Guru Sisyan (1988) on Netflix
Guru and Babu, petty criminals, land in jail and meet Manohar, on death row for a murder he says he did not commit. Once released, they set out to clear his name.
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- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb7.2/10588 votes
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Plot summary
Manohar sits on death row for a murder he says he did not commit, and he shares his story with Guru and Babu, two petty criminals serving time in the same jail. Manohar says his sister Sumathi was taken to Muthuraaj, who raped and killed her, and that Muthuraaj then killed a taxi driver who had witnessed the crime. With his elder brother Rajamanickam, the ally Jayaram and the corrupt police inspector Nallasivam, Muthuraaj pinned the killing on Manohar. Believing him, Guru fractures Manohar's arm so that the execution is delayed while the injury heals. Once released, the two begin an elaborate plan to prove Manohar's innocence.
Cast
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Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Guru Sisyan (1988)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Rajinikanth initially offered only 10 call-sheet days for the film, but Muthuraman objected that a "guest role" would not sell and asked for 25 days, saying he could finish it in that time; the average Tamil film then took 45 days.
- Although Rajinikanth had given a call-sheet of 25 days, all his scenes were filmed in 23 days; he stayed the remaining two days and moved the trolley for the song "Vaa Vaa Vanji", picturised on Prabhu and Seetha at Brindavan Gardens.
- The climactic fight was planned for the Borra Caves at Araku Valley, but because a round trip would outlast Rajinikanth's call-sheet dates, Chalam designed an identical cave set in Chennai.
- Jayashree was initially cast as police inspector Geetha but backed out because of her marriage; the role went to Gautami, marking Gautami's debut in Tamil cinema.
- The script initially had no fight scene for Prabhu; at Rajinikanth's insistence, a fight scene intended for Rajinikanth was given to Prabhu instead.
- Because Gautami was nervous dancing with Rajinikanth in "Jingidi Jingidi", it was decided to film non-dancing scenes for two days first; choreographer Puliyur Saroja trained her, and she danced convincingly.
- The film was the first in which Rajinikanth and Prabhu were seen together onscreen, though they had acted together in Dharmathin Thalaivan, released later in 1988.
- Guru Sishyan brought Gautami to instant stardom, and Rajinikanth's English malapropisms in the film—such as "underwear" for "understand" and "jaundice" for "justice"—gained popularity, as did the scene where Raja and Babu conduct a fake income tax raid.
