Its 2 am and I just got back from a screening of 'Guru'. What compelled me to write this blog at this late hour?....Well I just told you I saw Guru.....Well if I yap abt the stellar performances of the lead and support actors in the film...then I would be aping what every newspaper reviewer has done or what any other amateur blogger has done (well I am confident I am not an amateur any more....a confidence I drew from Gurukant Desai) .... So instead of doing the usual routine, I would like to say how well the book 'The Polyester Prince' has been adapted for big screen keeping all lead characters intact. If you haven't read it...well you are missing out on a piece of history u ought to know about.
The film delves into a lot of jargon..well not a lot of it (non-convertible debentures and all)...which could have been avoided or explained better considering you are making a mainstream movie....u say its not mainstream???...well what was the future Mrs. Desai doing dancing at the start of the film or Mr. Desai in the middle of the film. What such roadblocks of musical boredom did was consume precious film reel...taking away a chance to film some more insightful scenes into the success of Gurukant Desai....which has a few chapters...90% of them showing some kind of manipulation....
So what could have made the movie interesting?...Lets see how about a common mans life change during the course of the film due to his investments in Guru's company?....Hmm that would have made the film an account of a Hero...in the cliched bollywood sense.....maybe......The episode of the protagonist against the cartel of bears in the stock market would have been a really good and easily understandable part of the original protagonist's growth...Unfortunately this is not one of the episodes covered.....The remark about needing a license was sharp, witty and yet I believe went unnoticed by a generation which knows nothing about the post independence era from conventional sources of education....So a small anecdote or insight into the license era would have been welcome.....The scene between Guru and the newly appointed prime minister...oops i meant minister was not sinister enough and did not suggest the kind of pressure it put on the minister...they should have stuck to the bag containing the bribe being returned to the minister...as that was the unofficial scene between u knw who and u already knw who.....And that was too sensational for the book too.....Hmm well these are some of my opinions and I don't expect Mani Ratnam to follow them....(as if....)
All in all the philosophy of the real life person or the character come through right in the last few scenes where he challenges the way business was carried out before he came along....And that is one of the scenes which really touches the viewers...Most other scenes though brilliant just don't tug at your heart....
Last words...Heres looking forward to some great future work from Mithunda and of course 'Abhishek Amitabh Bacchan' (poora naam haaaiin)
2 comments:
Was reading "hatke" review of Guru!!!..Well i have to agree i am an amateur!!!
Well said dude! Almost exactly what I felt! Why Almost? Well because I felt the film could have been much slicker and there was no scope for music as you do. Especially the song after twin births was most inappropriate and disturbs the gripping drama. I came out thinking that it could have been slick 2 hour film. But then I thought to keep distributers happy he may have to add songs. Though I felt that there should have been some more detailed scenes like you pointed about minister scene I could not quite figure out what else he could have added. You pointed out some good examples like Red tape (licence Raj) impact post independance should haven shown. I really feel that Mani Ratnum should listen to you :-). But its very much like Mani as he assumes that audience knows many things!
Post a Comment