Decoding the Guru Mantra
Sahani Seth, a textile mill owner and also a gold smuggler. Who doles out money on wine and women but refuses to shell out five hundred rupees to save life of a mill worker (Kaalia). As far as I remember, Industrialists used to be evil and abominable characters in Hindi cinema until I saw Guru, a film purportedly on the life of late Dhirubhai Ambani.
Guru is a turning point in the representation of entrepreneurs and capitalists in Indian cinema. I don’t find any other film glorifying an industrialist for his business acumen. Though one can remember some virtuous and altruist industrialists in Hindi cinema but they get a favorable representation only because of their extra business activities or at least they get a favorable treatment not because they are businessmen.
Guru brings in some fresh air. An industrialist, who bribes politicians and bureaucrats, evades taxes, is the hero. A villager who comes to the city to start his own business. He doesn’t fight for survival, pride or self respect but he wages a battle for prosperity. I have reasons to believe, it’s acknowledgement of Indian industry and changing middle class opinion of industry in general.
While all other industrialists whom I remember in Hindi films are either villains or their industrial activities are relegated to the margins of narrative. Nevertheless their representation is severely impaired by communist vision, which essentially looks at this class with suspicion. Guru is a narrative firmly situated in post Marxist era. Mani Ratnam just hints at it within the film.
Sujata’s (Aishwarya Rai) father tells Guru (abhishek) when he comes with marriage proposal about her failed attempt to elope with a bearded fellow, who roamed around with a red flag gathering people for revolution. She is back only because he betrayed her. After betrayed by a communist, Aishwarya gets married to our visionary capitalist.
Our protagonist is different from all other protagonists of our era. He is not an industrialist for any external compulsion. He has no revenge to take, no promise to keep and no injustices to fight against.
It would have been incongruous for our hero to annouce so proudly some ten years back that profit is the only thing that he cares for. Profit used to be a bad word until very recent. Calling someone money-minded was no less than an insult.
Guru is both money-minded and profit-oriented. He has little respect for law. However his speech towards the end of the film almost elevates him to the pantheon of revolutionaries. He draws parallels to Mahatma Gandhi and sings songs of virtues of wealth creation.
There is a semblance of left-leaning resistance to the rise of capitalist Guru. The publisher-reporter duo not only expose Guru’s illegal acts but also wage a war against him. The publisher, whose only criterion for editorial judgment is “truth”. It’s interesting that the resistance that Guru faces comes either directly from the media or is instigated by it.
I think Guru is the newest of the new-era Indian hero. An entrepreneur, wealth creator and a fighter for prosperity. Just try to put Abhishek (Guru) against his father, who mostly represented oppressed working class. Though in almost all the films he got rich by the end of the film by smuggling or getting into illegal trade, however, inspiration always came from somewhere outside. Be it a mill worker elder brother being oppressed by industrialist or father being killed by his goons. Amitabh on screen never got rich for the sake of it. He always achieved a luxurious life but never proclaimed it to be his goal. He always fought against injustice and got rich. Wealth almost came out to be as by-product of his fight for justice. He always regretted having broken laws and held society or villain responsible for making him to do that.
On the other hand. Abhishek proudly leaves his job to start his own business. It’s also evident that he doesn’t return home for the love of motherland but for his fascination for business. He is not inspired by any external reason but is charged up with his inner drive. He also has no external or social reason for dreaming of being an industrialist. He is a hero only because he dreams of an industry and makes it come true. He doesn’t do it for doing good to society by doling out freebies or because of altruistic considerations. Whatever little injustices Abhishek fought against was only because they came in his way of him getting rich.
Not to mention, Guru, is one of the most important works of Indian cinema to emerge post economic liberalization that gives Indian entrepreneurs their due representation. In a resounding voice it proclaims a paradigm shift in the middle class morality that has made being money-minded and profit-oriented acceptable today. A well deserved farewell to left-leaning portrayal of industry and capitalism. A salute to the proletarian capitalist.
