Swades: Nous, le peuple

This is definitely worth watching. The direction is restrained, SRK has acted really well after a long time, and there is a naive yet charming idealism underpinning the movie. It could have been a tad shorter, crisper editing would have helped. BO-wise it is a risky movie - unapologetic in its depiction of poverty and almost childlike in its appeal to NRIs and India's middle class to acknowledge poverty and try to do something about it. Gowarikar's heart is in the right place - the shots with the family unable to pay land rents, and the waterboy were graceful and poignant. My hunch is that regardless of BO fate, this is an important movie and will be referred to for year to come.

Mohan (Shah Rukh Khan) is a very successful engineer working for NASA in the States. His job is a very important one and he lives in a lovely apartment overlooking Washington, DC. But despite this, he's been plagued with dreams recently. He keeps thinking about his nanny that helped raise him and how guilty he feels because he left her back in India long ago. Now he's decided to head back to find her and bring her back with him to live in the States.

His route turns out more complicated than he'd thought. While she had lived in a nice nursing home, some time ago, she left and she now apparently resides in a small village in remote northern India. So, Mohan travels there and soon finds her. But this is very early in the film...there are still about 2 1/2 hours to go! So what's next? See the film.

This is a wonderful story, filled with some lovely acting, sweet writing and a lot of characters you can't help but like. I nearly scored this one a 10 and love the film's messages about working to make the world a better place versus working to make one small part of the world a better place. Well worth your time and among the best of SRK's films....which is saying quite a lot!

By the way, imagine this American's surprise when it turned out quite a bit of this Indian film was filmed near where I grew up. Much of the film is set at Goddard Space Flight Center in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. However, it's also confusing because often scenes switch between there and Cape Canaveral...which are about 900 miles apart! And, if you visit Goddard Space Flight Center, there is a decent Indian restaurant nearby...in case you're interested.

Thank god for swades. Its been ever so often that as Indians we have lamblasted the mushy, one track nonsensical movies that were being churned out by bollywood and yearned for something slightly honest and celebral. And now it seems that the moment has arrived. Swades has finally reached the next level of Indian movie-making with the help of ashutosh, srk and rahman where the execution, the concept and the treatment of the film is at least (i can safely assume) close to world standards. There is no point comparing lagaan (the directors 1st movie) to this movie as his earlier venture was purely fiction with no semblance of realism in it. However this movie has so many ingredients of being a pathbreaker for Indian cinema that its almost scary. The feelings and expectations of an nri set aside, it tells the story of middle and upper class India losing touch with the harsh realities of the sufferings of the less fortunate ones all around us (and the fact that we can do very little to change the ongoing scenario is even more glaring and painful). Besides this the movie also deals with the desires and priorities of humans inspite of the trials and tribulations of daily living.

The maturity of the script, the actors and the score makes it a journey of epic proportions without it looking epic at all. The normalcy of the movie is something which might (and hopefully will) change the way cinema is seen and made in India in the future. One can only hope.

30 minutes after I had viewed the film on Sat, I was not sure about how I felt about this film. 48 hours hence, I vividly remember most of the scenes and can lucidly state that is truly 'haunting'.

Swades is not colorful; Shahrukh doesn't appear in a GAP or POLO SPORT; there are no introductory shots; there are no romantic scenes and no fields with yellow Tulip flowers; It may be a tad slow and lengthy; But Swades hits you where your heart hurts the most; patriotic and root feelings of an individual with good intentions overcoming societal obstacle. It's brilliant, heartfelt and touching. The 'We, People' film really makes us feel like it's our film. We see in the film what we see everyday, the places as they are. It's very much contemporary and it's our story.

Compared to Veer-Zaara, it's light years ahead. Comparisons with Lagaan are bound to be there, but in some ways it's even better than Lagaan. Primarily, for the authenticity and real-life feel unlike Lagaan which was a finely crafted fairly-tale. Lagaan is all about emerging victorious and fighting against the odds. You enjoy it when you see it. Swades is about the conscience trauma of an Indian, urging him to comeback and do something for his country. It haunts you for long enough after the cinema has ended.

There's a prejudice that the film is about bringing electricity to a small village. It's not. And the most poignant scene in the film, where we see a boy selling water for 25 paisa, hits you hard. Seeing the harsh reality and we'll find it difficult to suppress our tears. It's an answer to the generation of materialistic 'we', who never shy from proclaiming our great culture and tradition, but do nothing for our country.

The asset of the film is Shahrukh Khan, looking ordinary and real but in an extra-ordinary performance. His most real since 'Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa' and his career's best. ARR music is soulful and original. The theme song 'Yeh Jo Des Hai Mera' haunts both in terms of its visuals and wordings.

But above all, it's the good intention and the attention to detail, of director Ashutosh Gowarikar that makes wonders for this truly experimental and moving cinema.

I can and will definitely view this movie once more, to celebrate it feel and spirit. I can't predict its box office outcome, as the masses love fantasies and escapist cinema. But it's definitely a treat for those who want to see moving and believable films on a large scale. Also if we don't embrace different cinema like this or even 'the torturous but different Musafir' for that matter, we'll continue to get more 'Sarson ka Saag', 'Karva Chauths', 'Maahi Ve' filled designer romance fables from the Chopra-Johar clan!

Regardless of the box office outcome, take a bow Ashutosh, Shahrukh and ARR!

A worth watching Movie by Ashutosh Gowariker.

Leaves a impression on mind after you have seen the movie.

Though there are technical faults in the storyline yet those can be left aside on the backdrop of a heart-touching theme. A theme for the people who are leaving their countries / states in search of a better life without realising the fact that they can create a better living environment at home itself.

An insight on the problems of India whose underdeveloped part is somehow or other responsible for itself for the underdevelopment. The social jinx in the rural India which should have been broken long before are now hampering the progress of the villages.

The movie is another Gem after Lagaan in the collection of Ashutosh and Indian Cinema as a whole.

Great Job by Shahrukh. Exquisite appearance by Gayatri. Grand Show by Ashutosh.

Purnendu