Guru, The

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Bright dialogue and finely embroidered performances adorn The Guru like festive beading on a pair of made-in-India bedroom slippers.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

A joyous genre-blender guaranteed to crank up your karma.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

The first pleasant surprise of 2003, a cross-cultural romantic comedy that doesn't stint on romance or comedy, and- - when you least expect and most need it- - throws in some jaunty musical numbers of its own.

LA Weekly Hazel-Dawn Dumpert

By the time a Bollywood production number segues into the finale from "Grease," the transition not only makes perfect sense, it sparkles.

Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis

The Guru turns out to be just a flirtation with the musical rather than a full-on embrace. That's a shame because the musical interludes are where the film wears its heart and finds its soul.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

Delightful screwball comedy.

Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder

Hits more laughs than it misses and its characters are likable, empathetic people.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

The movie offers up too many airy spiritual lessons in the hope of crossing from farce to sentiment.

USA Today Staff [Not Credited]

Agreeable and slipshod in equal fashion, The Guru illustrates the subtle distinction between stupidity and goofiness.

Village Voice Ed Park

As a dirtier Deepak, Mistry is blankly sweet, suitable for his role as Subcontinental Rorschach.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

Terrific musical numbers and interesting premise.

Washington Post Dan Via

A spirited rally in the final reel can't quite overcome the damage.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

As a romantic comedy this is a cut above the norm, satirical in its treatment of both spiritually bereft New Yorkers and materialistic Indian immigrants.

San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer

Silly and soulful.

Film Threat Clint Morris

It may have the melody, visage and basics of a Bollywood biggie, but truth be told, The Guru, despite it’s zest and lure, gives the far-off genus a bad wrap.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

It's a film pregnant with comic possibility that ought to be much funnier than it is.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Graham, back in the porn territory she aced in “Boogie Nights,” steals the show. In the winter doldrums, you don't kick at a movie that puts a smile on your face.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Offers precious little inspiration, and the only irony it manages is surely unintended.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

There’s not a whole lot of heft to von Scherler Mayer’s romantic comedy with ethnic Indian entanglements; it’s like overdone naan, too flaky and ephemeral for its own good, but still somehow appetizing.

Variety Derek Elley

A generally entertaining but rather old-fashioned romantic comedy.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The jabs at the expense of self-centered New Yorkers with more money than sense are so mild they're pointless -- if satire doesn't hurt, what's the point?

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

A film that tries constantly to amuse, but succeeds only fitfully.

The New Yorker Anthony Lane

It may have the melody, visage and basics of a Bollywood biggie, but truth be told, The Guru, despite it’s zest and lure, gives the far-off genus a bad wrap. [3 February 2003, p.98]

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

It's refreshing to see an American movie with an Indian protagonist not played by a white actor in makeup, but it would be a lot more refreshing if that actor (Jimi Mistry) were given a character to play, not just a comic conceit and near-toxic levels of enthusiasm.

Miami Herald Howard Cohen

Swami says, “Steer clear of The Guru, a dismally dumb sex comedy, lest you waste $9 and 90 minutes of your life you will never get back.''

The New York Times Stephen Holden

A grindingly conventional comedy that insists on tying up its subplots in pretty ribbons and bows.

Dallas Observer Eric Celeste

There are enough good scenes within the 94 minutes of The Guru to make an entertaining coming-attractions trailer.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Devoid of life, intelligence, humor, and anything else that could entertain even the most undemanding viewer, this film is a perfect example of something that should have been shipped to landfills, not multiplexes.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Ray Conlogue

Here is a truly unfunny comedy from Universal Studios, which seems determined to prove that Hollywood can be opportunistic and clueless at the same time.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The kind of comedy that aims at "edginess" and "sassiness" without managing to be edgy or sassy for a second.