Guru - Strictly okay.

I watched Guru this weekend. It is not really a good movie.

Abhishek Bachchan is strictly okay. The climax is disappointing. There is absolutely no logic. He shouts and shouts and expects the audience to show sympathy to the character. The first scene where he smiles is really artificial and he's trying hard to act and it shows.

But Mithun Chakraborty was good as the press owner and Madhavan and Vidya Balan have played support roles.

As for Mani Ratnam:The overall dialog rendering was weak. It is a product from an old school of film-direction.I think he makes Tamil movies MUCH better than his Hindi ones.

Aishwarya Rai was good in a few scenes, as an actress.

However, it seems there are interesting parallels in real/reel life.

Abhishek Bachchan -> Dhirubhai Ambani
Aishwarya Rai -> Dhirubhai Ambani's wife
Mithun Chakraborty -> Ramnath Goenka
The Contractor Businessmen -> Nusli Wadia
Madhavan -> Arun Shourie

Blood Diamond

This weekend I managed to catch the movie "Blood Diamond" recommended by Zeeds..T.I.A Zeeds ;-). Good recommendation



Plot
~~~~~~~
Blood Diamond is a very gripping tale set in a third world African country called "Sierra Leone". It deals with the seedier side of Diamond mining in Africa.A civil war is raging in the country of Sierra Leone between the government and a group which calls itself as "R.U.F". The RUF controls quite a few diamond mines and after trading these diamonds, it uses the money to finance its activities like buying ammo, training new recruits etc.

The R.U.F captures one such man, Solomon Vandy as a slave to mine diamonds.As he struggles in the marshy diamond mines, Solomon discovers a large pink diamond. He buries it in a place before getting captured by the government who thinks he is a RUF rebel.

As he is jailed, he is noticed by Leo DiCaprio who is also jailed because he was involved in illegal trade of "Conflict Diamonds" (the diamonds mined in war zones and sold illegally).The two's lives are entangled and they need each other to meet their own personal goals. Thats the plot of the movie.

Apart from the basic plot, Leo DiCaprio dazzles with his acting abilities, effortlessly putting an african accent. Jennifer Connelly plays a reporter convincingly. And thankfully, it is not a hug-kiss relationship. "Djimon Hounsou" plays the part of Solomon Vandy and he steals the show. His love towards his son and family is really hard-hitting.

The script is tight, but the part which lingered in my mind, is the depiction of a third world country like Sierra Leone, the role of the United Nations in such countries, the refugee camps, the uneducated bruteness, the african woman's head dress, the music, the families,the child soldiers with AK47s amidst the untrammelled beauty of the dense equatorial forests, the mountains.

It is a must watch, expecially if you think India is a very poor country.