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Movies / On DVD / The Guru
The Guru

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The Guru (2003)

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Reviews Counted:87

Fresh:50

Rotten:37

Average Rating:5.7/10

Consensus: A sweetly silly but wafer-thin romantic comedy.

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: Only a guru could have predicted the fate awaiting Ramu Gupta (Jimi Mistry), a young Indian dance teacher with the best moves in Delhi. Mesmerized by a friend's promise of a New York penthouse and... Only a guru could have predicted the fate awaiting Ramu Gupta (Jimi Mistry), a young Indian dance teacher with the best moves in Delhi. Mesmerized by a friend's promise of a New York penthouse and a red Mercedes, India's Tony Manero gives up the comforts of home to become a star in America. But the road to fame in New York is no magic carpet ride and Ramu winds up in a crowded Queens walk-up apartment, waiting tables at an Indian restaurant and scrambling for any audition that comes along.

Still, good fortune can arise from strange places as Ramu discovers when a catering gig at a ditzy socialite's (Marisa Tomei) birthday party catapults him into an extravagant version of the American dream. Mistaken for a spiritual healer, Ramu becomes an overnight celebrity with the city's elite hanging onto his every word - no matter how absurd. The trouble is, he's also falling in love with the one woman (Heather Graham) who knows the real source of his seemingly profound insights and Ramu must choose between his newfound notoriety and his love for a woman who accepts him as he is.

Bollywood meets Hollywood in The Guru, an exuberantly comic tale of culture clash from Universal Pictures and Working Title Films. The Guru stars Heather Graham (From Hell), Marisa Tomei (In the Bedroom), Jimi Mistry (East is East), Christine Baranski (Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas) and Michael McKean (Best in Show), as well as Dash Mihok (The Perfect Storm) and Malachy McCourt (Green Card). [More]

Starring: Heather Graham, Marisa Tomei, Jimi Mistry, Christine Baranski

Starring: Heather Graham, Marisa Tomei, Jimi Mistry, Christine Baranski, Michael McKean, Malachy McCourt, Dash Mihok

Director: Daisy Von Scherler Mayer

Director: Daisy Von Scherler Mayer
Screenwriter: Tracey Jackson
Producer: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Michael London
Composer: David Carbonara
Studio: Universal Pictures

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Reviews for The Guru

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
08/26/02
Guardian [UK]
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N/R

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Full Review Source: FilmFour.com | comment Comment
08/27/02
FilmFour.com
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
07/14/02
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

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Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Empire Magazine
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A core of feel-good humour within the rhythm of a con comedy, delivering crowd-pleasing warmth at the same time as some genuinely sharp laughs.

Full Review Source: UK Critic | comment Comment
09/09/02
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic

Stirs together Bollywood and Hollywood, satire and romance, to create an appealing masala dish of a movie.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
08/12/02
Jason Best
Jason Best
BBC
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Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/30/02
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
N/R

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Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
07/02/03
Boston Phoenix
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
03/21/03
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
03/06/03
Orlando Weekly
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Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
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Agreeable and slipshod in equal fashion.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
01/31/03
USA Today
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Full Review Source: Modamag.com | comment Comment
02/02/03
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
Modamag.com

It may have the melody, visage and basics of a Bollywood biggie, but truth be told, The Guru, despite it's zest and lure, gives the far-off genus a bad wrap.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/08/02
Clint Morris
Clint Morris
Film Threat

Had “The Guru” beefed up its vacillating plot with more observable differences between the states and India, we might have had more of a film here

Full Review Source: Moviehole | comment Comment
11/11/02
Clint Morris
Clint Morris
Moviehole

...a clunky, idiotic, laughless and amateurish collection of scenes targeted to people who have the intellect of mattress springs.

Full Review Source: Cinemaphile.org | comment Comment
02/28/03
David Keyes
David Keyes
Cinemaphile.org

What are talented actresses like Marisa Tomei and Heather Graham doing in a wafer-thin fizzle like this?

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
01/31/03
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

This American version of a Bollywood musical is one of the worst films I have run across in the last few years.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
07/31/03
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

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Full Review Source: Blunt Review | comment Comment
01/24/03
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt
Blunt Review
 
 
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