Triumph and tragedy

Guru and Citizen Kane share a common theme: men, fated to rise rapidly to prominence by bartering their souls, are eventually doomed. Rahul Sahgal looks at the similarities and the contrasts between the two films

Will Guru, in times to come, attain the cult status of the best Hindi film ever?

It was in the year 1997 that Citizen Kane (1941) was voted the greatest American film by the American Film Institute, much to the consternation of Godfather and Casablanca fans. A decade later, Mani Ratnam takes a leap of faith into the controversial genre of biographical pictures or biopics, as they are called, by directing Guru.

Citizen Kane is loosely based on the turbulent life, both personal and professional, of the Press baron William Randolph Hearst, widely acknowledged as the greatest advocate of yellow journalism at the turn of the 20th century. One anecdote related by Fredric Remington, the legendary artist, is now a classic. Writing from Cuba, he is reported to have told Hearst that there was no sign of the war he was sent to cover. Hearst famously wired him, "You furnish me the pictures, and I will furnish you a war".

The film was not just co-written and directed by Orson Welles, it also starred him as Kane. It goes on to recount his epical journey in a series of sequential flashbacks that unravel his enigmatic personality, and is narrated by close aides and an estranged wife, after his death. That Charles Foster Kane remains the mythical tragic hero, inscrutable even in death, is part of the enduring beauty of the film. Widely admired for its deep-focus cinematography and non-linear story telling, the film is a part of the curriculum in many film schools.

Guru, as is now common knowledge, is an inspired version of an equally tumultuous odyssey of a man who not just founded an empire, but also enabled millions of shareholders to become millionaires. However, despite the similarities in the narrative structurebiopic, childhood to old-age/death, rags to riches, accidental meeting with future wives—it is the thematic consistencies which are much too apparent to ignore: men, fated to rise rapidly to prominence by bartering their souls, are eventually doomed. It is preordained as the price of triumph. As Welles noted, "Almost all serious stories are stories of failure with a death in them, but there is more a lost paradise in them, than defeat. To me, that is the central theme in western culture— the lost paradise".

The fact that family abandoned both Guru and Kane at a young age (purportedly, for their own good) seems to exacerbate the lack of emotional bonding with anyone; the vacuum created thus, manifesting itself as resentment towards anything remotely authoritative. The only child of their parents, they were both fundamentally lonely, yet driven, and the lack of a mentoring influence or a beaconing device led to flawed aspirations: power, control and immortality.

In an ironical twist of fate, because of their anti-establishment ideals they took on existing corrupt institutions, but ended up becoming the demons they had set out to vanquish.

Starting off as champions of the underprivileged, both characters soon take detours from their respective "declaration of principles" and never make it to the ethical ending. After all, they are only human; a little trampling of law and subversion of morality in their quest for success is a meager ransom to pay. So, if Kane buys off the entire staff of a rival newspaper in a swift but calculated move to gain overnight respectability for editorial superiority, Guru counters the "License/Quota Raj" by covertly smuggling entire production plants to gain an edge over an old Parsee industrial house. Paralleling this in their personal lives, Kane lets go off Leland, best friend and conscientious alter ego, for being unflattering about the relationship between Kane and his mistress, Susan. Similarly, Guru’s brother-in-law, faced with a moral dilemma, walks out on him, refusing to surrender the control of his life to Guru.

Newspapers play a critical and prominent role in both films, highlighting the sometimes manipulative, yet always omnipotent, power that the media wields over public opinion. Kane, who owns the Inquirer, uses it in a subsequently aborted attempt at gaining political clout by running for the Governor’s office. The entire film is, in fact, a chronicle by a reporter to demystify Kane for the public, albeit unrewardingly. While Guru’s character runs foul of an influential, "independent", leftwing editor, who triggers the expos`E9 that eventually leads to his paralytic attack.

The films are a convergence of the basic plot of Achilles—perfect, but with a fatal flaw, and that of Faust—selling your soul for your goal. The point of departure, however, is the resolution of the film, where Kane scores over Guru. Kane dies an embittered, alienated man, still longing for a lost childhood amongst his possessions—the lifeless marble statues standing mute testimony to his withering life force—with minimal human contact in his palatial retreat, Xanadu. Guru, on the other hand, having subverted the system, convinces a committee with more bark than bite to let him off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. Having shared his gains with the public, making a mockery of justice, he rises in a Phoenix-like allegory to become a single-dimension caricature of a modern day Robin Hood. If Mani Ratnam had a philosophical core in mind for the character, he leaves it behind in the editing room and the film lapses into a rise-fall-redemption formula, typifying Bollywoodian happy endings.

So, is Guru India’s answer to Citizen Kane? In all fairness, Ratnam does exhibit immense control over his polished craft—period sets, regulated acting, the condensation of a dramatic period of almost 60 years into a linear, economical style. However, despite a lengthy build-up, the eruption of dramatic energy, expected at the heightened point of conflict during the climax, never arrives.

And, will Guru, in times to come, attain the cult status of the best Hindi film ever? With Sholay, Pyaasa and Anand refusing to age—owing to their ‘immaculate conception’ and annual, super-size botox shots—there are no empty slots at the crest. If only the film had not dropped the baton in the last 25 minutes, it could well have made it to the Top 25.

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