The ‘Guru’ is Back
Guru is a very important film in the career of Manirathnam. Through this post, I do not wish to give out the already heard multiple grapevines about the film, I would just like to share my observations on the man the industry affectionately and respectfully calls Mani Sir, and assess what to expect from his latest venture.
I have grown respecting his cinema more and more over the years. My first Mani film was Roja. I did not even get a chance to react to the film since those days, I used to live in Jaipur, and the film came with so much ‘air’ of appreciation and ‘wow’ that it was tough to say anything about it. Much later, when I saw the film, I came to understand its finer nuances. Bombay was my most memorable ‘commercial’ Mani experience. The film was huge in every sense of the word. Those were the days when people used to get up in the theatre and start dancing, The age of the Expressive Audience. No qualms about shouting or expressing oneself. You want to see the song Hamma one more time even after the film is over? No problem! Just get another 50 like you and shout your heart out and it will be done. The memories of the communal riots were still fresh and seeing Bombay in the theatre almost became a fun-risk to take. That was the time also of dubbed films making it big in the north thanks to the wave created by Shankar, Rahman, Prabhu Deva and Manirathnam.
Slowly, I became aware of his earlier films, and the gem called Nayagan, which was rather obscured to that part of the country thanks to a poor imitation called Dayawan. After viewing Nayagan, I knew this was the best contemporary director in the country and made it a point never to miss his cinema.
The next film that Mani made for a pan-indian audience was Dil Se. I saw the film 5 times in its first week and fell in love with it, to the extent that it still remains my favorite Mani film along with Iruvar.
Saathiya came next after a long hiatus. Though it was remade by Shaad Ali (another able maker from Mani camp, a la Tigmanshu Dhulia of Haasil fame), it had the elemental Mani beauty to it. I loved the film but something was amiss.
Yuva also gave the same feeling of so-close-yet-so-far. I rate the film very high, but felt it could have used the magical Abhishek (Lallan) track more to its advantage towards the climax. You still can’t take away from Yuva its moments-able handling of parallel narratives, with regular doses of exceptional talents from theatre and films, a not so outstanding but effective soundtrack, an honest capturing of the youth divided over career options and standing at crossroads of ideology and many more.
Kannathil Muthamittal was Mani’s sweet revenge on his critics. A quietly made film that created quiet a noise with its own set of achievements.
But, if I were to choose one Mani film that I shall remember forever, it would be Iruvar, apparently an oddity in his repertoire, but, IMHO, his labor of love, a well-researched masterpiece. Unfortunately, being a non-Tamil speaker, I didn’t understand the detailed factual background, but I loved the ‘electricity’ the film had, in its songs, in his selection of hues, an exceptional technical team, the acting and a cinematically genius of a product.
Another laudable aspect of his cinema would be the fast establishment of characters. Be it Bombay, Roja or Kannathil Muthamittal (KM), you would not see characters trying hard to establish themselves or register their presence. There are no heroic build-ups to the entry of the main protagonist. This is the beauty of his cinema. On one hand, he throws out all commerciality in terms of following/opposing conventions, while on the other; he embraces these very stereotypes and elevates them to an unprecedented high. An example would be his song picturisations and use of emotions.
One more example of the “obvious” theory – you know that the mood, the frames, the music is going to shift to a grittier outdoors social drama which would comment on the larger issues affecting our lives subliminally. You know all of that and more is going to happen, but you still don’t write it off. You know that you are going to be beautifully deceived, yet you buy into the deception.
Mani has expressed his love for Spanish cinema in his recent interviews, which his recent film, Yuva, also hinted at. His last few products have also shown the conscious attempt to avoid doing long-shots or arthouse sequences but follow a ceaseless narrative that moves like a roller-coaster entertaining ride, but at the price of the connection it would have made with the viewer in possibly a Roja or an Iruvar.
