Jan 17, 2007

Spirit of the Man! - Review of Guru

First up, I loved this movie. The first time I've actually liked a Mani Ratnam movie. Had completely missed the 'message' in Yuva etc. But in this one - the story, the screenplay and the acting is superb! the only downer is the music - the songs are like speed-breakers on an expresway - totally unnecessary and annoying in the middle of an otherwise tight narrative!

Guru, to me, is all about the man. He may not be the most ethical, and his naked ambition may not be appreciated by the socialists in the country - who still believe self-denial is virtuous. But to the generation of free-thinkers and dreamers who will lead this country's march into double-digit GDP growth, he is an unquestionable role model. His clarity of thought, his humongous dreams, and his drive to realize them, all with a smile and simplistic demeanor, are endearing to say the least. Even the other characters - the failure father who's always discouraging, the rustic mother, the egoistic partner who forsakes wealth for pride, the socialist media moghul who must oppose, the self-destrutive incompetent bourgeoisie - are so real. And to see our man conquer them all - pleases just like Howard Roark does in the Fountainhead. And of course, all the actors are GOOD!

Another interesting charater is Guru's wife - the independent woman, who is willing to elope with a man who has less balls than she. Who throws a few tantrums when she finds out he married her for the dowry, but still comes back and supports him like a rock. The proverbial woman behind the successful man. Inspirational!

If you've not seen this movie yet, watch it. And thats a life worth living

No comments:

Post a Comment