I saw Guru Monday night. Getting tickets was a nightmare, honestly! I had to set an alarm at midnight, get up, go online and then book tickets for three days later. When my alarm rudely woke me up from the middle of a very deep sleep, I was thinking no movie could be worth doing this.
This movie was. Well, not the movie itself but the man who carried the entire story on his shoulders. Abhishek Bachchan. I’ll say it again; there is something about this man. It isn’t the magnetism that Amitabh exudes when he’s onscreen. It isn’t the kind of charm SRK oozes. It’s something that keeps you hooked to him through the movie - a temporary addiction.
Watching AB Baby in Guru after Dhoom 2, I was speechless. In Dhoom 2, he practically had no role except for being the cynical, never-smiling super-cop. Here, he transforms from the clueless, hardworking lad in Turkey to a confident, self-assured man who wants to work for himself and make it big. And after he does, each frame he is in radiates with his pride at his work and the brashness of success. When he stands tall on screen, you feel that nothing could possibly stop him.
After all the hype I’d heard/read, I knew Guru had to be good. IMHO, Guru isn’t a great directorial venture. Very very good, of course, but not great. Mani Ratnam, hailed God amongst many, has made more powerful, brilliantly directed films – Nayagan, Thalapathy, Bombay, Dil Se, Kannathil Mutthammital come to mind immediately. I always remember needing sometime to stay still and digest these films after watching them. May be because they portrayed a world peppered with physical violence and brutality. That always has a greater appeal and a stronger impact.
Guru, however, depicts the life of one man who believes. It is this man’s struggle, his fight with the times and his contemporaries, his drive to succeed. There is hardly any physical violence, no gore. It leaves you exhilarated at the end of it – you walk out of the theatre smiling.