| Director | Mani Ratnam |
|---|---|
| Budget | ₹22 crore |
| Box office | ₹83.7 crore |
In 1951, in the village of Idar, Gujarat, Gurukant "Guru" Desai is an ambitious young man who dreams of achieving financial success, despite the discouragement of his pragmatic father, Kantilal, the village school headmaster. Driven to make his own fortune, Guru travels to Turkey, where he successfully enters the spice trade and is subsequently employed by Burmah Shell. Although offered a major corporate promotion, he declines the position and returns to India, determined to work for himself.
Back in his village, Guru pitches a business venture to his childhood friend, Jignesh. To secure the necessary startup capital, Guru marries Jignesh's older sister, Sujata, primarily for the substantial dowry she commands. Guru, Sujata, and Jignesh relocate to Bombay to establish a textile trading business. As Guru aggressively expands operations, he establishes a manufacturing firm named Shakti Corporation. However, ideological differences cause Jignesh to dissolve the partnership. During the split, Jignesh reveals to Sujata that Guru's initial motivation for marrying her was purely financial, straining the marriage. Despite the revelation, Sujata stands by Guru, and the couple develops a genuine, unbreakable bond.
During his early, lean years in Bombay, Guru is mentored by Manik "Nanaji" Dasgupta, the idealistic publisher of the whistleblower newspaper The Independent. Nanaji treats Guru like a son, while Guru develops a close friendship with Nanaji's granddaughter, Meenu, who is later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. As Shakti Corporation grows into one of the largest conglomerates in India, Guru ruthlessly expands his industrial empire. To circumvent the restrictive regulations of the "License Raj," he resorts to smuggling advanced machinery parts for his polyester mills, artificially inflating production capacities, bribing officials, and manipulating the equity market to maximize profits.
When Nanaji discovers that Guru's meteoric rise is fueled by systemic corruption, his journalistic integrity overrides his personal affection. He assigns an analytical reporter, Shyam Saxena, to launch a relentless press campaign to expose Guru's illegal business practices. Amidst this high-stakes media warfare, Sujata gives birth to twin daughters, Disha and Drishti. The immense stress of the escalating legal and public relations battles takes a physical toll on Guru; he suffers a severe stroke, leaving the right side of his body permanently paralyzed. Concurrently, Meenu, who has since married Shyam, succumbs to her terminal illness, devastating both sides of the conflict.
In October 1980, a disabled but defiant Guru is summoned before a special governmental inquiry tribunal to defend Shakti Corporation against dozens of regulatory and financial fraud charges. During the public cross-examination, Guru delivers a powerful defense to the panel and the gathered press. He argues that he arrived in Bombay as an uneducated villager completely ignorant of complex excise duties, customs laws, and sales taxes. He contends that an archaic, corrupt, and restrictive bureaucratic system forced him to indulge in bribes and loop-hole manipulation simply to survive and grow.
Impressed by his vision and acknowledging the flaws within the state machinery, the tribunal clears Guru of 27 of the 29 criminal charges. He is penalized with a fine of ₹6.3 million for the remaining two regulatory infractions and is permitted to return to executive operations. Guru later addresses a massive stadium filled with Shakti Corporation's public shareholders. Reflecting on his father's old warning, he proudly declares that their collective dream has forged India's largest company, closing with a call to action to expand their corporate empire on a global scale.