aaya aaya GURUBHAI…
Bollywood, Director's Cut Blogathon, MANI RATNAM BLOGATHON — By Souvik Gupta on April 12, 2012 6:02 pmGURU
It’s not every Friday that we happen to find a biopic releasing in Bollywood. Though in yesteryears, people like Guru Dutt & Raj Kapoor did make attempts at making semi-autobiographical stuff, the commercial failure of those didn’t encourage future filmmakers to try their hands at similar ventures. Though we had films on Bhagat Singh, none of them really turned out to be a classic – except possibly Rang De Basanti – which again wasn’t a biopic but only a faint reference to the martyr’s life.
However, down south, Mani Ratnam had frequented the art of biopics – or at least two of his cult films have been based on real life characters – Iruvar on Tamil Nadu chief ministers M. G. Ramachandran, M. Karunanidhi & Jayalalitha and Nayagan on underworld don Varadarajan Mudaliar. Hence, the announcement of GURU roused a lot of curiosity and expectations. For one, Mani Ratnam has shown his mastery in that genre. Secondly, it was the first time someone would be discussing the life of maverick industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani in a film. Thirdly, the filmmaker was attempting a purely Hindi film after Dil Se (all his other works till then have been either remakes of Tamil films or dubbed Hindi versions of the originals). And with Dil Se’s commercial failure and Yuva’s not so amazing fate, it was only more interesting to see how the maestro would fare in his renewed attempt at Hindi films. Lastly, it was the casting that also generated some interest. Abhishek & Aishwarya were paired after their previous unsuccessful films and the rumours of affair between the two were making rounds (well, they got married few months after the movie’s release). Mithun Da was doing a film after quite some time, that too in a non-commercial avatar. In addition, Madhavan (Ratnam’s protégé and a heartthrob among girls) was paired with Vidya Balan. The film had almost everything going for it. Did it live up to the hype and curiosity? For me, it’s a big YES.
To start off with, Guru (despite denials from the maker about being based on Dhirubhai Ambani) is pretty much the polyester magnate’s life story. The graph in the protagonist’s life from a schoolteacher’s son in the hinterlands of Gujarat, to an employee with a oil and gas company (SHELL in real life) in Turkey, rivalry with a Parsi cloth merchant (Wadias), getting shareholders for company (Dhirubhai was the first one to start that in India), friends turned foes relation with morally upright newspaper editor (Ramnath Goenka), legal hassles and health problems, the movie traces the entire cycle of the industrialist’s life. However, taking so much inspiration from real life could have worked against the film – because you have extra burden to live up to the expectations around it, and delineate fact from fiction. But, with someone of Ratnam’s caliber, it proved a cakewalk as the maestro deftly handled the story – etching a brilliant screenplay (credit must be given to Vijay Krishna Acharya for the brilliant dialogues) and some fantastic direction.
Everyone knows Mani Sir’s penchant for the technical finesse in his films. And in Guru, he found able support in his technicians – who are among the topmost in the industry. Rajiv Menon used the desaturated colours in most frames to brilliant effect using different light schemes as Gurubhai travels from the village to Turkey to Mumbai. And Menon found great help in the production designs of the genius – Late Samir Chanda who recreated the old Bombay to perfection (I was unaware that Mumbai had tram till I saw Guru). As I had read later, editor Sreekar Prasad had chopped some scenes from the film (something which I whole-heartedly support because the film is anycase quite long). And given the editor’s vast repertoire of work, I am sure those scenes wouldn’t have added any serious value to the film. Last, but not the least, Guru saw an extension of Ratnam and Rahman’s collaboration. A R Rahman, who debuted as a music director with Ratnam’s “Roja”, has delivered some of his finest albums with the director – which include Roja, Bombay, Alai Payuthey and Dil Se. Though the music wizard came up with a compelling background score for the film, the songs were not the highlight for the film. Though the album boasted of Barso Re — amazingly sung by Shreya Ghoshal (she won most awards that year for the song) and beautifully picturised (by Saraoj Khan) on Aishwarya, hummable soft romantic number Tere Bina, and the item number in Turkey – Maiyya Maiyya (with Mallika Sherawat scorching the screen in the belly dance), Guru isn’t exactly the album you would keep on listening to, unlike what most other Ratnam – Rahman collaborations have been. And it’s sad that the combo who delivered one brilliant album after the other, never reached the same height after Alai Payuthey.
If technically Guru scores high marks, there is one more department where Guru stands out brilliantly – the compelling performances by each and every member of the cast. The film definitely belongs to the eponymous protagonist – Gurubhai, played stupendously by Abhishek Bachchan. AB Jr, who has been often censured for his acting capabilities (rather the lack of it), portrayed the aspiring businessman turned power hungry and unabashedly corrupt magnate with such aplomb that you feel how under-utilised his histrionic skills are. He had delivered a compelling performance in Ratnam’s previous flick, YUVA, but he surely was at the pinnacle of his form in this film. Aishwarya Rai didn’t really have the archetypal heroine’s role. Her Sujata was more of a silent observer to her husband’s career, but as the demure wife with a strong mind of her own, Ash delivered an extremely nuanced performance. Neither did she giggle unnecessarily nor did she fidget – two of her annoying habits she amply displayed in other films. After two debacles in Dhaai Akshar… & Kuch Na Kaho (where the duo were criticized for the lack of chemistry) and Dhoom 2 (where Ash sizzled with Hrithik and Abhishek was sidelined) GURU was a film where the couple came together and looked like a couple. The love story between Guru and Sujata, which was anyways not a major part of the story, left a sweet taste in the mouth. My favourite scene is the one below – the love, expectation, complaint, understanding and acceptance – all moulded in less than 2 minutes.
