Guru (1997 film)
| Guru | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Rajiv Anchal |
| Written by | C.G. Rajendra Babu Rajiv Anchal (Story) |
| Starring | Mohanlal Suresh Gopi Madhupal Sithara Kaveri Murali |
| Cinematography | S. Kumar |
| Music by | Ilaiyaraaja |
Production company | Janasammathi Creations Pvt Ltd. |
Release date |
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| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
Guru (literally "the teacher and spiritual guide") is a 1997 Indian Malayalam-language fantasy film film written by C.G. Rajendra Babu and directed by Rajiv Anchal. Mohanlal played the lead role in the film, while Nedumudi Venu, Srinivasan, Suresh Gopi, Sithara, Kaveri Muralidharan and Sreelakshmi appeared in supporting roles.
The film was selected as India's official entry to the Oscars to the Best Foreign Film category.[1][2][3]
The original musical score and songs were composed by Ilaiyaraaja. His symphonic score was conducted and performed by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Hungary. This was the first time in Indian cinema, the background score of a film was recorded completely outside the country.
Synopsis
Guru is a fantasy film. It is highly symbolic and makes a statement on terrorism by religions and the evils of the world. The story starts in small peaceful village in India. There is peace between the Hindus and the Muslims that live there. They all get along like family. Raghurāman (Mohanlal) is the son of the local Hindu temple's priest. When an ambitious politician's (NF Varghese) goons disguised as Muslims cause trouble at the local temple, tensions break out between the two communities. The tensions soon flame into a religious riot. Muslims and Hindus began killing each other for the sake of their own religions. Raghurāman joins Hindu gang which is about to attack a group of Muslims who have taken refuge in a guru's asram (a place where a holy guru lived and worked). But at a point Raghurāman has an out of the world experience in the asram.
He is now in the world of the blind. He is taken to a world where everyone is blind (Religious) and where people do not believe in the sense of sight (Logic/commonsense). Raghurāman saves a man from death and befriends him. He is astonished by the perfect activities of the citizens. They actually believe it as a sin to think that there is a thing called sight. Their children are taught that there is no world of sight from childhood (brainwashed by parents religion). When Raghurāman tries to tell them that there is a world of sight (common sense) and that he can see, they don't believe him. They consider him evil because he can do things that they can't.
Raghurāman eats a common fruit (Ilaama pazham: Symbolic of religious beliefs) that they have in that land. He finds out the hard way that this tasty addictive fruit is the cause of their blindness. Now that he is blind (religious) and helpless. The kings soldiers, whom he had evaded before because of his sight, captures him. The king (Suresh Gopi) sentences him to death by drinking the extract from the seeds of the same fruit that made him blind. This form of punishment has never been given to anyone before. The seeds (commonsense) of the addictive fruit that Reghuraman eats is considered to be fatally poisonous and bitter (Atheism). After the soldiers carry out the sentence he is left to die. But instead he sees that his blindness is cured by the seeds extract.
He then spreads the message throughout the kingdom that their beliefs were wrong. They still refuse to believe him. Some people take the seeds and experience sight. The people with sight try to take revenge on the people without sight. Raghurāman stops this with a wonderful speech. In the end everyone including the king is convinced to take the bitter seed (truth) than delicious fruit (Lie). He is brought back into the normal world by the Guru's spirit. Raghurāman realizes that his thirst for revenge by the sake of religion is a sin. He stops the riot gang's plan to kill the Muslims by blasting a bomb. And help people without seeing their religious status.
Cast
- Mohanlal as Raghuraman.
- Sithara as Vaidehi
- Sreelakshmi as Sitalakshmi
- Charuhasan as Raghuraman's Father
- Suresh Gopi as King Vijayanta.
- Madhupal as Ramanagan
- Kaveri Muralidharan as Princes Syamantaga.
- Murali as Sahib Abdullah.
- Srinivasan as Sravanan
- Nedumudi Venu as teacher
- Shankar - Singer (Guest role)
- Nassar - Culprit (Guest role)
- Captain Raju as Old King (Father of King Vijayanta)
- Reena as Old Queen (Mother of King Vijayanta)
- Mohan Raj as Senadhipan
- N F Varghese
- Kochu Preman
- Chandni Shaju
- K.B.Ganesh Kumar
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack contains 6 songs, all composed by Ilaiyaraaja and Lyrics by S. Ramesan Nair. The orchestration for the film's songs and background score were composed and conducted by Ilaiyaraaja, and performed by Hungary's Budapest Symphony Orchestra.
| # | Title | Singer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Aruna Kirana Deepam" | Dr. K. J. Yesudas |
| 2 | "Deva Sangeetham" | Dr. K. J. Yesudas |
| 3 | "Deva Sangeetham" | Dr. K. J. Yesudas, Radhika Thilak |
| 4 | "Guru Charanam" | G. Venugopal and Chorus |
| 5 | "Minnaram Manathe" | Sujatha Mohan |
| 6 | "Thathaaram" | M. G. Sreekumar |
Awards
- Screen Videocon Awards (South)[4]
- Best Cinematography (South) – S. Kumar
- Best Director (Malayalam) – Rajiv Anchal
- Best Actor (Malayalam) – Mohanlal
See also
- List of submissions to the 70th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of Indian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
- ^ "Guru goes in search of the Oscar". The Hindu. cscsarchive.org. 2 November 1997. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
- ^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- ^ "44 Countries Hoping for Oscar Nominations". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 24 November 1997. Archived from the original on 13 February 1998. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "And the Winners Are...". Screen India. 17 April 1998. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
External links
- Guru at Oneindia.in