This movie is a sure sign of the rapidly evolving India n film industry. Mani Ratnam has picked up an intriguing storyline and , in his characteristic manner , made it into another interesting movie.
Gurukant Desai (Abhishek Bachhan) hails from a small gujrati village , but that is the only small thing in his otherwise gigantic personality. Armed with dreams , he makes his way through the dense jungle of businessmen , who make no secret of the fact that they don’t want him there. Achieving one milestone after the other , riding on the wave of wit and acumen , the juggernaut is unstoppable. His insolence and disdain of authority is almost contagious.
The director creates a perfect 1950s Bombay , complete with Vintage cars and ancient telephones. The dialogues are beautifully written , with Abhishek getting the best lines at the best moments (seems a bit unnatural sometimes). But in all Abhishek Bachhan has done justice to his ‘Sarkar’ fame and his acting stands out as extraordinary. Aishwarya Rai too , for a change , has come up beautifully as the strong and supporting wife of an iconoclast business tycoon on the fast track to success and fame. Mithun Chakraborty also plays an interesting part , and does it with panache.
The A.R Rehman music is good , but the songs seem to be misplaced and have a tendency to stall the movie than usher it forward.
The movie seems an odd mixture of The Fountainhead and Citizen Kane, and at times the ‘good-good’ story fails to make sense. Nevertheless , watch it for beautiful direction and great acting and to learn how a small timer can make it big.
