BOTTOM LINE
Decent Sports Drama
OUR RATING
2.75/5
CENSOR
‘U’ Certified.
What is the film about?
A hardnosed coach Aditya (Venkatesh) bringing glory to India by training a raw talent from the streets.
How is Venkatesh’s performance?
Venkatesh has given a superb performance as a coach. He brings various shades to the character with remarkable ease. Age is a problem, but Venkatesh covers it with his conviction in the character as he lives every moment of it. The great thing about it is we only see the character. However, in the end, there are few moments which bring the typical Venkatesh mark to the fore. The good thing is that they aren’t distracting.
Direction By Sudha Kongara?
One doesn’t know if Sudha Kongara had Venkatesh in mind for the character, but when we watch the movie, it looks tailor-made for the star. It gives the film additional boost as it needs one to connect to the lead character. Even in an overall sense, Guru looks to be an extension of “younger” Venkatesh family man image who is always there for his women. Here the woman happens to be a boxer played by Ritika.
Guru is a sports drama, this itself restricts the story arc. Within that arc, there are enough moments to engage the audience. There are few scenes which will surely bring a tear out. Still, the film is saddled with few problems which bring the overall effect down. The nativity factor is missing. Guru feels like a Tamil movie with Telugu actors. The ethos of a local film is missing despite a nice “local hero” touch through heroine character.
The second half gets very slow, and the screenplay turns predictable. The climax boxing scenes too could have been shown in a far better manner. All these withholds the movie from becoming a truly memorable one despite spirited performances from all the cast.
Ritika Singh and others?
Ritika Singh is amazing. She is as significant as the hero. It is her pairing with Venkatesh that is so crucial for the people to engage with the narrative and she does a fantastic job. Mumtaz Sorcar too has few brilliant moments of acting on display. Her scene with Ritika in the second half being a prime example. Nassar goes over the board but is fine in critical scenes. Zakir Hussain is okay. The rest don’t have much to do in the movie.
Music and other departments?
Music by Santosh Narayanan is splendid. The background score is terrific. The cinematography is excellent. Editing could have been better, especially in the boxing scenes. Dialogues are good.
Highlights?
Venkatesh
Ritika Singh
Background score
Few emotional scenes
Drawbacks?
Predictable narrative
Boxing scenes
Nativity issue
Alternative Take
Films in sports genre are predictable by nature due to the limitations, it operates. Guru is a decent one within that genre. An alternative take would be to execute the boxing scenes in a better and exciting way.
Did I enjoy it?
Yes
Will you recommend it?
Yes
Guru Review by Siddartha Toleti
– Second half could have been better. Our review will be up shortly.
– Here comes the best shot; Rithika after winning the championship runs towards Venky and jumps on him. This emotional shot came out very well and stands out at the end.
– Climax boxing fight could have been designed better to create a bigger impact.
– Venky directly takes Ritika to national finals who fails in earlier match isn’t convincing.
– Second half running on a very predictable note.
– Santhosh Narayanan BGM is good, adds lot of value to the visuals.
– Songs are decent and shot well according to situations.
– First Half Report: Best performances of the lead cast is the major highlight of first half. Rithika steals the show with her attitude. Overall it’s a good first half.
– Show started with Aditya (Venky) a very rough boxing coach gets transferred to Vizag. Our next update will be at interval. Visit this space for first half report.
– Story moves to Vizag within few minutes of the start.
– First few minutes into the film we will see too much of Pawan Kalyan in the film as the actress is a fan of him. She even goes to the extent of imitating his dialogues in few scenes.
– Nassar will be seen along with Venkatesh most of the time in first half. He gets a mix of comedy and serious role.
– Though Venky is good as a strict coach, Ritika Singh is a show stealer in the first half for sure. At times it feels like her rough accent is getting overboard yet her awesome performance grabs the main attention.
– Venky sports salt and pepper look. He looks intense, at times he looks old too.
– Raghu Babu as bad father for Rithika did his job.
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Victory is there in his name. But, in the recent times, this victory seems to be turning its back to Venkatesh. He is now at a juncture where he needs to score a hit to keep himself in the league of the senior star heroes like Balakrishna, Nagarjuna and of course, Chiranjeevi.
As an actor, Venkatesh was never found fault with. But, he needs a successful movie as a solo hero to improve his market. At this juncture, he chose to do a sports film like ‘Guru‘, which demands physical exertion as well as a solid performance.
It was also a safe bet as it is a proven subject in Tamil, where Madhavan scored brownie points both because of his appearance and also performance. Venkatesh has impressed us with his salt and pepper natural look and fans are excited for the song ‘Jingidi’ sung by Venkatesh.
More than these two aspects, it’s the trailer that was impressive with regard to Venkatesh’s performance. Every cine-lover is expecting to see something very substantial coming from Venky.
As of now, the buzz around the movie has been very good and audiences are waiting with interest to see the female director’s, Sudha Kongara’s directorial skills. Hope, the Tamil nativity is tactfully handled and we get the feel as if it is the original Telugu movie.
If the content of the film is executed well in Telugu, just good word of mouth can do wonders for this movie. Venky would also have the confidence to choose different subjects like his contemporary Nagarjuna.
Venky has the scope to walk away with all the credit if the movie fares well as the rest of the lead cast aka the heroine Ritika Singh and technicians aka the director Sudha Kongara have yet to make their mark in the Telugu film industry.
All in all, hope this movie might turn out to be a hit and revive Venky’s market. Fans have their fingers crossed hoping Venky walks into success range with ‘Guru‘. Watch out for our Guru Review shortly.
