Revolution Evolution

Leader Line

The mark of genius is indelible. Sometimes its obvious. Sometimes its subtle. But in an effortless and somewhat magical way, Mani Ratnam always manages to leave his mark on his works of art.

Guru is no exception to his legacy.

As always, Mani Ratnam manages to draw that ever-so-grainy line between sticking to traditional movie format, and breaking conventions altogether. Although to many, Guru may seem like your typical sinusoidal-success, feel-good, rags-to-riches story, it still manages to break away from the mould of the "typical" Indian film - a definition that gets more and more hazy with the coming-of-age of Indian movies over the last few years.

As Mom rightly pointed out, you can see the love and magical chemistry between Aishwarya and Abhishek - more from her side - in Guru. She has clearly never stared into any co-star's eyes with the passion that she looks into his with (*sniff*). (She had the exact inverse with Hrithik in Dhoom 2).

I love Mani's new technique. The cutting-flash slow-motion-feel that is applied to various song sequences, and especially the courtroom tirade where its most effective. He always seems to have a new toy to play with (In Dil Se [and Alai Payuthe], it was the reverse-shot technique - remember? - when Manisha's dress keeps flowing the other way in the Satrangi sequence). Especially when it comes to period drama, he never overdoes it in terms of costume and location, unlike other wistful directors who keep their mother's name. The torn posters of Naya Daur, and the usage of old Hindi songs in the background, is intricately researched keeping the story years in mind (he's on the money, folks). Guru also portrays Gujarati culture, language and fashion subtly - noting that this is one Indian sub-culture that has been kept at the back-burner in terms of on-screen portrayal (that is, if one can forget the 5-second G-U-J-J-U song-and-dance in Kal Ho Naa Ho). Its usually been Punjabi, Rajasthani, and even, Bengali (Devdas et al).

The downside? This is the first time in a Mani Ratnam movie, that I felt like joining the damned folks who take a bathroom break when a song comes on. The songs sincerely didn't flow with the film, with the exception of Hairate (brilliant) and the "Baarish" song. Although, the background score, with the "dum dara" bit was heartwarming.

And what puts the wax seal of Rahman on this movie is the drum solo (heavily inspired by the remix of Jagged Edge's Lets Get Married, no I'm serious!!), that accompanies most of the heavy scenes. The dialogues needed more punch. Especially when Gurukant speaks at the first hearing, and he just goes "namaste!". The thud doesn't justify the hype, there.

Completely completely agree with P when it comes to the ridiculous side-tracks that go completely tangent to the story (both the Madhavan-Vidya angle, and the brother-in-law bit, which I feel could've made a glorious comeback later).

The lyrics of the songs.... *sigh* .... you know what? I really feel that before beginning every new project, Gulzar does this. He vigorously searches and locates the rarest, wierdest, most forgotten words in Hindi/Urdu/any regional language's history, and says, "lets bring this back!". With Guru, get this - "bosa", "besuaadi" and "kaature" are making a comeback. Never heard of them? Get in line. Gulzarjee! Why the desperate need to be different, by being incoherent? Why does it take you 20 lines and dozens of dismal, lost-in-history verbs to say what Javedsaab can say in 2 lines? *Sigh*. We'll never get some answers, will we?

With Guru, Abhishek Bachchan, the actor, has arrived. With Guru, he completes a story which was left untold in Yuva, the last time Mani directed him. In the last scene, as Abhishek delivers his courtroom tirade, one was left to look into his eyes and see both glimpses of the trademark Bachchan raw anger, and his own originality as an actor. Taking on a role that most actors would choke considering, given the weight gain and deglamorization involved, Abhishek completes his circle of acting with this role. And like his father, its now time for rediscovery and many more such concentric circles, before he is established as a superstar.