I would say Mani is the master of getting a host of ‘perfect’ scenes in one film. These scenes would have everything from backlight, background score, and camera angles, dialogues to finer aspects like make-up, cuts and length just ‘perfect’. One scene that comes to my mind would be the bus scene in Dil Se, where an effervescent Preity Zinta takes a reserved Shah Rukh Khan on a bus ride. If I were to pick any of Preity’s scenes that register her rock solid presence and do justice to her persona, it would be this one. Dil Se would also be one of the few films that captured Shah Rukh in his true acting capacity minus the starry tantrums. And by that, I am not specifically referring to his formal dress code; it also bled into his controlled portrayal of the AIR reporter, Amar Kant Verma. Mani has often been criticized for giving a commercial/mainstream color to serious issues, a comment which is rather fallible considering the experiments that have been done in this oeuvre by film makers from the west like Stanley Kubrick, and more recently, David Fincher and Fernando Meirelles. A master at technique, he battles his own Frankenstein’s monster now more than ever before. It is hard to go to a Mani film and not pay attention at the technique-the economical use of light, emphasis on the subjects’ expression, use of filters, the quintessential ‘trademark’ use of mirrors, individual close-up shots, the innovative use of absence of a visible light source, aesthetic lighting to highlight old architecture, that has evolved into a school in itself. Especially, light is an important tool in all his films. He uses light to build suspense, hint at the following events, to signify the changing emotions of the characters, and sometimes, for mere ethereal beauty. Mani never regrets being visually savvy in his shots. But whether his craft affects the entity of narration? That is debatable. Talking about shots, who can forget the brilliant use of crane helped ably by color in Iruvar in the scene where Mohanlal ascends the terrace to face the crowd gathered below.
Going through his recent interviews reflecting upon his perspectives of art and mainstream cinema, and some reactions to his recent releases, one feels the genius craftsman shackled by the parameters of commerce. There is a visually disturbing element of sacrificing ingenuity for commercial acceptance, which is rather surprising, rather shocking, coming from a man who defied conventions and charted out a new course for Indian cinema, Tamil cinema to be more precise.
Cut back to the present-GURU. It’s the same euphoria or how’s and why’s all over again. It remains to be seen if we see a vintage, uncompromising Mani of Iruvar or a commercially motivated Mani of Yuva…..
Tushar Shukla
Tags: Direction, Production, Tamil, Teaching Film-making
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Hi Tushar,
Do you know any outline for ‘Guru’ like a small synopsis? Someone was mentioning that he even has a particular color for his characters. Like one can see in Yuva.
Hi Manjeet
As far as I believe, Guru is an ‘anthology’ genre film, which essentially follows a fictional character’s life through its trials & tribulations, a la Nayagan or Agnipath.
I am particularly looking forward to it because once again, Mani is coming up with the least expected and it would be interesting to see how he exploits AB in such a to-die-for role.
Yes, his films are highly detailed in terms of look. Yuva did use specific musical themes and colors for the tripartite narrative.
I saw some images from the film and it does on the face of it look like vintage Mani, even the music is awesome(whatever I heard).And you can see the work done to show the aging of the characters too.
Should be a film to watch out for.Another dark horse in the film could be Mithun, he is playing a negative political lead.
There is no doubt that “Iruvar” is Mani Sir’s finest film to date. The craft in that film is just phenomenal. Santosh Sivan’s cinematography is arguably his best work to date, and the film also possesses Rahman’s best score of his career. Each directorial nuance, every detail in recreating the time period is quite exquisite. And despite the lengthy running time, the film moves at an amazing pace. Mani Sir has a penchant for depicting raw power at its grandest, and like he showed in Nayakan, in this film too, viewers can get overwhelmed by the depiction of power and how it can corrupt. “Iruvar” is not only Mani Sir’s finest film, it’s also one of my favorite films of all time. It’s a pity the film bombed at the box office.
I completely agree with you, Vijay.Very good insights on Iruvar. It is one film I can endlessly discuss, it goes beyond all limits of exploration. I would say it is the most underrated film of our times in terms of technique, craft, music, and beauty of narration.
I recently bought the original DVD of the film with subtitles, and its a treat watching it again and again.
Another bright star of the film is Prakash Raj.
Guru’s trailer (thanks Pradeep)
Most certainly. Prakash Raj is at his best, on par with Mohan Lal, who was also terrific in his interpretation of MGR. For me, what makes “Iruvar” stand out the most, is the gutsy attitude Mani Ratnam had in making it. Most Tamil films in the 1950s were still shot on a 1.33:1 classical aspect ratio, and in an era where we shoot all films widescreen, Mani Sir composed all his shots adhereing to a classical frame, the way it would have been done in the 50’s. The layering of every frame is astounding. There is so much depth to each shot. Even every song in the film has been painstakingly crafted by Rahman to make sure it sounds just like Tamil film songs from that era. If it wasn’t for the exceptional recording quality of those songs, one would easily mistake them to belong to a film from the 50’s. I must admit, I have only seen “Iruvar” on DVD as the film never released theatrically outside India. It remains my dream to watch it on film.
