Why did Mani Ratnam make Guru?
Why did Mani Ratnam make Guru? From a glowing tribute to the spirit of human enterprise to the grittiest film ever made, the film has received accolades from all over. Genuine or generated..I don’t know. The media savvy of the people associated with the film could be one reason why the film has made it with four and five stars in newspapers and magazines across the board except Outlook. I admire Namrata Joshi for her scathing comments.
Guru is a bad film. Period. The brilliant camera-work by Rajiv Menon, artistic editing and great music notwithstanding. The film falls flat. It lacks character. It is easy to go on to the Reliance website, access the history section and get a lowdown on the rise of the company, the way in which shareholders multiplied…and so on. Why would anyone want to see it on celluloid? The propagandist nature of the film is particularly uncomfortable. Guru is blatant, in places it is even shameless. It is preachy. One does not need Abhishek Bachchan (aka Gurukant Desai) to pontificate on how Gandhi had broken the law 40 years ago only to be matched by an industrialist who flouts custom duties and all the rules, regulations, and laws of the land to end up as a tycoon. The comparison with Gandhi is where the film falters. It can only elicit guffaws and not cheers.
Ratnam also does a U-turn from his heady Yuva days and indulges in visual and verbal left-bashing. (Comrades, do we need any more bashing? Hasn’t enough been done already?) Manik Dasgupta and his crusading reporter Shyan Saxena played by Mithun Chakraborty and R Madhavan respectively are somehow in a rather sinister and cruel manner portrayed as villains who are out to get the man of the moment.
We can surely do without gutless films like Guru. If the mantra is ‘play safe’ then I am afraid, we are only running against time…not with it!
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
Here, here, Roshni. Guru is a bad film. Absolutely correct. Time that the mainstream media also pointed that out. In fact, it’s a story as scrupulous as those we get to hear about the man on whom its modelled on.
I have been shouting from the rooftop since it released that its MONEY ratnam now and no more Mani Ratnam. His objectivity, social consiousness…m still searching for all those. Mani’s previous movies always had that philosophy. But now…jo bit gayee so baat gayee. And all those voices of protest in the film are thrwon out slowly…Guru’s dad n mom, brother-in-law, mithun n madhavan and even Aishwarya…the strong willed woman who was running away from home to get married according to her will…doesnt have any views on her husband’s way of working…strange…strange…n more strange that its Mani…oops Money.
Relax, go easy madame. Its just a bloody film.
Cheers.
may be mani ratnam was fulfilling some responsibility…..
well, his next film too ie lajjo, he says tat he is
doing it coz he has to repay somebody….
well the first half was well made…maybe half way thru…
he wud hav lost interest….otherwise who can explain a song like
yammo yammo yammo re yammo yammo yammo re
frm gulzar saab to be accepted by mani sir
perhaps sometimes u get it wrong in life….
another eg DOR by nagesh
but the bottom line is GURU sucks
Hi,
Without any doubt, Guru is a bad film. I found that it was a poor imitation of “The Aviator” style of film.
We hope that his next film — Lajjo with Aamir Khan will be original and adopt different style from his previous films.
That Guru was a weak film is obvious once it starts meandering in the second half. But nowhere did I think that he portrayed Mithun and Madhavan as the villains. Infact, Guru is shown as THE negative character all the way through and Mithun is shown as an almost spotless character, his paper’s vilifications apart. Only towards the filmi ending that was so hopeless coming from someone like Mani do we see Guru scaling heights. And that’s the most unconvincing part of the entire movie.
Madam, if you are a leftie who cannot fathom what hardcore capitalists like Dhirubhai have done, that’s a principle-based opposition you have to Dhirubhai himself. Projecting that on the movie which obviously reflects everything that Dhirubhai did is a myopic way to review a movie.
True and lovely, infact. :D
Cheers.
Bollywood is a place where worst movies/actors is supposed to be mediocre, mediocre is ranked good, and good is worshipped as the best ever.
Guru is one of those mediocre movies but could have been much better.
Dont know when our industry/our people will grow up and realise what good cinema is. Hope people like Anurag Kashyap change this.
