Shwaas

A first reading of this film comes across as a lofty inspiring story of true grit and wilful determination in the face of painful, irreversible personal trauma. But that turns out to be superficial.

"Shwaas" the way it is portrayed and sequenced, and here it is entirely the inexperienced director's mistake, seems to suggest that eyesight is more important than blindness, its great to be able to see and that the blind are missing out on so much of life. All of these statements are obviously true but are POLITICALLY INCORRECT and highly judgmental!

If the makers of Shwaas want to us be sensitive to the little boy, now that he's being operated upon and will go blind, how about showing some respect and sensitivity to the blind too?? This movie doesn't even pay lip service -- at the very end, there are couple of scenes showing some blind persons at work (as if to say, yea, they can work too..) but not much else. Aside from direction, it suffers from serious over-acting by Amruta Subhash who really does a disservice to the efforts of Sandeep Kulkarni (the doctor) and Ashwin Chitale (the kid). She drives all the gravity out entirely by herself.

The subject matter has been bungled completely, and the director's lack of maturity shows. No doubt this is much better fare than 99% of usual Bollywood crap. But if they expect to withstand the critical glare of a mature audience they better be impartial in their presentation.

Serious viewers are NOT blind -- then can 'see' thru the deception here that only one side of the issue is explored as if the boy's life story ends when he becomes blind. Hello?? Thats where it really begins!!!

"Sparsh" by Sai Paranjape explores this subject from a blind man's POV. Naseerudin Shah is blind and its a take on his life. In Shwaas, the boy becomes blind. But what next?

I remember the pre-Shwaas era wherein going to the theatres never meant watching Marathi movies. In fact, in my teenage years, Shwaas was my first Marathi movie in theatres. Often cited as the movie that provided the "Shwaas" necessary for Marathi movies to live on, it is a lesson in acting by the great but unheralded Arun Nalawade. That it went to the Oscars is a proud moment for Marathi cinema but more importantly it created the ecosystem for Marathi cinema to prosper in the form of more screens, higher political interest, a new re-energised audeince, large production houses and an intelligent film fraternity.

Caught this movie on DD while flipping channels...And thank heavens, that too when it just started.. Having studied in Pune, this film touched off many happy memories of the city...that apart, one wonders why more movies like this aren't made...Every character is so well etched-the grandpa, the kid, the doc...except for the social worker who grates a tad, the rest of the movie hardly has a flaw...a deserving entry for the Oscars, even if it wasn't nominated...definitely leaves a lump in the throat...who sez u need mush to tickle ur lacrimals ? And to think that this movie needed Sachin Tendulkar to propagate it. Inspite of being in Marathi, there was hardly a moment where I wasn't able to follow the movie...the subtitles were good.. A must watch for any fan of good cinema.

After a very long time Marathi cinema has come with some good movie.This movie is one of the best Marathi movies ever made. It shows how a old grandfather tries to save his grandsons eye. He tries everything that is possible in his hands to save the child's eye. Doctor and a relative of his tries to help him in his attempt.

The acting by the grandfather, the boy and the doctor are simply superb. They have shown true picture of a typical Marathi life. Every bit of action has some meaning in it. I would recommend to watch this movie, as initially I thought this one would be of documentary type but this was above my expectations.

This film is really going to touch your hearts.I would expect more Marathi movies to come up with performances like this.

This is a film about a six year old child from a village in Maharashtra (a state in India) and his grandfather who come to Pune (a city in Maharashtra) to treat the child's eyes. here the grandfather gets to know that the child has cancer in both eyes and that they have to be removed to save the child's life. the movie is all about the main characters' and their feelings and actions until the operation.

The movie is not a typical cliché Indian movie, so dun expect to see songs or romance or melodrama. this ia a supremely crafted sensitive movie which resorts to silent expressions rather than over the top dialogs to get the point thru. witness the scene where the grandfather is told about the need to remove the child's eyes. the acting is superb, dialogs heart breaking. your heart goes out for the grandfather who has the unenviable task of telling the child and his mother about the operation.

the handling of the subject has been excellent. the film was made under great hardship by the director, Sandeep Sawant who had to knock many doors to gather the Rs. six million (approx. $130000) budget. even then the final product seems polished and has decent production values. also witness the subtle city village contrast shown by the director by incorporating some random shots of the boy's life in the village. Sawant definitely seems to prefer village life.

THe acting by all is excellent. Amruta Subhash as the social worker is competent adding the required humane touch to her role. Sandeep Kulkarni as the docter is great, showing perfect mannerisms of a doctor. Ashwin Chitale as the child is a natural. he doesn't seem to be acting. everything about him is natural and does not seem forced.

But towering above all is Arun Nalawade as the grandfather. he is astounding in his role. mere words cannot describe his work. it is a performance to cherish forever.

Shwaas is a sincere effort to make good cinema. it should not be ignored just for the fact that it shows that if things are kept simple, the the results can be really surprising. 10/10.