Guna

Like many Kamal Hassan movies, this was a movie that was under appreciated during it's release and gained it's cult status only over time. This movie has served as the inspiration behind many others with similar themes that came out decades later. It's a story of madness, obsession, tragedy and eternal love, with impeccable performances and outstanding cinematography. Guna is a movie that portrays extreme contrasts in it's subject matter. On one hand it's a love story at it's purest, where the millionaire heiress having lost both her parents by then, realizes that her crazy abductor is a much better person than the people she is surrounded by all circling her like vultures for her money, and a life with Guna seeming more meaningful to her than the life she had lived till then. On the other hand, you see the sleaziness of life in brothels, the hero having been raised in one due to his birth father abandoning his mother, and the dismal plight of the under privileged suffering from mental illness. The hero cannot bear the disgust of his existence that he convinces himself to be god Siva who has taken this birth only to be cleansed by Abhirami when they unite in marital bliss. A life riddled with mental illness, abandonment issues, and abuse, his only hope and aim being to find Abhirami so he can be cleansed and start anew with a clean slate. Illayaraja's legendary music adds more life to this already brilliant movie.

I saw this movie when I was 8, i was totally disappointed and don't know what was happening in the movie, totally hated. But, when when i was 20 i watched it again and said to myself, This is the best love story movie i have ever watched. More than Titanic. The music and bgm is the soul for this movie. Awesome bgm by Ilaiyaraaja.

I need not make mention of how good kamal hassan is at acting....you actually cant call it acting.It can be called getting under the skin of the character and portraying a realistic look on the role.

Kamal draws parallels with the late Sivaji Ganesan...who is admired now even after his sad demise some years back.

I get the opportunity to watch GUNA only on television nowadays...as i was too young to have watched it in theatres.Kamal's acting was way too awesome in the movie...and as another IMDb user suggested,films of such high caliber rarely meet commercial box-offices success.The failure of this movie to rake in money does not deter us from appreciating the performance delivered by Kamal.

Of course he has given awesome performances in other movies like devar magan,mahanadhi,hey ram and many many more movies....this movie stays close to my heart.

The song KANMANI ANBODU is still a melodious song to reckon with now...15 years after the movie was released.The only two things to talk about in this movie is Kamal's acting and Santhana Barathi's acting!!!

From the one shot with which the movie begins, the one thing that kinda haunted me throughout the movie was how this really needs a restoration instead of this old capture for the VHS that doesn't do any justice to the technical mastery of this movie. The cinematography is outstanding with the use of so many long oners and other clever usage of shots which accentuates the themes as well as Kamal Haasan's brilliant performance.

The film also seems to be highly influential in Indian cinema as I can see the influence in films of various languages. Although, there are aspects I'm not too fond of it too.

Way too many people seemed to have interpretations that are closer to the trend of films this started where psychotic love was glorified. Here, they have tried to show how even the girl is broken inside, a bit like Alia in Highway but not that explicit. Gunaa's love is pure but that isn't pure love as many like to interpret it. The divine metaphors or Gunaa's delusions are there because of how the world treats people but at the same time, the film is also clear about not giving those delusions legitimacy. The existence of these thoughts itself is clearly shown as deliberate poisoning of his simpler mind. The film has some confusion here to confirm his victimhood or divinity because it wants to be both. But even with that, it was a pretty incredible film that tried to do a lot of things within its framework.

As the summary says, I think this is the best movie from Tamil Cinema. The intricacies displayed in this movie are unparalleled and something never seen in Tamil cinema!! That it comes as no surprise that this movie failed in the BO where junk-commercial movies are only expected to do well(Except in some urban centres where it was raved about, amongst the youth and Kamal Haasan's admirers). The film had since then acquired a cult status among the Tamil movie audience!

The greatest thing about the movie is , as much as for its intricacies which goes uncomprehending for normal viewers, it is equally a simple movie! If you have seen the movie "One flew over the cuckoo's nest", then you will be able to grasp "Guna" better. The screenplay is one of the best to have been written for Tamil Cinema. The out of the world music rendering by Ilaiyaaraja and Kamal Haasan's brilliant poignant acting makes this movie a memorabilia! If this movie doesn't deserve 10/10 then NO Tamil movie does! A must see movie for ANYONE ! Even if you haven't ever seen a Tamil movie then make this the only one. You would get the glimpse of the best of Tamil cinema with THE best technicians of there Kamal Haasan, Ilayaraja, at their finest!