The buzz is Guru is inspired by the life and times of Dhirubhai Ambani.
Though I have seen Mohanlal in just one more film, Kaalapani, I have to admit Iruvar was one of the most contained depictions I have ever seen-the quiet resignation, range of emotions, and portrayal of a conflicted man is one of the best ever. Watch the scene where he watches Aishwarya dancing for the first time, while he is sitting with his wife, or when he delivers his first public address, or the classical warrior sequences, he is simply rivetting. And I think that is another magic of Mani, he churns out the best out of an artist.
oh, I feel like watching the film NOW!
ya, at least thats what is also suggested by the backdrop of an industrialist rising from a mill worker to a tycoon. also the tag of the movie indicates a rising character: VILLAGE VISIONARY WINNER.
btw, check out the extremely supercool jazz music on the website
http://guru-themovie.com/
oz, thanks for uploading the trailor.
Since we’re talking of Mani Sir and Iruvar (we were, right?) folks might be interested in the highly detailed analysis of Iruvar that J. Ramanand is posting on his blog at http://quatrainman.blogspot.com/. There’re separate posts for the historical background, the music, and the series is still ongoing. Have a look!
Thanks for the highly informative link, Sudarshan.
It took me some time to read the whole thing, but I was very satisfied with the piece, as being a north Indian, I have always wanted to know the factual history behind Iruvar, and now that I have a liitle hang if it, it would be fun to see the film again.
I’m sorry, I have nothing much to say about Mani Sir that hasnt been said a million times before- i.e.: he’s an absolute example of jhakaasness
but I had to say, I love the tweed cap Abishek’s wearing in the promo…it is so authentic!…and also so old-school Italian…I love the touch…you know, good-hearted, optimistic country boy with big dreams making it big in town…oh, lovely
im such a sap…god…!
There is just a few days left before Guru’s music is out. I am expecting a lot from the album, since Yuva was not that great.
Here is some info abt the film’s music I found on the web:
Regarding Guru’s music, there are a couple of classical based period songs and one is sung by a Ghazal singer famous in Hindi. The song goes like “Dharthi se”. The other has been a joyful solo by Madhushree which is yet to be shot. The most famous is going to be “Bol Yammo Yammo” sung Bappi and Rahman.
The best song in the movie is an extraordinary inspirational number called “Koi mere saath” sung by Rahman, Shankar mahadevan, Naresh Iyer and Rahat fateh ali khan.The other songs sung By Suresh Wadkar and Hariharan and a new different voice are yet to be shot and I don’t have a clue as I guess it comes in the background”. They are planning to release Guru as an Original Soundtrack. It is a very offbeat and a very different soundtrack based on the movie’s need
Tentative track list
1. Barso Re
2. Tere Bina
3. Hairatein, Aashiqui
4. Bolo Guru (the Bappi Lahiri song)
5. Jaage
6. Baazi Laga
7. Maanjha Maanjha or Maan Jaa Maan Jaa
Just a few days away?!!! I cannot wait. I am always looking forward to music of hindi films then films itself. And when the music is composed by none other than great A R Rahman, written by Gulzar Saab and directed by Mani Ratnam; it must be brilliant! Plus A R Rahman’s singing gives you more to look forward the album.
I loved the A R Rahman and Mani Ratnam’s previous work ‘Yuva’.
yup, the tentaive release date was 5th nov but now it should be out by mid of november.
even I cant wait! I keep listening to the small bit of music on the website and the trailor.
Yuva was no doubt good but I felt it was not timless like the stuff Mani-Gulzar-Rahman team creates.And also, I want MORE TRACKS and theme music than just 5-6 songs. RDB was very satisfactory in that regard. I love it when Rahman is generous to his die-hard fans!
Likewise. I would love to get hold of A R Rahman’s version of ‘Roobaroo’ – since it is my favorite song and would like to have his version of it in my music library. Another a couple of background music tracks from both Swades and Rang De Basanti.
