AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

        After Dil Se and Yuva, Manirathnam's much-awaited Hindi venture Guru will hit the screens on 12 January, 2007.

        The veteran director is known for his ability to strike a balance between art and commercial cinema with brilliance in technical aspects like art direction, cinematography and background music.

        Guru has script by Suhasini Manirathinam and Vijay Krishna Acharya. A mature love story, the movie has been shot in Turkey and Badami, Karnataka, apart from Chennai and Madurai.

        Music is by A R Rahman, with lyrics by Gulzar. Cinematography is by Rajiv Menon. Guru is getting ready for a release in Tamil and Telugu too.

        The movie features Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Madhavan and Vidya Balan in pivotal roles. It also stars Mithun Chakraborthy in a supporting role and Mallika Sherawat in a cameo. With choreography by Saroj Khan and Brinda, Guru is produced by Manirathinam and G Srinivasan.

        Reports are that the movie is loosely based on the life of business tycoon Dhirubhai Ambani. Madhavan, a protege of Manirathinam, opens his heart out on the movie.

        He says, 'I don't think the movie is based on Ambani. But it revolves around Gurukant Desai, an industrialist, who wants to change the nation.'

        'As far I am concerned, I had to lose a lot of weight, and I had lost 8 kilos for my role in Guru. Sitting there and looking at Mani working in the sets gave me the high I needed'. Introduced by Manirathinam in Alaipaythae, Maddy always shares good vibes with the director.

        He says, 'he pushes me to give something different. He knows the kind of environment that I perform best in. Without me knowing, he makes sure that he creates that atmosphere for me.'