Neha Dhupia : Only sex and Shahrukh sells these days.
She is right. Shahrukh was one of the main reasons I went to watch this flick and no complaints, he didn?t disappoint me. Yet once again a very fine display of acting by the King Khan! Not his best but certainly very good indeed.
Coming to the flick now yeah it was very good. I had expected a masterpiece from Ashutosh Gowarikar and he didn’t disappoint me. The reason I?m recommending it to you is because the message this movie wants to give is very noble and very timely.
A must watch for all the NRI?s and the aspiring ones. I have always believed in the ideology of working in your own nation and thus, this message appealed to me. But most of the youngsters these days have been haunted by the brain drain so it may not appeal to them in the same way as it appealed to me.
And this itself is the weak point of the movie. It may not appeal to all. The message it?s trying to convey is very gracious indeed but if the presentation of the movie isn?t up to-the-mark then it will fail to attach with the masses.
The presentation of Swades won’t be liked by the common man. The movie would have been a hit, had the editor done a better job. But then such type of movies are slightly different from the hardcore commercial cinema. We may say that this movie is ahead of its times and maybe the Indian audience isn’t mature enough to comprehend it in a proper way.
Coming to the story now. It?s about a young Indian guy Shahrukh Khan who has made his country proud by working as a project manager in NASA. Twelve years later he decides to come back to India to meet his childhood nanny. In India he is acquainted with the difficult life, which he hadn?t seen in the USA. The India shown in this movie is very colourful and attached to its customs & traditions. A village at the grass root level has been used to describe the life of India.
It makes for a good contrast. On one hand there is NASA technologically very advanced. And on the other hand there is this village called Charanpur where forget technology, there isn?t even electricity, food and education for all. Shahrukh has two options now, just to think of himself and go back to NASA or stay there and do something for the country, which you call your motherland. He chooses the latter and it?s this message, which touched my heart.
You can say it will appeal more to the classes than the masses. Maybe that?s why Ashutosh kept Shahrukh in the film, so that a common man comes to watch this artistic kind of movie. I sincerely hope the NRI?s watch this flick. Even if it doesn?t change their heart, it will certainly put up a few questions in their mind!
Gayatri Joshi is playing as the love interest of Shahrukh in this film and has done a marvellous job. She didn’t allow Shahrukh to overshadow her and matched him screen-to-screen. She’ll certainly improve more with experience. In looking wise she is really very cute indeed. She has proved the myth wrong, that to look beautiful you have to shed your clothes.
Others have done a very decent job. Especially the postman and the cook really impressed me.
Music as I mentioned earlier is quite melodious, though it really slows down the pace at times. Thus, to conclude I?d say it?s a cocktail of art, commercial and documentary cinema. It may suit your taste. It may not suit your taste. Watch it at your own risk! But if you ask me, I simply loved it!
© Tanmay Singh, 2004