Appreciate the effort

Thousands of reviews exist in the internet on Swades. Some praises the movie while others lambast it. Everyone has their own opinion. So why do I need to write a review?

I am bound to fall in one of these categories. Eveything that can be said about this movie has been written, every frame has been analysed and every character has been debated. Then what is my point...!!! My point is simple, I loved Swades and my advice to everyone is go and watch Swades.

Why is that ? Is it the best movie ever made ? Ofcourse not. There are very few movies which transcends all barriers and are hailed by one and all. Most movies have glaring flaws. And Swades is no different. It has its fair share of flaws (the picture perfect village, driving in a caravan, the south indian accents of people living in UP etc etc).

However, when the movie is viewed in the current context of Bollywood cinema it can be concluded that it is miles ahead of the junk/tilltilation/mindless crap that is shelled out week after week after week. This is a brave attempt by a filmmaker to make something different, something noble.

The simple gratitude we can pay him is by appreciating his effort. Asutosh’s conviction lies in the message that he conveys. I guess he is so confident of that he manages to extract the best out of Sharukh. We are all gladly surprised to find out how K-K-Kiran has toned down his acting.

Its good for Bollywood in general that big stars realize that a NASA scientist won’t shake and quiver his lips when he is excited. He would exactly be the way Mohan Bhargava is in Swades. Thus when Sharukh weeps silently in his caravan or looks at the pictures strewn all over the floor or signals Geeta to hide the pack of Marlboro we can identify with him. Aren’t these the moments that all of us have endured at some point.

I had stayed in Europe for a while and can easily relate to the loneliness of one’s life in the West. Add to it the sense of guilt we all feel at some point for living too lavishly or not doing enough for the home land. And often we are eager to help the country we belong to, the country we are born in. Swades imbibes all these and lends a voice to it.

It potrays a common Indian living outside of his land - he can be a NASA scientist or a software developer in Microsoft or a doctor with NHS in UK or an oil worker in the Gulf or for that matter anybody living in India itself. Bottomline is we all feel for the land we belong to and kudoos to Asutosh for lending a voice to those feelings.