‘Guru’ is here

While awaiting the marriage of two top Bollywood stars, Abhishek Bachchan and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai, the newest film the duo starred, Mani Ratnam's 'Guru' will be released at Majestic cinema Colombo from January 26.

Engaged recently, the marriage of the main stars made news not only in Bollywood but the world over. The couple participated at the world premiere of "Guru" in Toronto January 12.

The path-breaking South Indian director, Mani Ratnam's twentieth direction 'Guru' has been described as a film that is reflective of an individual's desire for ambition and success, as opposed to society taking precedence over the individual and how times have changed from the period immediately after the country's independence to the present.

While Ratnam has described the latest as perhaps inspired by stories both past and present the reports speculated that the film is a "biopic" on the life of India's biggest petrochemicals tycoon, Dhirubhai Ambani.

Gurukant Desai (Abhishek Bachchan), the young and lean foreign returned villager with a funny moustache who gradually grows in years and stature as he treads the road less travelled. He develops flabs all over the body walks and talks in an awkwardly funny manner as he successfully climbs the ambitious stairs. He just can't take a No for an answer. And if a door doesn't open by greasing then he doesn't mind opening it forcefully.

After being the badshah of polyster and being the leader of the share market, Guru Bhai asks his loyal share holders, "he wants to make the largest company in India". An encore follows. Next stop is the petro chemicals factory for which once again he uses coercion to make the ministers come on his side. A newspaper publisher Manik Dasgupta (Mithun Chakraborty) and a firebrand journalist Shyam (R. Madhavan) expose many irregularities in the functioning style of Guru Bhai.

Manik Dasgupta (Or Nanaji), a Gandhian, was the man whom Guru earlier considered as his father. Even though they respected each other personally, their ideologies clashed. Guru's wife Sujatha (Aishwarya Rai) is the pillar of support that always stands by him in the biggest of crises. He also has a few select men who belong to him for reasons more than mere business interests.

Internationally awarded director Ratnam speaking about his latest says "Guru is taken from different spirits and attitudes of a handful of people who have changed our society and business environment. A lot of visionary spirit and attitude may have gone to create the character of Gurukanth Desai,".

"Abhishek Bachchan was always my first choice to play Gurukanth Desai. He carries the entire film on his shoulders and he is remarkable for his body language and gradual transition from a young man to a mature old man. There is a lot of nuances and subtlety in his seamless performance. While watching the first copy of the film, I could get the touch and feel of Guru in him," says the director of critically acclaimed and award winning films like 'Bombay', 'Dil Se' (From the Heart), 'Roja', 'Kannarhil Muthamittal' (A Peck on the Heart) etc.

"Aishwarya Rai has been underrated as an actress. Her character of Sujatha is a strong willed woman and is the conscience of Gurukanth Desai. There is a lot of ease and grace that goes into her performance. It looks real" Mani Ratnam comments on former Miss World's performance.

The movie also stars Mithun Chakraborty in a supporting role, and Mallika Sherawat in a guest appearance. 'Guru' was dubbed in Tamil and shooting for the film took place in Turkey and Badami, Melkote, Karnataka, as well as in Chennai and Madurai, Tamil Nadu. The music is composed by notable A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Gulzar. Cinematography for the film is handled by Rajiv Menon while the editor is Sreekar Prasad.