The Guru (2002 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. |
| The Guru | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Daisy von Scherler Mayer |
| Produced by | Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Michael London |
| Written by | Tracey Jackson |
| Starring | Jimi Mistry, Heather Graham, Marisa Tomei |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 21 August 2002 |
| Running time | 94 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ~ US$11,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
The Guru is a 2002 comedy film written by Tracey Jackson and directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer, about a dance teacher who comes to America from India to pursue a normal career but incidentally stumbles into a brief but high-profile career as a sex guru, a career based on a philosophy he learns from a pornographic actress.
The film stars Jimi Mistry as the title character, Heather Graham as the actress he learns from, and Marisa Tomei, who helps him reach his guru status among her high society New York City friends.
Contents |
[edit] Production
 |
Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
[edit] Plot
Ramu, a dance teacher, leaves his native Bombay to seek his fortune in the United States. He is lured by the exaggerations of his cousin, Vijay, who has already moved to New York City and claims to own a Mercedes and live in a penthouse but actually lives in relative poverty.
Seeking work as an actor, the naïve Ramu unknowingly auditions for and then lands a role in a pornographic film. That evening he accompanies Vijay and his roommates on a catering job at a society birthday party. When the Indian swami hired to address the party falls into drunken oblivion, Ramu takes his place. Lacking a real philosophy, he improvises by repeating the advice he had been given by Sharonna, the adult film actress he met on the set earlier. Lexi, the birthday girl, is so impressed that she initiates a sexual relationship with him. Convinced he is a guru, Lexi promotes him as such to her friends. To maintain the fiction he returns to Sharonna and starts to pay her for lessons in sexual philosophy on the pretext of seeking to make it in the porno business. Sharonna is engaging in a deception of her own, telling her firefighter fiancé, Rusty, that she works as a schoolteacher.
The guru's influence spreads—he even transforms the lives of Lexi's divided parents—and Lexi finds him a bigshot agent, who launches him with a night at the Broadway Playhouse. On the afternoon of the show, Sharonna and Ramu have an intimate conversation that ends with a kiss. They part confused. Sharonna leaves before Ramu can confess to having made her secret philosophy public.
That evening, Sharonna is dining with Rusty, his parents and their parish priest. She is recognised as a porno actress by patrons of the diner (and surreptitiously by Father Flannigan) although Rusty remains unaware of the truth of the accusations. Sharonna flees the restaurant in distress. She telephones Ramu for comfort and is told by one of his roommates that he is at the Playhouse.
She walks into the show unaware and is appalled by Ramu's betrayal of her trust. That night Ramu watches a Bollywood movie and fantasizes that Sharonna is the heroine where he and she sing Kya Mil Gaya from Sasural, 1961 that morphs into a Bollywood version of Grease (1978), which are the films that inspired him as a child.
On the Sally Jessie Raphael show on the day of Sharonna's wedding, Ramu, who has been having doubts, takes an on-screen call from Rusty in which Rusty anonymously announces his love for his fellow fireman, the second hoseman. Ramu advises him and then confesses his fraud to the audience. As he leaves the studio he tells Lexi that she is the true guru and gives her his turban. Vijay drives him to the wedding where he and the second hoseman interrupt the ceremony to declare their love. The congregation erupts into the Bollywood number and Ramu and Sharonna drive into a blissful future in his red Mercedes.
[edit] Cast
- Jimi Mistry - Ramu Gupta
- Heather Graham - Sharonna
- Marisa Tomei - Lexi
- Michael McKean - Dwain
- Dash Mihok - Rusty McGee
- Emil Marwa - Vijay Rao
- Christine Baranski - Chantal, Lexi's mother
- Ronald Guttman - Edwin, Lexi's father
- Malachy McCourt - Father Flannigan
- Ajay Naidu - Sanjay
- Anita Gillette - Mrs. McGee
- Pat McNamara - Mr. McGee
- Dwight Ewell - Peaches
[edit] Reception
The guru received a 58% Tomatometer rating.[1]
