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Guna (film)
Encyclopedia
Guna is a 1991 Tamil
drama film
starring Kamal Haasan
, Roshini, Rekha, S. P. Balasubramaniam, Girish Karnad
, Ajay Rathnam, Janagaraj, and Sharat Saxena
. It was dubbed into Telugu
as Guna. The movie brought out Kamal's best in the acting arena and remains his best movie to date, in terms of acting, according to the Madras Film Institute.
) is a mentally affected person and receives treatment in a mental asylum. He does not like his father and his mother is a moll and his sister is a prostitute in the house that they live. He assumes a fictitious character named Abirami (also, the name of an Indian goddess) and registers in his mind that she is an angel who is going to marry him on a full-moon day. After coming out of the asylum, he believes the story to be true and believes that his Abirami is somewhere around. Meanwhile, a bunch of hooligans led by Janakaraj force the mentally unstable Guna to rob a temple of Abirami, an Indian goddess.He happens to see a rich girl (Roshini) in that temple, by sheer coincidence. He decides to take her with him to a lonely, damaged house situated at the top of a hill resort called Kodaikanal. Initially, the girl hates him for his weird nature. However, eventually she understands Guna's condition, his deep love and is attracted to him. She accepts his love and marries him, in spite of her terrible physical pain (caused by a broken leg and extreme fever). Meanwhile, the cops and the girl's uncle Sharat Saxena
start their search for the missing girl. What ensues is a gut wrenching climax. The film is widely known for its wonderful song, "Kanmani Anbodu" sung by Kamal Haasan
and S.Janaki. A line in that song, stands out, striking a chord to the ensuing climax - "Manithar unarndhu kolla ithu manithar Kaathal alla" (translates to : "This love, to be understood by humans, is not human love").
The movie is supposedly inspired from the Pedro Almodovar
movie, Atame.
The producer of the film, who was an associate of Kamal Haasan, wrote in 2008 that Guna was indeed a profitable venture, a certified hit contradicting reports written about its box office collections 17 years ago.
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
starring Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan is an Indian film actor, screenwriter and director, considered to be one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema. He is widely acclaimed as an actor and is well known for his versatility in acting...
, Roshini, Rekha, S. P. Balasubramaniam, Girish Karnad
Girish Karnad
Girish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...
, Ajay Rathnam, Janagaraj, and Sharat Saxena
Sharat Saxena
Sharat Saxena is an Indian actor working in Bollywood films. He has acted in nearly 160 Bollywood films.Saxena started his career in the early 70s and has mainly played either supporting roles of a father, uncle or villainous roles....
. It was dubbed into Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
as Guna. The movie brought out Kamal's best in the acting arena and remains his best movie to date, in terms of acting, according to the Madras Film Institute.
Plot
Guna (Kamal HaasanKamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan is an Indian film actor, screenwriter and director, considered to be one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema. He is widely acclaimed as an actor and is well known for his versatility in acting...
) is a mentally affected person and receives treatment in a mental asylum. He does not like his father and his mother is a moll and his sister is a prostitute in the house that they live. He assumes a fictitious character named Abirami (also, the name of an Indian goddess) and registers in his mind that she is an angel who is going to marry him on a full-moon day. After coming out of the asylum, he believes the story to be true and believes that his Abirami is somewhere around. Meanwhile, a bunch of hooligans led by Janakaraj force the mentally unstable Guna to rob a temple of Abirami, an Indian goddess.He happens to see a rich girl (Roshini) in that temple, by sheer coincidence. He decides to take her with him to a lonely, damaged house situated at the top of a hill resort called Kodaikanal. Initially, the girl hates him for his weird nature. However, eventually she understands Guna's condition, his deep love and is attracted to him. She accepts his love and marries him, in spite of her terrible physical pain (caused by a broken leg and extreme fever). Meanwhile, the cops and the girl's uncle Sharat Saxena
Sharat Saxena
Sharat Saxena is an Indian actor working in Bollywood films. He has acted in nearly 160 Bollywood films.Saxena started his career in the early 70s and has mainly played either supporting roles of a father, uncle or villainous roles....
start their search for the missing girl. What ensues is a gut wrenching climax. The film is widely known for its wonderful song, "Kanmani Anbodu" sung by Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan is an Indian film actor, screenwriter and director, considered to be one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema. He is widely acclaimed as an actor and is well known for his versatility in acting...
and S.Janaki. A line in that song, stands out, striking a chord to the ensuing climax - "Manithar unarndhu kolla ithu manithar Kaathal alla" (translates to : "This love, to be understood by humans, is not human love").
The movie is supposedly inspired from the Pedro Almodovar
Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar Caballero is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer.Almodóvar is arguably the most successful and internationally known Spanish filmmaker of his generation. His films, marked by complex narratives, employ the codes of melodrama and use elements of pop culture, popular...
movie, Atame.
Soundtrack
- "Kanmani Anbodu" - Kamal Hassan, S. Janaki;
- "Appan Endrum" - IlaiyaraajaIlaiyaraajaIlaiyaraaja is an Indian film composer, singer, and lyricist mainly in the Tamil film Industry. He is regarded as one of the finest music composers in India. Ilaiyaraaja is also an instrumentalist, conductor, and a songwriter...
- "Paartha Vizhi" - K. J. YesudasK. J. YesudasKattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian classical musician and playback singer.Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 50,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi,...
- "Unnai Naan" - Kamal Hassan, S. JanakiS. JanakiS. Janaki is an Indian female playback singer. Renowned for her voice modulation abilities, she has sung in many Indian languages, most frequently in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, she has won four National Film Awards and 35...
- "Unnai Naan (Bit)" - S. VaralakshmiS. VaralakshmiSaridey Varalakshmi, popularly known as Telugu: ఎస్. వర లక్ష్మిS. Varalakshmi was a veteran Telugu and Tamil actress and singer...
Box office
Though the movie received good reviews, but did not became a blockbuster at the box office. Many movie critics believe that people of that generation did not have that maturity to accept an obsessional mental neurotic. Many movie review websites rate it at more than 4.5 out of 5.The producer of the film, who was an associate of Kamal Haasan, wrote in 2008 that Guna was indeed a profitable venture, a certified hit contradicting reports written about its box office collections 17 years ago.