It is often stated that 2007 is still one of the most satisfying years for a fan of Indian cinema. Over the decades, we have witnessed many years in which we saw a series of entertaining and impactful movies released in a single calendar year. However, the reason why 2007 was different is because we saw movies of different genres setting the box office on fire.
Films like Om Shanti Om, Welcome, Chak De! India, Partner, Taare Zameen Par, Heyy Babyy, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Namastey London, and Ta Ra Rum Pum were released in a single year. One more film was released in 2007 that is still considered as one of the greatest Indian films ever. Yes! We are talking about the masterpiece named Guru, which critically acclaimed filmmaker, Mani Ratnam had directed. Despite so many commercial and inspiring films released in the same year, Guru still made a mark in people's minds.
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Mani Ratnam assembled a stellar cast for his film, Guru, including Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Mithun Chakraborty, R. Madhavan, Vidya Balan, Roshan Seth, and many more. Mani Ratnam not only directed the film but also wrote its story and screenplay. For the dialogues of Guru, Mani Ratnam joined hands with Vijay Krishna Acharya, and the latter repaid the director's immense faith in him by penning timeless dialogues like "Jab log tumhare khilaaf bolne lage…Samajh lo tarakki kar rahe ho".
For the unversed, Guru was made on a budget of Rs. 22 crores, and it was a commercial success as it managed to collect a sum of Rs. 83.67 crores. It was not just a commercial success like most of the films released in 2007, as it received a rating of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.
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Not only this, The New York Times also praised Mani Ratnam for bringing such an inspiring story at a time when comedy movies were dominating Hindi cinema. Even after so many years of its success, people still talk about Guru and how it is also one of the best films of Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan's respective careers. However, apart from all these well-known facts, there are still some hidden things to know about this film, which holds a special place in every cinema lover's heart.
After the gigantic success of Guru, a section of society started speculating that Ambani's PR was doing everything to steal the credit of Mani Ratnam's film. It was a silly claim as everyone was aware of the fact that Guru was loosely based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani.
While Abhishek Bachchan's character, 'Gurukant Desai' was inspired by Dhirubhai Ambani, his on-screen wife, 'Sujata Desai', played by Aishwarya Rai was influenced by Kokilaben Ambani.
Abhishek Bachchan is a tremendous actor, and over the years, he has done a series of good roles in his movies. However, it was his performance in Guru that impressed his father, Amitabh Bachchan the most. After watching Guru, Amitabh Bachchan shared his thoughts on Abhishek's acting and admitted that he was phenomenal in the film.
Not only this, Big B even added that he had choked with emotions after coming out of the theatre. Calling Abhishek's acting in Guru as the 'performance of a lifetime', Amitabh Bachchan was on cloud nine when he shared his thoughts with the media after watching the film.
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It was back in 2020 when Abhishek Bachchan shared a hidden and interesting fact about the film, Guru. The actor revealed that the film's song, Tere Bina, was shot long after the completion of its principal photography, and at that time, he had already started working on his next project, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.
For JBJ, Abhishek had grown his hair, and when he went on the sets of Guru, Mani Ratnam decided to pin up his hair to keep the film's continuity intact. The actor admitted that if anyone looks closely at his hair in the song and compares it with his hair in the film, they will find a slight difference.
Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan worked for the first time in the film, Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke, which was released in 2000. After working in films like Kuch Naa Kaho (2003), Dhoom 2 (2006) and Umrao Jaan (2006), they came quite close. However, it was the film, Guru (2007) that paved the way for their marriage.
Aishwarya and Abhishek were reportedly dating even before working in Guru, but it was after spending time on the sets of Mani Ratnam's film they were fully convinced that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with each other. It will always remain a special film for Abhishek and Aishwarya, as just 97 days after the release of Guru, they tied the marital knot.
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Abhishek Bachchan once revealed a hilarious anecdote about the film, Guru, and it clearly proves that working with Mani Ratnam is nothing but an experience full of surprises. Abhishek shared how one of his best friends visited him when he was shooting for Guru and ended up playing the character of a minister in the film. Luckily, it was an over-the-shoulder shot, which was why Abhishek's friend agreed to do it, and everything ended quite smoothly.
No doubt, Guru is a special film for Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as it played a crucial role in their love story. What are your thoughts on it? Let us know.
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