Guru

Summary: An ambitious school master's son Gurukant Desai 30(Abhishek Bachchan) ignores his father's advice and leaves his village to find success in Turkey and then a business empire. He marries Sujata Desi (Aishwarya Rai) 33 and forges and empire as he clashes with another fatherly figure in Manik (Mithun Chakraborty) despite being close to his granddaughter, Meenu (Vidya Balan). The price of financial success and the battle for continued success forces Guru to fight.

Review: The movie really did captivate me and Bachchan was very charismatic along with the beauty of his real life wife as well, Aishwarya Rai. The two obviously had chemistry and I thought he was a real serious actor as he did gain a significant amount of weight to play the businessman. The relationships between all the members in the movie seemed very genuine. As always, I'm a sucker for the musical scenes in the movie and love the way the dances were choreographed as it seems so playful. The music was soothing even though I have no idea what they're saying. The movie did shorten itself in many ways and the plot was a bit convoluted at times as they cut out key scenes and had a lot of unresolved stories and deus ex machina. The film itself was shot very well and I thought the makeup to show the age of the acting cast was decent.

Further Question/Philosophy/Theme: What is friendship? How much can sheer will and determination drive a man to accomplish? What is the price of monetary success? Why do people like to run away from their village into the world so much as evidenced by both Guru and his wife who tried to elope at first instead of staying in the village.

Power Rating (Out of 5): 4 In many ways, this movie reminded me of Raajneeti. It was entertaining and said to have been based on a business tycoon Dhirubhai Ambani whose sons Muskesh and Anil have inherited the Reliance empire. The film was a solid watch, but I'm a sucker for Bollywood films.

Favorite Quotes: Sujatha: [Sujata suddenly insists on coming with Gurukant just before his train leaves]
Gurukant Desai: But you don't have any luggage!
Sujatha: [indignant] Can't you buy me a few saris?

K R Menon I.A.S: What was your name again?
Gurukant Desai: Not was. Is. And will always remain. Gurukant Desai.

Gurukant Desai: There is a saying in our village: "If people say bad things about you, you must be doing something good."

Gurukant Desai: If you don't dream, you will be stuck to your village all your life.

Gurukant Desai: What's wrong with dreaming big?

father-in-law: "What does your father say?"
Gurukant Desai: "That I will be ruined."
father-in-law: "Then you know you will succeed."

Gurukant Desai: "Just because you failed, doesn't mean I can pass."