Guru is a 2007 Hindi film directed by Mani Ratnam. It stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, R. Madhavan, Vidya Balan and Mithun Chakraborty in pivotal roles. The movie also has Mallika Sherawat in a guest appearance. The movie was also dubbed in Tamil and Telugu. The film was released on January 12, 2007, and premièred at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Production
Guru was written and directed by Mani Ratnam, while Vijay Krishna Acharya wrote the Hindi dialogues. Shooting for the film took place in Mumbai, Turkey, Badami and Melkote (both in Karnataka), as well as in Chennai, Pollachi,Madurai,Chettinad region Tamil Nadu, and Athirapilly in Kerala. The music is composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Gulzar. Cinematography for the film is handled by Rajiv Menon.
Guru has been described by Ratnam and others involved in the production as a film that is reflective of a man’s desire for ambition and success, and how times have changed from the period immediately after the country’s independence to the present. Some reports have speculated that this film is a biopic of, one of India’s biggest Industrial tycoon, Dhirubhai Ambani. Like Guru, Ambani also had roots in Gujarat as the son of a schoolteacher, went abroad to work for the gas company Shell, and returned to India to import polyester. There are also differences between the two stories. Ratnam has described Guru as inspired by stories both past and present.
Historical Similarities
In the film Abhishek Bachchan portrays Gurukant Desai, who resembles Dhirubhai Ambani, the owner of Reliance India. Dhirubhai traveled to Yemen in his early years to work from junjoi ; In the film, Gurubhai travels to Turkey to escape his father’s criticism.
Historically, the media war waged against Dhirubhai Ambani was fought by Ramnath Goenka’s newspaper The Indian Express. In the film, the paper is named the Swatantra Samachar, and is headed by Manik Das Gupta (Mithun Chakraborty). The reporter portrayed by Madhavan’s Shyam Saxena resembles S. Gurumurthy.
Another image that resonates historically are the Contractors mentioned in the film, who closely resemble the Wadias. The younger Contractor shares similarities with Nusli Wadia.
Trivia
- In Telugu, it was released as Gurukanth.
- During a scene, Aishwarya Rai fell and had a few bruises on her hands and feet. Filming had to be suspended for a few hours while she received first aid.
- S. Bharathi, a lawyer in real life, plays the role of a marriage registrar in the movie.
- For the Tamil release of Guru, Tamil actor Surya Sivakumar lent his voice for Abhishek Bachchan’s character and veteran actor Nassar has voiced for Mithun Chakraborty’s character. Actress Rohini has voiced lines for Aishwarya Rai, while Madhavan has voiced his own lines.
- Guru is India’s first film to have a mainstream international premiere in Canada. Director Mani Ratnam as well as two of the film’s Indian stars Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai were extended a personal invitation by the Toronto mayor David Miller.
- Guru is the only movie to be shot at the premises of the famed ‘Express Estates’, the 21-acre (85,000 m2) stretch in the heart of Chennai City (opp. to Spencer plaza), the home of The New Indian Express and Dinamani, as the film demanded a period look for their settings of a media house, which the old office buildings provided. Incidentally the buildings were brought down to dust weeks after the filming was over in the premises, since the Media Group moved to a new location in Ambattur.
- The Helicopter used during the scene where Gurukanth Desai goes to Delhi to meet minister, has cleverly been scripted by the film makers to look like Reliance Industries aircraft (RLC) but the Bell 206 L3 (H) helicopter is actually registered to Raymond Ltd. a Singhania family company, it was put into service on June 1990.
- In the version that was played out in theatres across the world, Gurukant Desai (Abhishek Bachchan) and his wife Sujatha (Aishwarya Rai) are shown to have twin daughters. But in the original version, Aishwarya first gives birth to a stillborn child. The birth takes place after she leaves Guru in the city, to go after her brother.
- In the film, Sujatha visits Manikdas Gupta at his house with her daughters. Her intention is to bring peace between her warring husband and the newspaper tycoon. What is left out of the movie is this scene where Guru is angry with his wife for going to his nemesis’s house.
- Vidya Balan and R. Madhavan’s roles were also chopped off to bring the film within the set duration.
Awards
Filmfare Awards
- Best Playback Singer (Female) – Shreya Ghoshal – Barso Re
- Best Music – AR Rahman
- Best Background Score – AR Rahman
Cast
- Abhishek Bachchan as … Gurukant Desai
- Aishwarya Rai as … Sujata Desai
- Mithun Chakraborty as … Manik Dasgupta
- Vidya Balan as … Meenakshi ‘Meenu’ Saxena (Jalkukdi)
- R. Madhavan as … Shyam Saxena
- Arya Babbar as … Jignesh
- Roshan Seth as … Judge
- Mallika Sherawat as … Jumpa – The Dancer (Guest appearance)
