Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

I loved the performances of Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman very much. They are impeccable. "Guide" is very good adaptation of R.K. Narayan's novel. Vijay Anand's direction is excellent as well. S.D. Burman's great music. All songs are very good. "Gata rahe mera dil" and "Tere mere sapne" are my favourite. This is one the greatest movie made in Indian Cinema till date. This movie have many memorable scenes. Guide is about the many critical situations of life. Ensemble has played a key role in the journey of lead characters. The narrative structure is done well. The dialogue is for the most part excellent - it is rich and meaningful. The second half is much stronger than the first as my opinion.10 out of 10 for this movie of course!!!!

Guide is a transcendental movie about finding (or losing) your way, and finding it again. At one level it is purely corporeal – about life's search for fame, fortune and love; but at a meta-level it asks: what are we really searching for? Just fame, fortune, love? Or is it altruism, God, or something even bigger than that? Guide looks for answers to nothing less that the deepest and toughest questions of life.Guide is about the many paradoxical situations of life. A village looks for guidance from a man, who is lost himself. A girl, who is trying to find freedom from her seedy background, finds imprisonment in a loveless marriage. A woman and a man dream of a successful future together, but are disenchanted and separated by the very same future they built together. Guide explores these situations subtly and honestly. True to reality, life itself is the protagonist and life itself is the villain; and the characters are but parts of a universe that is trying to comprehend itself through them.Unlike much of Bollywood fare, this movie has rich characters and strong character development. The main characters truly evolve through the movie. Vijay Anand's dialogs are excellent and express emotions as honestly as few movies have. A few scenes really stand out – one where Rosie and Raju, penniless, pretend to be a famous artiste and her eager fan; another where Rosie, sadly alienated from her lover says "there is a wall around my heart, and it seems like nothing can reach inside it – not happiness, not sadness".Last but not least, the songs are a delight and they only enhance the depth of the story. When Rosie tastes, for a day, the freedom she craves, we sing with her "I feel like living again". On our journey with Raju and Rosie, when they feel the cozy warmth of love and togetherness, we feel like singing "the colors of our dreams are now the same"; when they feel sad loneliness, we lament "the day ends, but alas, the night lasts forever".Guide is a great human drama, but what elevates it to an epic is the mystical undercurrent to the story. Sophisticated and progressive for a Bollywood movie made in 1965, Guide is a timeless masterpiece and very few Bollywood movies made before or since come close in scope, ambition and depth. It swept most major awards in 1965 (except, shockingly, for Best Music – which was won by Suraj), and will probably be a strong contender for these awards in any other year.

The Rainmaker (1956) by Richard Nash In a world of drought comes a man who imagines himself to be a "rainmaker". This character has deep inner conflict between his passionate belief that he can bring the rain, although he has never been able to do it, and his terrible fear that he's a fool or mad. He meets a woman, falls in love, then suffers as she tries to believe in him, but turns away, convinced he's a charlatan or worse. He has a strong conflict with society – some follow him as if he's a messiah; others want to stone him out of town. Lastly he faces implacable conflict with the physical world – hot winds, empty skies, parched earth. If this man can struggle through all his inner and personal conflicts, against social and environmental forces and finally coax rain out of a cloudless sky, that storm would be majestic and sublimely meaningful. This is the story outline of "The Rainmaker" which was adapted to screen by Richard Nash from his own play. The Hindi classic Guide (1965) directed Vijay Anand based on the eponymous novel by R.K Narayanan seems very similar. Raju the "Guide" has the same inner and outer conflicts. He also falls in love with a woman who happens to be a dancer and married. He goes through sufferings as she becomes famous. He walks away from her but his mind still carries the baggage of the past. He reaches a drought ridden town where people think he's a messiah who can bring rain. Some people try to stone him to chase him out of the town. Lastly he faces the final conflict of the spirit and the flesh – hot winds, empty skies, parched earth and the gods of the temple. He struggles through all his inner and personal conflicts,(with a fast-unto-death )against social, environmental and spiritual forces to finally coax rain out of the cloudless sky.

Raju(Dev Anand) is a smart man from a small town. He knows many Indian languages, is hard working and owner of a railway shop but he rents his shop and chooses to work as a guide. Circumstances changes and at work he gets involved with an archaeologist's neglected wife Rosy(Waheeda Rahman). He ends up helping her, against the will of his mother, separate from her husband and become a world class dancer. Raju becomes a very rich and successful man as her lover and secretary. Raju cant handle his success and ends up in a jail under the charges of forgery. Free from jail Raju decides to travel as an anonymous soul and is mistaken for a 'mahatma' by simple villagers. Raju's inner conflict and cosmic conflicts becomes one as a mad villager by mistake set hesitant Raju sail on philosophical voyage.The film is based on a novel by RK Narayan which is as good as the film. 'Guide' is the best Indian film by any standard or scale. It is a sure Oscar winner. Graph of the character 'Raju' is unimaginably big. There is just no connection between where it starts from and where it reaches finally although he remains a 'guide' throughout. This is one of those films which changes you as a man. This film is flawless. Pace is fast and non linear. It keeps going back and forth in flashbacks but narration is tight. I think this film is the essence of most Indian philosophies like 'Atma' (soul), Parmatma (supreme soul of perfect consciousness), Tapasya (austerity), Moksha (liberation) etc. Last 30 minutes deals with philosophical questions like 'Is there God?', 'are we being watched?' etc. There are lots of things in the film which is not in the novel including the ending which I think is the most important factor of the graph of the character. Dev Anand is brilliant in this film. This is definitely the best film of most of the cast and crew except for may be SD Burman. Though as a soundtrack this is SD's best too. Background music is filled with flute pieces and sitar which works great to set the mood for a grand philosophical finale. 'wahan Kaun Hai Tera' is probably one of the best video I can think of. In the song people throw money at sleeping Raju considering him a beggar. In the next frame he leans on a tree and cries like a child and then runs like hell. This song beats any choreography I have seen in my life including 'Anand' and 'Pyasa'. The transformation of a common man to 'mahatma' is RK Narayan's genius which Goldy Anand has very neatly transported onto celluloid screen. By the way this film is considered a bible from the filmmkinh point of view. You can imagine if its the best of Goldy 'God' Anand himself. If you are an Indian and you like films and you have not seen this film then you are like VP Singh who had not heard of Bachchan until 1983 :>. So don't be a total dumb like him and watch it.