Citizen Kant
(a k a how I learned to stop worrying about the frames and love the narrative)










...I know, I know. The pun on the extended title is a 'lil forced and it's down right blasphemous to trivialize Mr. Kubrick's classic for mere blogging! But as Guru Kant Desai would say, it's a free world and everything out there is up for grabs. You just need the drive, a little dowry and some shareholders' confidence.

First things first - Guru is no Citizen Kane. In fact I don't think Mr. Ratnam wanted it that way either. But the 'rags to riches' chronicle of a single man-Guru, high on adrenaline and ambition and low on scruples, definitely brings that old classic into our collective memory at one point or the other in almost 3 hours of its viewing time.

It is, however, refreshing to see a piece of cinema high on narrative and not so obsessed with how it looks in every frame that's projected on the screen. Our films, and especially Mani Ratnam's, are guilty of that very sin. Guru, while not a total departure from being vane, is definitely a step in the right direction. A small step indeed for him ... and a giant leap for the rest of the 'filmkind.'

Right at the outset the movie draws us in into the protagonist's world, exposing Guru's ambitious exploits and Ms. Sherawat's legs in a handheld-jerkyTurkey. A staple up-beat number, bathed in monsoon, to introduce the main actress and we are home. So is Guru-bhai. A little bit of chracter development, some superficial and some decently fleshed-out, a few chance encounters with secondary players, romantic sub-plots exploiting the particular forte of the director, musical interludes, judiciously thrown in the background but some forcing themselves into unwanted songs for the galleries... and you race to the finale where a tired Guru fights yet another battle with a grand inquiry commision. Fighting with a dwindling accent, some astute insights into capitalism, but one faux pas of a grand sacrelegious comparision to himself and Gandhiji, he comes out on top minus a minor monetary setback. Then comes that fitting cinematic encore of the triumphant man addressing his digitally-interfaced cheering followers in a packed stadium amidst a happy family, proud friends and a cool circular Dolley move taking us to a crescendo.

Yeah Guru-bhai keeps switching in and out of his Gujrati accent at his will, yes that woman suffering from sclerosis and her idealistic partner crusader-journalist is too much to stomach and sure the narrative moves sometimes, not visually, but by virtue of its dialogue... albeit sharply written and of course the movie doesn't pull all stops but holds back in creating an otherwise powerful expose of its main character and ends up, erasing some promising grey shades, making it slightly simplistic. Also those high-speed strobey shots to underline the hero's drama and character dilemma are a little indulgent and call attention to form more than content.

But it is definitely an engaging saga, almost bordering on bio-pic genre so alien to our cinema, which captures hi s and lo s of its protagonist with relentless honesty, uncharacteristic elan, powerhouse performances and some virtuoso cinematic execution.

...to sum it up; Guru sure takes care of bijness.