Guru

An affable conman gets into trouble after he witnesses a murder and is forced to leave town due to the shoot-at-sight order is issued against him.

Review: While entering the cinema hall to watch Guru, one is bound to have apprehensions about the film; firstly because it sees Ankush Chaudhary and Sanjay Jadhav collaborating again and more importantly because Jadhav’s earlier films have been panned for being repetitive. Thankfully, this one isn’t like that although it borrows some trademarks of the director’s style.

The posters, promos and teasers have screamed throughout about the film revolving around the titular character Guru (Chaudhary). Chaudhary carries his newly acquired ‘superstar of Marathi cinema’ status quite well as he laughs, cries, dances and fights through the film. Like most Bollywood and south masala flicks, our hero here is the large-hearted conman who has tricks ready to squeeze out of the most difficult situations. But when he witnesses the murder of an honest man at the hands of a corrupt businessman (Mankani), his world turns upside down and he is forced to leave the city till the matter cools down. Guru moves to his brother’s home in a distant village but the problem he is embroiled in follows him there too, without him knowing it. Also, here he meets the love of his life Ovi (Urmila) whom he lovingly calls Mango Dolly. Gradually, Guru starts fighting his brother Madhav’s (Narkar) battle with a local toughie who wants to sell off the village land to bring up a ‘megacity’ there.

From the story aspect, there’s nothing astonishingly new about Guru. It follows a tried and tested formula of a masala film but sticks to its code of ‘only entertainment’ throughout. There are rhyming punch-lines, colourful outfits, humour, dance, drama, dream sequences and more, which prevent Guru from becoming boring.

Ankush sails through with a performance that further cements his command over viewers. In a film that is entirely Ankush’s, Urmila holds fort and prevents herself from being just the glam-quotient of the film by making the most of her role. Also notable is Murli Sharma’s performance as the Prakash Raj-inspired villain. His eccentric portrayal is fear-inducing as well as humorous.

While Marathi films are mostly known for strong content, there are films like these that break out to give viewers a purely entertaining experience. In terms of entertainment, Guru gets full marks for evoking cheers and whistles from the masses.