Madhavan as the investigating journalist Shyam, who plays a crucial role in the temporary downfall of Guru, was a delight to watch. He was the man who would screw someone’s life with a smile on his face, and you would never detect the mind behind the innocuous face. And his pairing with the debilitated Meenu (portrayed so gracefully by Vidya Balan) was just perfect. The kiss in the rain was never talked about in the media and thankfully so. Any titillation would have killed the beauty of the scene. Shauk Hai, he song that plays in the background is possibly one of the most beautiful pieces of background score ever composed in the history of Bollywood. Arya Babbar as Ash’s brother and one of Guru’s earliest business partners and Manoj Joshi as the co-worker turned business head for Guru were brilliant. Arjan Bajwa, Dhritiman, Roshan Seth did justice to their respective roles.
However, if there was someone who stole the show for me, it has to be Mithun Chakraborty as Manik Dasgupta – the staunch moralist owner of newspaper ‘The Independent’. With Mithun’s host of powerful performances in Bengali cinema, I feel the Hindi film industry has been unfortunate enough to explore only the larger than life roles of Mithun Da. And in Guru, he proves me right. He lives all his stardom behind and brings alive a character so strongly that you just sit upright everytime he is in the frame. Look out for the scene he comes to the hospital to see Guru’s condition but doesn’t muster enough courage to meet him, for somewhere in his heart, he knows that the reasons behind this condition is he himself. I just wonder how Irrfan Khan won all the supporting awards that year for Metro, with such a miniscule role (though he played it well, it was quite unidimensional). I got into a habit of saying “accha hai, bohut accha hai…” after seeing GURU.
Since Ratnam isn’t conversant in Hindi, a credible dialogue writer was mandatory to bring his story alive on screen. Vijay Krishna Acharya (director of the horrendous Tashan and Aamir Khan starrer yet to release Dhoom 3) rendered an extremely support to Ratnam in this regard. The dialogues were powerful and applaud worthy. In fact, a major contribution to Guru’s characterization was by the dialogues he mouthed. From humorous to gritty moments, the lines looked real and yet played to the gallery. My favourite is the confrontation between Contractor & Guru.
Contractor: Naam kya tha tumhara?
Guru: Tha nahi, hai, aur rahega, GURUKANT DESAI… I actually whistled at the dialogue.
The last monologue of Guru in the court is spellbinding. And as mentioned earlier, A R Rahman’s brilliant bgm just enhanced the feel of every scene.
Having seen some of Ratnam’s grittier works, I would not say that Guru is the best film that the master has crafted. But, it leaves its mark for more than one reason as discussed above. If there were a few things to point out – I would have to say:
a) the song ‘Ek Lo Ek Muft’ sung by Bappi Lahiri was pointless… it was a dip in the momentum of the film…
b) the Madhavan – Vidya romantic track, though pleasant to watch, added no real depth or variation to the story, especially for a film like Guru, which is protagonist driven
c) Mithun Da’s character came out a bit confusing at places – and there was no explanation to the fact why he didn’t accept Vidya and Madhavan’s marriage
d) Where does Arya Babbar disappear? Does the personal tussle between him and Guru never get solved? A prominent character in the initial reels just vanishes all of a sudden…
e) The business head of such a large firm (Manoj Joshi) behaved so naively when he showed Madhavan around the factory, posing for pictures, and revealing information even without much interrogation / instigation
We are not an industry that churns out flawless movies. And the discrepancies mentioned above are hardly significant to take anything away from GURU as a film. It will remain special to me because of the huge chunk of discussion about the movie in my IIFT interview – my first B-school interview, and I cracked it. All I can say to summarise is, if you haven’t watched the film and think that Abhishek is a hopeless actor, go and watch it to be proved pleasantly wrong.