A R Rahman is my favorite singer – I always look forward to his singing rather than music.
Then you must have heard New York Nagaram from the Sillundru oru kaadhal film. It is sooo very good n addictive!
I don’t listen to tamil music that much so i have not come across that song. however, i will listen to that track on musicindiaonline now.
i have got his 90% of hindi film soundtracks and his ‘maa tujhe salaam’ album. i wish music company also released his background music for films, cos i so like opening credit music of rdb and ‘aaayo-re’ music in swades.
Nice one Tushar! I must say the song is addictive. Indeed. I liked the ‘Ho Ho’ – bit in the background. Now I am listening to the album.
Ditto. His BGM rocks but it doesnt get noticed that much because of his chart-busting skills.
He has been constantly picking up the BGM award except for an occassional Chowta or Salim-Suleiman.
I went so crazy after his background score in Dil Se that I literally put my music system next to the TV and recorded it(!) albeit to very bad results.
Other gems were Swades, Sapnay, Meenaxi, Zubeidaa etc.
I dont understand Tamil but have most of his undubbed works, in addition to ALL his hindi works.
You should also check out his only OST release-Warriors of Heaven & Earth(Chinese film with his music feat a hindi track also done in english). Its at par with the OST of Crouching Tiger.
I also heard that due to the recent rift with some producers on music rights’ issue, he is taking time off now to wrap up his much delayed Private album projects.
I was lucky to attend his concert last year in Bangalore where I heard the music of Water(it rained like anything that night and Rahman said he will play Water’s music the first time in public as a tribute to all his fans who stood 3 hrs in rain!). You can find Water’s music on musicindiaonline. Still waiting for the official Indian release.
He has also sung a song(title song) in a very mediocre film called Aa Aah/Anbe Aaruyire. That song rocks too!
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/tamil/s/movie_name.8004/
In the SOK album, you will also like the title song and munbevaa, a soft romantic track.
Meenaxi – is a brilliant album! The Bicycle track is just out of this place. And that Qwaali as well. ‘Tehzeeb’ is only his below-par work.
Apparently, music directors and lyricists do not get much credit for their own work and they would have to ask the music company’s permission if they can use the songs at concerts. He would like to own his songs as well with the music company – which he can’t do.
http://www.glamsham.com/movies/scoops/06/oct/13_a_r_rahman_shahrukh_khan_om_shanti_om.asp
My dream is to own all of his work including unreleased work!
Another article on Gulzar & Rahman:
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?sectid=10&articleid=114200613841953114200613717875
dude, Honhaar Goonda (haha, its funny calling someone that…) hmm, do you have the Swades bgm coz I have the whole thing…downloaded it from some dude who did some editing thing out of the movie’s audio (never totally understood what he exactly did)…and its brilliant quality- sounds like a professional release…
and it has the aaayo re track on it as well…I actually wanted the bgm for that part…its gorgeous isnt it? so point being, if u dont have it, i can arrange something so u can have it
let me know, yeah
saba,
nah, i have not got the Swades BGM – I have been looking for it since I saw the movie!
“and its brilliant quality- sounds like a professional release”
Amazinngggggg! Where have you been mate?! I have been looking for you ;-)
“and it has the aaayo re track on it as well…I actually wanted the bgm for that part…its gorgeous isnt it?”
indeed, it is. there is something about it. i don’t know what it is.. the words or the music.
“so point being, if u dont have it, i can arrange something so u can have it”
that would be ace! Preferably online – cos I cannot wait any longer for the songs! If you want me to contact you, then i can, cos i can view your email address.
yup, thatll be perfect…drop me an email
hey, why are you guys excluding me?! i also want swades’ BGM!
Guru’s audio released!!
I do not trust the resources, but here is the bite:
The music launch of Mani Ratnam’s Hindi film ‘Guru’ set a new trend in Bollywood with superstar Amitabh Bachchan hosting the event here Sunday.
Amitabh called son Abhiskeh Bachchan, the film’s lead actor, on stage and asked him: ‘What was your reaction when Mani Ratnam offered you the role?’ To which Abhishek said: ‘My reaction was, thank god he called up again.’
After scenes from ‘Guru’ were shown, Amitabh called the film’s heroine Aishwarya Rai, who wore a white and gold sari, and actor R. Madhavan on stage.
