Monday, January 15, 2007

Last weekend movie: Guru

We are on a movie watching spree, it seems. Dhoom 2 last weekend and this weekend, we went to see Guru.

We saw it at the Innovative Multiplex.. I went to book tickets on Friday afternoon and expected to go away disappointed. But, there were plenty available. Which, I discovered later, was because they were running it on all 4 screens. And all of them were sold out.

The movie was average. It was technically brilliant, and the cinematography was really good. The sets were just how you'd expect, not a thing out of place. Just what you would expect from Mani Rathnam. The story wasn't really new, but interesting. There were similarities to Dhirubhai Ambani's life , the early years in the Gulf, the cult of the shareholder, the manipulation of the government etc. Some of the scenes were a bit hard to swallow, how Guru comes out of many months of paralysis and starts defending himself in the courtroom, likening his struggle to Gandhiji, the songs that did not fit in at all (how many CEO's would gyrate to a song like Yamma Yamma). The performances were just average. I still don’t think Abhishek is that great an actor. Hes ok for roles like Bluffmaster, Dhoom etc, where you just have to show up and look cool, something he does well. But, hes just not cut out for roles like Guru, which require a lot more depth and range. Maybe, hell develop it over time. The rest of the characters were bit players, including Aishwarya, who played her usual wooden self. That said, news of their engagement today is sure to lead to a surge of interest at the box office.

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