts. She exaggerates when she dances. She is not nice to watch. Abishek is average. The story is very lame. Things happen just as sudden, and there is no explanation why. Maybe I missed all the explanations, I don't know.Like there is a little girl who is in love with Guru. And then she is in a wheel chair and then she is very ill. It had noting to do with the rest of the story! Guru (Abishek) comes from a small village to make it as a business man in the big city. When he grows up his hair becomes gray. At the age of 25! That is very unlikely.Story sucks, as the acting too.