Asked about her role, Aishwarya said: ‘I play Abhishek’s wife. I am his emotional strength, his moral support, his everything which a wife does.’
Madhavan said he ‘was very delighted’ to work with the ace Tamil director again.
Amitabh then called lyricist Gulzar and music composer A.R. Rehman together on the stage and asked them what came first, the music or the lyrics?
Gulzar said, ‘We both worked together.’
Read the characters from GURU introducing themselves, source indiafm(thnx oz)
Guru Kant Desai – Abhishek Bachchan
There’s a saying in our village, if people say bad things about you, you must be doing something good. Sounds true, doesn’t it?
Sujatha – Aishwarya Rai
I hated my father for forcing me to marry Guru. But I was sent away to Bombay to live with my unwanted husband and my anger in a one-room chawl.
I don’t know when I stopped thinking of him as a stranger and started calling him Guru. I was too shy to say things like I love you, but love was perfume I wore everyday.
Some people call him God, some say he is evil, but for me he is the man who has to just enter the room and I can feel that perfume waft its way across and settle on me… that perfume called love…
Manikdas Guptha (Nanaji) – Mithun Chakravarthy
Swathantra – is the newspaper I run, and the newspaper runs me. Gurubhai was like a son to me, when I met him first on the streets of Bombay. He had righteous anger and a desire to achieve his goals. I liked that. He was in a hurry to make his own way. I liked that even more. When others told me that Gurubhai was not all white, I thought they were envious of him and ignored them.
That was my mistake.
No cost is too great in the pursuit of truth.
And in my fight for the truth I knew that I’d either destroy Guru or myself.
And I was prepared for both.
Shyam Saxena – R. Madhavan
Gurukanth Desai should be put in a jail and the keys should be thrown away. It’s not just that he is evil, but he awakens the evil in everyone. Gurubhai flirted with the law and the lawmakers, did anything and everything to enhance his business, and then buried the laws and built a fountain on top of it to make the grave look pretty. Profit and the share price were the only two parameters that mattered to him. Right and wrong, just and unjust were incidental. I will fight him and the Gurus of this world till the very end.
Meenu – Vidya Balan
I met Gurubhai when I was seven years old. He was the only one who never asked me why I limped. While Nanaji and Shyam could only see what Gurubhai had done, I could see why he had done it. When you run fast you do kick up a lot of dust. But dust always settles. I could see it from my wheelchair but Nanaji could not. I like fights. And this one where everyone I loved was fighting each other was exciting. They cared but they fought. The contradiction was exactly like life. And I loved life. Especially when there was so little of it left.
ok everybody, I can’t say this mildly…
GURU’S SONGS ARE OUT!!!!!!
tere bina
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc6LNs3veHM
barso re
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xGXY_qHock
- NO NO NO NO NO —- WHAT THE HELL???? Mani Ratnam too??? Devoid of ideas???? The first song has a very “Bombay” (kehna hi kya) look while the other Barso Re’s look is so “Dil hai Chota sa” from Roja look… what is going on????
OZ,ya unfortunately you are correct….
but considering its been so long since a Mani film came out, I am just forgiving all possible “that looks/sounds similar’s”….
by the way, i heard the release has been pushed another week because priyan’s bhagam bhag is coming on 21st dec. on second thoughts, i think its better the film doesn come this year, otherwise its gonna have heavy compett in all the awards :-?
Guys, very clear and longer audio clips from GURU:
Click Link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork/sunday_soundtrack/chart.shtml
listen to the maya track and you are bound to say, ‘what the hell they have done here?!’ The starting bit in this tune sounds a bit familiar, but can’t figure it out..
Guru has been postponed to Janaury 12th 2007. Here is the link to it.
http://www.businessofcinema.com/index.php?file=story&id=1729
thanks for the news, OM.
But i must say, thats not particularly good news :(
but the link you sent is pretty cool, never knew about it…
i hope the music releases soon though..
guys, for the new AR Rahman-Karen David Project, check out the samples at
http://www.myspace.com/karendavid
i saw (more than one min) ‘tera bina’ clip and i found ash a bit unconvencing in it. i hope she does not ruin the film for me cos i do not like her…..
yeah I ‘ve just posted that link on my blog, and i’m hoping her fake plastic presence will be left behind
Hi Sam! Photos i send on e-mail.
Green