Read more reviews on MANI RATNAM BLOGATHON:
1. Pallavi Anupallavi (Kannada) 2. Unaroo (Malayalam) 3. Pagal Nilavu (Tamil) 4. Idaya Kovil (Tamil) 5. Mouna Ragam (Tamil) 6. Nayagan Tamil) 7. Agni Natchathiram (Tamil) 8. Geethanjali (Telugu) 9. Anjali (Tamil) 10. Take 1 Thalapathi (Tamil) Take 2 Thalapathi (Tamil) 11. Roja (Tamil) 12. Thiruda Thiruda 13. Bombay (Tamil) 14. Iruvar (Tamil) Take 2 Iruvar (Tamil) 15. Dil Se…(Hindi) Take 2 Dil Se…(Hindi) 16. Alaipayuthey (Tamil) 17. Kannathil Muthamittal (Tamil) Take 2 Kannathil Muthamittal(Tamil) 18. Yuva (Hindi) 19. Aayutha Ezhuthu (Tamil) 20. Guru (Hindi) 21. Raavanan(Tamil) 22. Raavan (Hindi)
A very detailed, entertaining read this. For me, GURU, despite its exquisite detailing, has always been a weak film because it’s rehash of the most effective parts of another Mani Ratnam film, NAYAKAN. It felt like a masala biopic specialist like Milan Luthria was paying tribute to Mani Ratnam by doing a different take on Nayakan.
Gurubhai is just like Velu, comes to the city from modest beginnings with nothing in hand, becomes one of its most powerful people, and while he has a large following of loyal supporters, has his share of detractors who question his ethics. Madhavan is a rehash of Nasser’s character from Nayakan while Vidya Balan’s is essentially Velu’s daughter. Even the scene where Gurubhai goes to Shyam Saxena’s home in anger only to find a picture of Shyam and Meenaxi (Vidya Balan) is a direct lift of his own scene from Nayakan where he goes to meet his daughter, only to find a picture of her and her husband, the police inspector (Nasser) who is hounding him.
When a filmmaker starts rehashing bits and pieces of his own films, either he’s run out of ideas or has a massive ego. The latter, Mani sir is most certainly not guilty of.
Along with the weak songs and their usage, I also found the ending in the courtroom to be ridiculous. An emotionally charged speech and judges begin questioning what to do. Just isn’t what you’d associate with Mani Ratnam.
Mind you, like someone said, Mani Ratnam on a bad day is still miles ahead of most other filmmakers. And yes, Guru is a proficiently made film. It just isnt worthy of being called a Mani Ratnam film.
very insightful comment.. thanks.. but i presume most rags to riches story shape up like that.. and dhrubhai had been through most of these things (not sure about the Arya Babbar & Vidya Balan track though – but disagree about comparing Meenu with Velu’s daughter – for the latter was against the protagonist while the former was a fan)… thanks for reading and giving your input.. and I agree with what you said “Mani sir, even on a bad day is better than others on their good days”
I strongly believe that Guru wouldn’t have worked halfd as much if were not for the AbhiAsh engagement announced on the films international premiere. It was a decent film yet one felt very let down by Ratnam for we have seen films with greater depth and soul than this from him.
Guru in many ways marks the complete accession to star culture that Ratnam seemed to have begun with Yuva a precursor to the unfathomable ravan.
the music is worth going back to always. Aye hairathe ashiqi is less a song and more a poem!
Lovely piece dude. A treat revisiting the film
Good one Souvik….. Whenever i get a chance to watch a re-run of thid film of TV channels, this movie never makes me feel looking for time or flipping channels….Though not Mani’s greatest but still better.
Jaage hai Der Tak….is one of my very favourite songs…..
This movie, i believe, was started with good intentions and sincerity. I am 100% sure that the banned book “Polyster Prince” was the source material for this film (some dialogues in this film are found in the book, written in later 90s). Prior to this film’s release, some news channel showed some of the scenes from this film and they were later shopped off (like Vidya Balan & Mithun’s walking competition and someone offering Mithun, a compromise deal, on bombay beach – the Mithun-Vidya poster in this article is from this scene only).
What I completely hate and regret about this film is Mani’s sincerity to the original script/skill was sold to reliance, which pitched in to produce this film halfway. Watch iruvar, you can see the negative shades of both the protagonists and if not directly, Mani skilfully points at their negatives, instead of directly underlining them with heavy dialogues. There was subtlety. But in Guru, Mani compromised and sold his script. He changed it completely. Chopped off scenes. Madhavan & Vidya’s wedding in the movie, originally, happens in a registered office, in presence of Guru & his wife & their kids. There are wallpapers of this scene too. why did Mani change it?
I liked Mani’s sincerity in Iruvar. He did not budge to pressures or atleast skilfully conveyed the characters with all their shades. Unfortunately, in Guru, he diluted that sincerity. and I couldnt appreciate the fact that Mani, of all directors, diluted his own commitment and craftsmanship, budging to the pressures of the producer and market.
Rajeev Menon doesnt do what Santosh Sivan did in Iruvar. ARRahman doesnt do what he did in Iruvar (except for Ay Hairath-e-aashiqui). Iruvar is indeed a benchmark. I didnt expect him to surpass that but this film doesnt reach even half the brilliant of that. If there is anything wonderful, it is art direction. The climax is atrocious from Mani’s standards. I couldnt believe that Mani took Ambani’s side.
I suggest everyone to read the book “Polyster prince” and I am sure everyone will feel that the story had great potential, if it was faithful to the book. Unfortunately, Mani compromised!
You have detailed the post as much as mani details his movies…good one Souvik….the narration was kinda eefeected with some unwanted songs….otherwise it is just an awesome film maaann