‘Inspiring’ is one word Tollywood has been staying away for a while now as they are too risky for today’s Superstars and Producers. Movies on inspirational personalities or which inspire us have been hard to come by. However, Ghazi which released few weeks back falls in the same category and now we have one more movie to add to that list in the form of Guru.
The movie is an emotional roller coaster ride which keeps the audience glued with its gripping storytelling. During the initial credits we see a thank you note from director Sudha Kongara to her mentor Mani Ratnam, which was a clear sign of good things to come.
Instead of having a full synopsis here, let’s keep it short. It is the story of an aggressive coach who falls prey to politics in sports bodies and how he tries to redeem himself by finding a perfect boxer who can fulfill his boxing dreams. Will he find the perfect prodigy? Can he guide her to glory or will the system play a spoil spot again?
The theme itself presents an intriguing backdrop and the way the director handles the plot takes the movie a notch higher. It sticks to the theme throughout with some gripping emotional sequences every few minutes.
Handling a sports drama isn’t so easy but Sudha takes utmost care to detail which can be seen from the boxing fight sequences, nailing them to perfection. The writing should also be applauded for showing the lead actor in an anti-hero role with such aggression, which is quite odd and risky to pull off.
Coming to the performances, Venkatesh lived in his character and the perfection with which he portrayed the emotional scenes reminded us of the ‘Ganesh’ and ‘Dharma Chakram’ days. He got to play his own age which was also an added advantage. It was a huge risk to take up this role, but it has paid huge dividends.
Ritika Singh, who is also a boxer in real life was really at ease in fight sequences but what surprised us was the way she performed in the emotional scenes. She completely matched Venkatesh during the confrontation scenes which was again pretty impressive. Nassar was also apt in his role.
Music was a surprise as all the songs were really good and went with the flow of the movie and Santhosh Narayanan was at his best with BGM. Editing was crisp, while Screenplay should also get the applause.
Last 30 mins of the movie is definitely the highlight of the movie and the ending will definitely receive an applause from any crowd for the amount of inspiration it provides.
Final Word: Don’t miss this at any cost. This movie deserves all the applause for it’s brave attempt of bringing this genre to Telugu cinema.
