Guru is a kind of a movie that would reinforce one's belief in the sincerity of bollywood. It not only provided a good start for 2007 but also was able to wipe off the memories of last few bad months of 2006 (especially after Dhoom 2 disaster).

This movie is a story of a common man who fights all the odd against him and all the social pressure to become a rich man. The movie portrays how a strongly committed person can achieve his goals and very graciously also shows all the bitterness that surrounds the sweetness of the success. Guru is a very real world cinema. It does not tries to pose itself as a ideal world movie. One can feel that issues like dowry and corruption are promoted in this movie. But then we have to realize that this movie shows the time of 1950s and even today we are no where close to the eradication of dowry or corruption. At the end movie was able to send audiences home happy by forgiving all the misdeeds of Guru Bhai.

This movie is a showcase of excellent performances. AB can be rated as near flawless. It is especially very hard for him to satisfy critics since its a natural tendency for anyone to compare him with BIG B. But he was able to prove his own strengths in this movie and this will surely put him in the race for a national award this year. Though Aishwarya has given one of the best performances of her career, I would have to say that there was not much for her in this movie. But however small her screen time may be, she played it with utmost grace. Now comes the best part of describing the performances; this movie is a treat for ardent Mithun da's fan. This movie again proves what kind of perfomer Mithun is and what he can do in a movie when he puts his best effort. Some other strong performances includes Roshan Seth (as always), Madhavan, Vidya Balan etc etc.

Mani Ratnam is at his usual best. Screenplay is beautiful though he mixed a lot of south Indian touch with Gujrat. The villages and the backgrounds looked more like from Andhra than from Gujrat. A R Rehman was again excellent though I felt that Guljar was unable to do a complete justice with the lyrics. Story is well intact and will not allow viewers to take their minds away from it. Choreography is very ordinary but mix very well with the theme of the movie. I wont give full points to the costume designers as they gave a south India touch in a Gujrati theme.

Some minor flaws: some parts of movie was redundant and unnecessary. The scene where Guru bhai goes to the minister for the approval of his petro chemical plant was not necessary. I think Director tried to show his enterprising skills but was redundant with other scenes through out the movie like golf scene, persuading IAS officer to open the trade etc. Sometimes it feels that movie is going very fast. But again I might be too picky.

Overall its a must watch movie to appreciate a life time performance from AB and catch the glimpse of Mithun da's power