The 2016 Tamil release Irudhi Suttru has now been remade in Telugu as Guru. Pretty much all the actors from the original have been retained except for the hero Madhavan.

Irudhi Suttru was a heart-warming tale about women boxing. The film did not break any grounds; it was a typical well-made commercial film glanced every essential element that was needed to satisfy the audience.

So now that the same team is reproducing the film, we expect them to recreate the magic in the original. Have they done it successfully?

Guru is a simple tale about a boxing coach who takes on an unruly young woman who sells fish, as his new student. How he grooms her from nothing to a boxing superstar is all Guru about. Looks like a familiar tale, especially with similar sports film being made in the recent times. But where Guru scores is in the emotional part. There was a warm chemistry between the coach and the student that was well translated on the screen.

The initial half has few fresh scenes different from the earlier version and that’s when we get to think that the director has studied her product and worked on the minor flaws of it and has come up with an even more superior product. But beyond the first 30 minutes, it has pretty much the same scenes. But if you ask if it was as good as the original, the answer would be NO. There is something missing in Guru; this version is a little more dramatic and cheesy compared to its Tamil version.

How is that possible? You have the same director and almost the same technicians and actors, then why did it not produce the same level of impact?

Was it because of Venkatesh? No, definitely not, Victory Venkatesh is like a glove, he can fit into any character with absolute ease. Here again, he shines big time and his new makeover has already been received well among his fans. Then what?

This version looks a little artificial. Even repeating the same magic is an art and it doesn’t come so easily. It is not a bad product, but it is just not good as the Tamil version.

Ritika Singh who is making her Tollywood debut steals the show yet again with an effective performance.

For people who have not either watched the Hindi or the Tamil versions of Guru, the film could be a pleasant watch. There are a few high points in the story that could entice you. But there are a few places that are dragging. One feels, even the boxing scenes could have been shot better.

Santhosh Narayanan’s music is the backbone of this sports film. Both the songs and the BGM have come out wonderfully well. They have reworked on the music front and it works again.