@ Roshni
“The comparison with Gandhi is where the film falters”
Couldn’t agree with you more…in fact that was the last straw in the stale movie and made me go ” Ab basss kar yaar..mani”
But i have a different opinion on your view point…I do not see the reason to find a ” Statement” in the movie…put it short..it was the “story” of a commoner…and as the trailers show it was the story of a Villager, Visionary, and some other V…though it had subtle references of Mr. So and So…Maybe..Maybe..If we see Guru with the standpoint of a common person..the story of him…It might change our view…
Hmmmmm on second thoughts…naaaah…it wont..what with comparison to Gandhi…geeeeezzz[-x
Good Post Roshini…
@ Roshni – You ask, “Why would anyone want to see it on celluloid?”.
Because, if this were a character study of how a good person can rise so far in business, while losing that which makes him good, it would be an interesting movie.
Too bad that wasn’t done in this film.
guru is 2 movies made into one.. the first half is guru and second half is a remix of mani’s own nayagan..right from the appearance of abhishek to the scene where he storms into madhavans house.. it was nayagan! and climax.. what was that..did mani played a joke on us audiences or did he ran out of juice..
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Roshini
Why did you write this review ?, If one considers this as a review.
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Just because he has used the name of Gandhi, doesn’t mean that he equates Guru to Gandhi.
People!! How stupid can you get?
i feel this review stands true if i
look at it as a mani ratnam film .
guru sure was disappointing.
but as i remember watching it my reactions were something like this
i hated it …its not that bad (it has its moments)..no but one expects better from
mani ratnam..it is bad …not that bood…that was good..bad..good …bad…..
overall worth watching once.
i had heard of the gandhi thing even b4 i watched the movie , when i watched dint think it shocked me ….it infact didnt seem like a comparison…so i cant say that if
guru faltered , that was where it faltered.
Yes Guru is a disappointing film .. but more disappointing for me was the hype which associated with the film. Can’t believe people are still flocking to watch such a crappy movie and turning into a huge hit. :o
I can bet my bottom dollar that this movie will win lots of underserving awards as well because of the hype.
Roshni, problem is Bollywood has not been exposed to Mani’s best work, and so his worst work Guru to date is hailed as a classic.
But guess cant blame Mani alone. He put in everything into Iruvar. You wont get a better movie, than that about the MGR-Karunanidhi rivalry. People are going ga ga about Abhishek’s performance in Guru. It was a good one, but sorry just nowhere close to Mohanlal’s in Iruvar. The rivalry between Mohanlal and Prakashraj in Iruvar smoulders on screen, and the Abhi-Madhavan one in Guru does not even come a close second. But with the failure of that movie, he had to go back to conventional movie making. Or maybe he made Iruvar in the wrong time? It was the age of candyfloss romances, and a biopic just did not suit the audiences. I guess the failure of this and his other great movie Kannathil Muttamithal, prompted him to go the safe route.
Its sad but somehow it happens to all directors. Lamhe one of Yash Chopra’s best movies was a failure, while his crappy stuff like Chandni, Dil To Pagal Hai, Veer Zara were all hits.
But even considering all that, the comparison with Gandhi was geez.
Maybe next time Mani contemplates making a movie on business tycoons, he should watch Wall Street.
I guess I didn’t mean to be abusive or launch a “personal attack”. I guess the use of the word ’stupid’ was maybe what caused you to think that. I should have been careful.
Anyways, except for that line the rest of my comments were not directed at anyone here, I wonder why you guys deleted that.
I was just starting to like this site but I guess this should be my last comment here.
“the comparison with Gandhi”.
This is really surprising.There are other problems with the movie and I’m surprised that people are picking on this.
When did Guru claim that he is Gandhi? Can someone here point me to the dialogue PLEASE.
This is what I remember from the film-
“40 years back one man fought against unjust laws. Laws that supressed freedom. and the nation calls him baapu”.
and then –
“MEI BAAPU NAHI HOON. Mein sirf dandha karna chahta hoon”.
So it basically implies that the laws of the land at the time of Guru didn’t allow one to practice private Business. It was a privilige of the selected few. The point that the movie is trying to make here is that the laws that were in place during those times were flawed. They were framed in such a way that only a priviliged few could actually practice things that Guru had envisioned.
So where does Guru compare himself to Gandhi..in fact he says that he *clearly* says the that he is not Baapu!!!!!
Though I think yours is an overtly extreme view, Guru certainly did not impress me very much too. The climax and the strobe effects got on the nerves. However, I thought the film did show flashes of brilliance. While portraying human relationships mani was masterful, but when it came to the mainstay of the film and the ideological pushing at the end, he stumbled. The song picturisations were disappointing too- they lacked the mani magic. Nevertheless, I still think it is an above average film, though not to Mani’s standards.
