I would like to like to state at the very beginning, I am not a fan of Hindi movies, & am definitely not a fan of Mani Ratnam movies. The only reason I would want to watch Guru was because of the rumors that it was to be based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani. After watching the movie, I have no doubt that it clearly is.

As far as the movie goes, it fell woefully short of expectations. But, when a director attempts to make a movie on such an eminent personality, one expects a little bit more in terms of insight into the life.

This story line can at best be described as the romanticized perspective of a largely uninformed & unintelligent 3rd person. The story is poor at tapping the mind of a genius, and focuses on some of the controversial aspects of his life. The most controversial aspects, have been conveniently ignored.

The characters too follow the pattern of the poor definition of the story. After watching the movie, you will leave with a feeling of indifference towards most of the characters, while you would be frustrated with the shallowness & stupidity of others. Most characters appear a murky gray, rather than richly immersed in their passions or rich in their lack of.

Admittedly it is very difficult to make a movie of the life of an eminent personality like Dhirubhai. The fact that Dhirubhai's life is still so strongly etched in the memory of all does not help either. But, I would like to think there was more to the life of a great man than an unnatural ability to convince the characters in the movie of his views, while having little or no impact on everyone else.

This movie is a very small step forward in Indian cinema, where the life of a contemporary, controversial but great figure was tackled. But alas, fails to make the most of a movie making opportunity. Sprinkled with the masala recipe that makes all Indian movies, just like Udipi Restaurants in Mumbai make south Indian food. The same at every other corner, a far cry from the original. At no point talking a risk of being different, bold or even honestwith unhealthy fats added for taste. The ringing of the cash register is always more important than the quality of the product try to make something to the lowest common denominator. Not hated but any, liked by a few.