Guru

Guru (drama)
Cast : Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, R Madhavan, Vidya Balan
Direction: Mani Ratnam

There was Gandhi, there was Nehru and then there was Guru Kant Desai, one more name that needs to be added amongst the roster that boasts Architects of India. And in case you still dont know who Guru Bhai is, lets just leave you with a few FAQs. Guru Bhai was Indias first textile magnate who grew from humble origins and dreamt of setting up a factory that was bigger than Burma Shell. He towered over the Mumbai skyline with his polyester fabric that became the national fabric in a post-khadi, pre-globalisation era. And Mani Ratnam takes up this inspired tale to script an ode to this messiah of the middle class, who broke the rules, twisted the system, rubbished the red tape and raced ahead, with impunity.

Yes, Mani has dared to present the top industrialist as a man who introduced corporate crime in the lexicon of Indian industry. Guru Bhais business mantra was murky. He bribed politicians, smuggled machinery, evaded sundry taxes and used people for profit. In short, he was the perfect capitalist who created wealth any which way, even if it involved marrying a woman for the dowry she would bring. His justification? The wealth was for the public, because he was part of the public and if he hadnt broken the law, the great Indian middle class (the millions of shareholders who grew rich along with him) would still be non-existent.

And thats where the film slips. Although the director valiantly lifts the lid off corporate crime, he suddenly cowers in the end and creates a hero out a man who justifies every fraud in the name of public good. It is the moral ambivalence of the film which somehow leaves you dissatisfied, for isnt all cinema meant to be a moral fable? Till the very end, you seem to keep remembering what Guru Bhais brother-in-law said when he left him midway in his grandiose ventures. The disgusted brother-in-law walked off branding Guru as a complete mercenary who cared only about money, not people. Guru had no answers for him! Nor for us.

Cinematically, the film is quintessential Mani. The frames are stupendous with Rajiv Menons camera working wonders, whether it be Mumbai, Pondicherry or Istanbul. The combination of AR Rahman and Gulzar create magic with melody and Abhishek Bachchan puts his heart and soul into a dream role that sees him grow from a gawky teenager to a wizened adult. Sometimes however, it does seem the role demands too much from him, specially in the climax which ends up ekdum thanda. Aishwarya too is just okay and fails to register the growth in her character.

The first half of the film is intensely dramatic as it traces the rise of simpleton Guru from a small time salesman in Istanbul to a textile honcho in Mumbai who just wanted to do bijnas. It is the second half which becomes prolonged and repetitive with the drama being reduced to a conflict between the archetypal capitalist and the communist a newspaper owner with leftist leanings (Mithun Chakraborty) and his star reporter (Madhavan) who doggedly follows the unveil-Guru beat. In between, he falls in love with his employees dying daughter (whats Vidya Balan doing in a wheelchair?) and takes off to make dal takda for her. Hes a crusader in all kind of roles, you see!

In the end, Guru is an important film as it tackles a fresh subject and raises a pertinent query about Indias accelerating corporate juggernaut.