Filed Under
Movies
 3 readers recommend this post  Loading ... |
 Email This Post To Friends
|
|
Related Posts | |
6 Responses to “Decoding the Guru Mantra”
Leave a Reply
(Ref smilies)
Our Comments Policy : The following kinds of comments are troll capped, blocked and/or commenter's identity reported publicly: Verbal abuse, personal attacks, hate statements, spam, trolls, advertising. Please assist us in keeping the comments clean. Use the contact form to let us know if you find unwarranted comments on PFC. Thank you.
-
Advertisement
-
- Random thoughts on Yuv
- Dev.D- Emosional Aty
- An Interview With Oye Lucky Lucky Oye’s Dolly - Richa C
- SORRY
- The story of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi Reve
- Ada Music Review
- Ajay TG- Man With A Camera.
- Maharathi: Murder is in the Details (Zero Spoiler Review)
- Mukhbiir Versus Chamku – A toss-up between two lone rangers
- Random thoughts on Yuvvraaj
-
Advertisement
Hottest Today:
Recent Posts:
Bikas, very nice write-up, and I agree with everything you say and that’s exactly (eerily so :)) what I felt about the film.
I don’t really think it’s a great film per se, but it’s darn well made and has a very interesting protagonist, a man full of self-interest and unapologetic about it (and, thankfully isn’t given some sort of “redemption” at the end). And in that scene with Sujata’s father, Guru says, “Thoda bahut duniya dekh chuka hoon. Achcha, bura samajhta hoon!” The way the writing brings the different dimensions of Gurukant Desai is really commendable.
This film is unfairly being criticized for “having taking sides.” One, I don’t think it took anybody’s side, but it is certainly awed at (and romanticises) the rise of a man like Guru (for whatever he is) despite the odds. Of course, it’s a proper entertainer with “masala” elements (and the denouement was overdone). But, that doesn’t automatically mean that the treatment was superficial.
I personally feel that Mani, in attempting to examining Indian society’s outlook towards fierce self-interest and capitalism over the years, also managed to expose the critics’ outlook towards the same. Raja Sen calls it “irresposible filmmaking.” Bollocks! A quick recalling of the rave reviews RDB received might be in order.
Addenda/errata:
1. The film is being criticized unfairly for “taking sides.”
2. The denouement is overdone, in my opinion, with all those “Sapney Dekho!” in-your-face messages, but not very problematic.
3. And, in my previous comment, I didn’t laugh out loud, but just smiled and closed the brackets.
Yay! My first comment on PFC!
Am loving all the discussions sparked by Guru on PFC and other blogs.
Bikas, that was an excellent post…great use of language too.Agree with all that you said. I recently took a macroeconomics class that was so pro-capitalist (like everything here in the US) it might have made Guru required viewing!
Politics of the film apart, for those of you who have watched the film and are somewhat perplexed by the swagger and bluster of the final scenes, here is a brilliant analysis:
http://www.naachgaana.com/2007/01/14/guru-musings-on-a-third-viewing/
Also, rediff is doing a series of interviews with Mukesh Ambani..check them out. It’s amazing how much of what he says has been captured by the film.
Guru was interesting to me because of its irony. Today India may be a rising, economic powerhouse, but in the days of Dhirubhai Ambani, the economic structure was a heavily closed one. While the rest of the world was progressing with free trade, the Indian government eschewed Laissez-Faire with their innumerable constraints on businesses. Dhirubhai was one of the few who stood up to the government. Of course there are 2 sides to every story, and the opposition will argue that he resorted to morally, ethically incorrect practices. But today, those same actions are regarded as smart business acumen and symbols of a free trade economy. It is because of thinkers and doers like Ambani that Indian entrepreneurship flourishes today. It was important that his story be told, even if it was an unacknowledged biography. Guru did that pretty well, and Mani Ratnam is a gutsy man for having told this story, and that too in a mainstream format.
Guru : Mani Ratnam’s another hollow movie. Wonderfully summarised by Srinivas Kanchibhotla in this article : http://www.idlebrain.com/research/ramblings/ramblings-guru.html
Give Guru a skip and watch Omkara another time.
Yash, The link u provided makes a true point. Good critical judgement.