At Last.....

It has taken me 25 years to get this achievement on my CV and boy I can now safely hold my head high and tell many friends of mine that “Ya, I have been there and done that”. I should whole-heartedly thank SK for this. After all he was the one who called me on a typical Tuesday morning ( there’s always a typical Tuesday morning just like there is a typical Sunday morning, Monday morning, Wednesday morning and so on…) and offered me a chance to finally do it. His suggestion was that we try to make it on that week’s Friday night. I hesitated a bit for I knew I couldn't get back home after midnight but then I thought “what the heck….I can always sleep at a friends place”. So I said yes and he did the needful. There was this eager sense of anticipation from Thursday morning. I couldn't even share the excitement with people at work for I was not sure about what they would think. Friday was this absolute “down-the-drain” day at work. I just was in no mood to do any work. I cancelled meetings; dilly dallied on calls and postponed pending decisions to next working week. After all, the feeling was so overwhelming that I didn’t want to take wrong calls at work as I my boss keeps telling me that I am involved in making potentially earth shattering decisions for our business. (huh)

And then the time arrived. I reached at around 9.45 p.m. and as usual SK was late. I had to wait outside, for half an hour at that. A quick look at the watch, an eye on the entrance, a look behind the shoulder and then restless tapping of the feet……it was one tiring wait. Finally SK did run in and we went in. The moment had arrived……..

I finally watched a movie on its First Day and “Guru” is the one that would find its place in the History Books. Watching a movie on Day 1 I am told is quite an event. There’s this buzz outside the cinema hall; once in, the trailers and ads are booed; credits are applauded,;stars introduction shots are welcomed with rapturous whistles and so on…

It seems the environment is simply electric (maddening – if you are a neutral observer) if it’s a movie starring a south Indian “mass” star say Rajnikanth or Chiranjeevi ( Coconuts are broken, Camphor is lit, the cut outs are bathed with milk, rosewater and nowadays beer am told). Of course I didn’t expect any of that for Guru mainly because of two reasons. A Hindi film in Chennai isn’t expected to get that kind of a welcome as it basically is not “mass” and Abhishek + Mani Ratnam + A.R.Rahman is anyways not a “mass” combination. But believe me it was undoubtedly the most revved up atmosphere that I have ever got to see in a cinema hall. The fortunate few who managed to get their tickets were actually waiting for the movie to end so that they could get out (collars up) and give the 'aam junta' their 2 cents worth of views about the movie. I thought I should just put my two cents worth stuff in my blog.

For people who go with the expectation of watching a great Bollywood Movie Guru might be a disappointment. It’s a story that we all know about (Dhirubhai is quite popular and though Mani keep’s denying it, the movie is at least a 95% adaptation) and given that its almost real life you don’t have the luxuries of a comedian, villain, fight sequences and the works….The climax is a tad weak too. But if you want to watch a well made film you would be at the right place.

The film is technically brilliant in aspects such as photography, editing, re-recording and art but that’s not all. Starting from the credits (when names are printed on a paper with a yellowish tinge) till the 360 degree camera roll in the final scene Mani Ratnam offers many pleasant variations from run of the mill cinema. The screenplay is peppered with unpredictabilities that add beauty to the flow of the film.

Courtship and marriages have often occupied hefty and boring reels in Indian cinema but here it is handled with a casual knack. Guru’s initial brainwave about marriage and his exchange with his 'would-be' father in law are brilliantly done accentuating his character without any attempt to project any filmatic fluff.

The intimacy that develops between AB jr and Ash is captured refreshingly in the scene where the couple starts smacking each other in their bedroom. Trust Mani to present the most intimate moments in a way that it most naturally unfolds…the scene leaves you with a smile and will stay etched for quite some time to come.

Madhavan makes his mark by underplaying his emotions as the role demands. For all practical purposes he is the villain in the film. He goes about his business in no-nonsense manner and his relationship with Vidya Balan is a nice little side story. Mithun finally can claim some respect from the current generation afetr a sensible portrayal of the media baron's role.

The portion that stands out is the one where Guru goes to Madhavan’s house apparently in a mood to fight only to know that Vidya Balan (they share a Brother-Kid sister kind of vibes) is married to him. It’s a tough situation and the director and the actors could have been excused for some cinematic output but Mani and his actors take your breath away by staging a beautiful scene.

The hospital scene in which Guru meets his long time aide is heavy situation no doubt and would have been handled as a tear jerker by 99% of our directors. It has its share of emotions but then ends beautifully on a pleasant note.......Here again Mani’s knack of infusing humor and creating extraordinary moments out of seemingly ordinary ones is on full view.

In all, Guru according to me is a must watch simply for being a film that’s been handled differently. As mentioned earlier it has its weak points. Its not racy all along but that’s pretty much expected as the attempt is to deal with a man’s life and not an F1 race for it to have twists, turns and thrills all along. The celebratory jig after Guru’s kids are born could have been avoided to put it mildly, and the climax is really weak. But if 90% of the movie is good enough to give you a satisfying feeling, in today’s Indian Cinema world, the unanimous choice should be to just watch and like it.