What are you expecting? A laughing stock of a movie like Lage Raho, or a confused dont-know-if-its-art-or-commercial Omkara or an overhyped piece of nonsense like RDB? Guru is perhaps one of the best movies Bollywood has seen in recent times and one of Manis best works.. Please point out an acting performance that can beat Abhishek’s from recent Bollywood movies? Please point out which other director can make Aishwarya actually act? Please point other directors that can bring out the best in Rajiv Menon and Rahman, and directors that can make a movie as slickly and perfectly edited like Guru? Its a biopic – Just like Nayagan and Iruvar but entirely different themes so please dont even compare! Crisp dialogues and brilliant portrayal of relationships
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i do agree to all the posts!GURU(as a film) does lack that seductiveness of a good film to make the audiences wonder whts gonna happen next and keep them glued to their chairs with their hands holding popcorn in mid air! dhirubhai ambani was a great man who achieved great heights! And information on such a legend is available more on internet !it was very tough to show whole buisness moves done be dhirubhai in just 3 hrs or so of a movie time! so MANI RATNAM picked milestones in his life to potray the character in the movie! AND people who knew more about dhirubhai ambanis life saw those aspects missing in the film, making the film more boring for themselves.
ACCORDING TO ME the reason why guru will keep going in bollywood and will earn the expected money target, not becauze its a film on buisness amart moves,or dhiru bhai ambani only!
the film will do well becauze ppl want to see the combination of MANI RATNAM,ABHISHEK BACCHAN,AISH,MITHUN ALL THRYING TO POTRAY DHIRUBHAI AMBANIS LIFE!
What i mean by that is ppl dont really wanna know wht dhirubhais life was like, they want to see how so called todays superstar abhishk bacchan potrays the life of a superstar in buisness frm another decade !and to add spice to whats cooking, aish will bring in extra bucks for the movie cauze of her affair wid abhishek and ppl will get to imagine.. would they really be like this if they were to be married!
BUT AFTER ALL i would say it is an overall bollywood film which will stay in critics ink for quite some time(i think so) making a film on some person living or dead can be risky as sometimes some incidents of tht persons life would make the film really interesting but the director dosent get the permission to use those shots in the film, a film based on a real “life” faces more compromises ,than any ficticious film! yet sir.ratnam did a good job! i would rate it 2 and a half stars acc to my rating out of 5 stars!
Dear Bharath…maybe the pin pricks harder when you are a die-hard fan…but learn to accept criticism…it helps!
Guru is not only a bad film…it is also overhyped. Aishwarya Rai has never acted in any film, be it a Mani Ratnam film or a Sanjay Leela Bhansali..the bottomline is that she cannot perform. Period. If she did…she would be termed an ‘actor’and not a ‘glamour queen’…suits Madame Tussauds wax museum…not the silver screen!
Im not an Aishwarya Rai fan by any yardstick – But you can’t comment on her acting without seeing her work in Iruvar (her first film with Mani)
I would definitely accept criticism if it was logical and made sense – Left bashing????? Give me a break!!!!
I think GURU is a mediocre film.
When you consider who made the film, its a highly dissapointing film. No two ways about that.
He dumbed down everything for the average joe & it showed. The theater in ARTESIA was houseful & people were having a great time. I guess He needs to make a film like this once every few years so he can make his own personal films after that.
And why he made that movie? Just look at where he comes from? He comes from a finance background. He is a MBA from Bajaj I think. I come from a place like that & can understand that why he made this. Living under all those years of LICENSE RAJ & being in Business school can shape ur perspective about things forever.
I just hope the succes of GURU will give him the power to make some more great films.
The reviewer’s leanings/bias make this post a ranting rather than a review.
Though there were certain aspects of the movie that I did not like (ending) , I never thought Guru compared himself with Gandhi (as another post details: ‘Guru explicitly says that he is not Gandhi’).
Has the reviewer heard of the infamous bombay club that throttled competition, closed industry to outsiders and supported the license raj?
Finally, what never ceases to amaze me is that despite the failed leftist policy & inability of the leftists in power to lift up their poorer citizens, comrades stand up and rail against private enterprise. See the mess that Bengal is in after donkey’s years of leftist rule and countless promises of upliftment for the poor.