A compelling movie! MUST WATCH!. Review on Swades

Swades, directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar of Lagaan fame, is a wonderful attempt to combine art & commercial cinema, resulting in a thought-provoking, non- escapist, entertaining movie.

If you go in with an open mind and tune into what the director has to say in the 3 hrs, then Swades should strike as a revolutionary movie of its kind with a strong social message…

Mohan (Shahrukh) is a space scientist for the world’s premiere space research organization – NASA, in the US. After his parents passed away in a car accident while he was in the US, life hasn’t really been the same for him emotionally. He thinks of his cherished maid servant, Kaveriamma who is like a second mother to him, and wants to bring her to the US to keep her with him & see her happy ever after.

What starts off as a journey in his life to go to India and bring back Kaveriamma proves to be the turning point in his life, opening his eyes to a reality that has long been shut off - The reality that outside of the big cities, there exists an India (i.e. the villages) that represents the core of our country. An India that is lacking in basic facilities that have been so taken for granted in the cities of the country, leave alone the developed nations. An India that is so rooted in superstitions and age-old values that it hinders progress from the basic level.

Director Ashutosh Gowarikar gets full praise from me for showing this journey of Mohan so convincingly, pulling in humor, drama and romance, to make it more of a commercial movie than arty stuff. To say that Swades is merely a ‘watchable’ commercial film would be sheer injustice to the premise of the movie & the tone in which it is delivered by the director.

The presentation flows smoothly as we are introduced to the remote village Charanpur in interior Uttar Pradesh, and a likable set of characters around which the film is built.

Kaveriamma, Geeta (a childhood friend of Mohan, played by Gayathri Joshi), Mela Ram (a cook aspiring to open his dhaba on the freeways of America!), a village post master, and a smart kid brother of Geeta, to name a few.

The stance that the director takes, through the eyes of the radical Mohan is pretty obvious – there can be no change till there in an open acceptance of the situation and a fire in everyone to change it for the better.

The movie is more about the process of change that takes place in a man’s heart due to awareness about an issue. An awareness that so deeply moves a person that he is no longer the same again.

It is an open issue whether the sight triggered the fire in the person or was the spark already there & the awareness was just a fuel. This is akin to the issue of Gandhiji seeing the state of affairs in the then racist South Africa and vowing to change himself for the cause! It is easy to say that we need more such Gandhijis to sacrifice themselves for our cause… I feel that a cumulative consciousness as a mass vehicle for change is a more ideal solution for today’s India.

A movie like Swades, even if it doesn’t inspire a Gandhiji in us, has all the ingredients to fire up a person enough to be ready to join such a force.

And if it does fire up an erstwhile indifferent leader who has greater power to make a change than the commoner, then the movie would have more than served its purpose!

The main Cast:

Gayathri Joshi as Geeta really excels in a powerful character that is intelligent, self-confident and socially conscious.

The woman who played Kaveriamma really looks like the mother-next-door and becomes the character itself…

Shahrukh as Mohan is a revelation. He has proved that he can act outside of romantic movies too!

The supporting cast were really impressive too!

The Music:

Songs by AR Rahman are very situational, just like in Lagaan. I liked the title song the best (sung by AR Rahman). The Background music is a real masterpiece and adds power to the narration!

Some of the scenes that I really loved:

• shahrukh waking up to a rooster! His expression is really cool!

  
  




• Devi displaying her math ability to shahrukh (in fact there’s a clever touch in this – a person with exceptional abilities person dedicating herself to a life in the village to uplift the community!)

  
  




• Gola ram asks shahrukh if the highways in America have dhabas! :-)

  
  




• Shahrukh describes to the villagers that his work at NASA helps weather forecasting, and the unimpressed headman points to a guy who looks up at the sky and predicts that the skies are clear for the day!

  
  




• The scene where he visits a village to collect rent from a farmer (really heart-rending). On hearing the farmers account about water scarcity for the crops and the officials' apathy, Shahrukh reacts, which roughly translates to 'WHAT AN OUTRAGE'.

  
  

If each one of us feels the same OUTRAGE when hearing of us realities and are ready to do whatever we can in our power to change it, then the foundations for radical change would be laid!

• Shahrukh’s enthusiasm while generating electricity for the village. The scene showed how even a crude operation in terms of technology but with the right intention can be an eye opener for the society.

  
  




• The simple climax, with the song showing the events in India as flashback, where Shahrukh makes his decision to return back…

  
  

On the Whole...

If you believe that cinema is a powerful medium to convey positive messages, apart from catering to pure entertainment, then this movie is a must watch.

The movie is not about NRIs returning home as it seems on the surface… It is more about the simple changes that we can bring about by simply being open to realities that have shrouded our perceptions…

There is a scene

Speaking of the characters, they are so well etched that they stay in your mind long after the movie is over – just like the characters in Lagaan (by the same director).

In fact, the director seems to have used the same Lagaan template! to mould this movie. Right from the protagonist who sees a cause and goes full swing to see it through, to the set of characters around which the movie revolves, the placement of the songs, etc the setting sure to remind one of Lagaan.

And that doesn’t take away any element of novelty from this movie. Swades is a novel movie in the sense that a social issue of a very serious nature has been dealt with a straight face instead of resorting to blind optimism (read as jingoism) in favor of the country.

The movie is good to watch with friends or family, but watching it alone a second time would create a better impact!