Swades

Shah Rukh Khan, Gayatri Joshi (film debut) , Kishori Ballal, Master Smit Sheth, Lekh Tandon, Rajesh Vivek, Dayashanker Pandey, Farrukh Jaffar, Vishnudutt Gaur, Raja Awasthi, Visshwa S Badola, Bhim Vakani, Dilip Ambekar, Rajesh Balwani, Rahul Vohra, Bachan Pachehra, Peter Rawley, Makrand Deshpande

Presenter   UTV Motion Pictures

Producer , Writer and Director Ashutosh Gowariker

Music   A. R. Rahman

Lyrics Javed Akhtar

Story   M. G. Sathya & Ashutosh Gowariker

Screenplay Ashutosh Gowariker

Dialogues   K. P. Saxena

Director of Photography     Mahesh Aney

Production Designer     Nitin Chandrakant Desai

Costume Designer    Bhanu Athaiya

Sound Design    Stephen Gomes

Editor Ballu Saluja

Choreographers Saroj Khan, Raju Khan, Vaibhavi Merchant & Bosco-Caesar

Singers Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Sadhana Sargam, Hariharan, Kailash Kher, Madhushree, Vijay Prakash, Ashutosh Gowariker, Blaaze (Dhaaba Rap), Master Vignesh, Miss Pooja and A. R. Rahman

Stunt Co-ordinator Abbas Ali Moghul

Visual Effects Pankaj Khandpur

LOCATIONS

Maharashtra

Wai, Pune, Satara, Apta Station and Villages of Menavali, Varkhadwadi, Pasarni & Dhom

Delhi

Indira Gandhi Int’l Airport

USA

Goddard Space Flight Center, Washington D.C., Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral

Duration    210 minutes

The director, Ashutosh Gowariker, got the idea for this film from a column which Dilip D’ Souza did for rediff.com about two young engineers - ANIL KUMAR & MADHUSOODANAN C. G. from Kerala who built a dam in rural Maharashtra and supplied electricity where there was none . They are   MIT technovators prize winners last year (see third entry at https://technovators.mit.edu/winner2003.php)

That is what Swades is about.

Hats off to Ashutosh Gowariker for trying his hand at an offbeat theme like this .

Swades talks about the need of the hour - Brain Gain – Return of the professionals lost to Developed Nations due to Brain Drain.

Set in modern day India, SWADES tackles the issue facing the citizens of this nation at grassroots level.

It is about the metamorphosis of to be a PR of US – Mohan Bargava who is guilt ridden for leaving his governess Kaveriamma at an Elderly home returning to India to take her back along with him – undergoes from a Neglecting Citizen to became a Dutiful citizen.

The circumstances that make him understand the ethical and moral responsibilities which he owes towards the nation and the scenes leading to that are well shot.

This is an out and out Ashutosh Gowariker’s movie and after a long time one happens to watch a rock solid performance from Shahrukh – it is the character – Mohan Bargav we see on scene rather than King Khan.

He carries this movie on his shoulders.

Watch out for the scene where Kaveriamma confronts him for exclaiming to Geeta as You Indians, there are quite a many scene but this one stands out for the portrayal of typical NRI attitude.

Gayatri Joshi is the find of the Year – she matches King khan scene by scene – performance by performance – if she chooses her role carefully – we have a Great actress in making in a long run.

Special mention should be made on the performances of Kishori Ballal, Rajesh Vivek , Dayashanker Pandey and Master Smit Sheth.

Makrand Deshpande impresses in his one song and scene, appearance – Yuhi chala chalahi

Cinematography [Mahesh Aney] is excellent. The rural look has been captured beautifully.

Dialogues [K.P. Saxena] are outstanding.

Should I mention ARR – as usual he is at his elements best.

Above all – Thanks Ashutosh for reminding those Non Returning Indians what they owe to the nation.

Now on to other side of the coin – All the negativity about the movie can be forgiven for the Bold theme attempted.

Rating : A movie like this needs no rating it is a cut above all

Verdict : A Must see for all