Merolliv
I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.
Senteur
As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.
Mandeep Tyson
The acting in this movie is really good.
gmkhairulbd
It touches most of the social issues, a emotional ride with situational humorous moments
ravs05
There are good Bollywood movies, great Bollywood movies and then there is Swades! For me, this movie is simply perfection. Even though Swades did not receive approval from Indian critics, this movie for me was one of the best things to come from Indian cinema.The story is quite simple and something which all of us NRIs relate to - being abroad, lonely for long and craving for that companionship and love which we all grew up with back in India. Childhood back in India was full of fun, with cousins, friends, neighbours, relatives and living abroad deprives you of all that. So I could relate this movie soo much to my circumstances, especially when the final song arrives, I thought it was time to pack my bags and head home for good. Sadly, life does not work this way. Still, this movie reminds me of all those golden days, long gone now and puts a smile on my face every time I watch it.Coming to the movie, it is full of sweet nothings and strong social messages. The film makes a strong case of people coming together as Humans and not to distinguish or discriminate! Such a simple message and it is shown in the most simplistic but very effective way in the movie. The love story between the lead characters was subtle but very sweet and effective. The songs, they elevate the movie onto a new level altogether! All the songs are masterpieces and no one other than A.R.Rahman could do full justice for this film. Just listen to "Yeh jo desh hai tera", it surely makes you feel nostalgic. "Saawarya" and "Dekho Na" are excellent love ballads, whereas "Yuhi Chala" and "Yeh Tara" provoke the sense of fun, enjoyment and unity! "Aahista" is one of the best lullabies ever composed and "Pal pal hai bhari" tells an episode from Ramayana in a convincing way.Swades is one of my favourite Bollywood movies and I still own a pristine collectors edition DVD of this film and watch it time to time, whenever I am feeling home-sick.
abhi_sran
'I don't believe India is the greatest nation in the world. But, I definitely believe we have the potential of becoming one of the greatest nations in the world' said Mohan Bhargava in a sequence while arguing with a bunch of orthodox villagers. This film is probably one of the best films SRK has done in terms of social relevance and storytelling. The screenplay has been drafted superbly and the casting is the actual strength of this film. This film is surely gonna stir up a sea of emotions in the NRI Indian diaspora abroad. It will definitely appeal to people who have at some point in their lives left their motherland/home in search of a better life elsewhere. The film has all the ingredients that make it a commercial success as well. In short, this movie offers something somewhere for every Indian who has grown disillusioned of the ways/system of their own country. India deserved a film such as this for a long long time and finally, we have a piece of cinema which boasts of patriotism in an unconventional manner. Jai Hind!
ashprofessionalways
Early on we find Mohan addressing the press in NASA about cities his initiative would have an impact on. He goes about, " San Francisco, Latin Mexico, New Delhi..." , dispassionately. Delhi doesn't resonate ethnic familiarity. It's another piece of geography. A mere statistic. He's as Indian as a Mira Nair movie. The very mention of India in a press conference- after returning from a trip there - towards the film's closure, unsettles him. It's no mere "another" country anymore. It's his; he its. It's the pin that made contact with his carefully cultivated American bubble. Swades is book-ended by these two press conferences. It's the story of a man's search for his mother, that ends in his motherland. It traces an individual's metamorphosis from being a condescending first world citizen to someone crushed by the stench of third world reality, which was easier to digest as editorial observations over English breakfast.Where do I start? Do I talk about the audacity of the role reversal employed, where the leading lady is chivalrously let to tie dhoti to an almost emasculated hero; who's regarded as a deity of fluffy romance in the country's heartlands. Or do I talk about the spectacle, simple thoughts are translated into on screen like the "Yeh Tara, Woh Tara" song sequence. Just a few nimble limb movements here, a few facial sparkles there. A song with stars as metaphors under a night sky sprinkled with glittering stars, rendered by a nimbus star in an ominous form. It's as transcendental as poetry gets on the big screen.Neither the obscene budgets nor the more obscene promotions(hawking) of these days were there to flex, but he was nonchalantly wearing his superstardom like a good perfume. His charm was organic, not labored. If Khan's the film's face and heart, Rahman's music is the pulse and soul. Rarely do we get a musical score that follows the story like a solicitous shadow, never once intending to precede or side step for attention. It grows with the protagonist; melting with him; simmering with him; hoping with him and hurting with him. It fashions the western finesse to the eastern sensibilities of the film's milieu. Swades is a fine example of what happens in a legitimate marriage between the song and dance trope and narrative dexterity.And a special mention, actually a very special mention to Gayatri Joshi. The deadpan way in which she competes with SRK's calculator, her implosive consent to his boisterous overtures, her outbursts of child ego while being possessive of Kaveriamma or the dollops of grace she adds to the chiffon saris. She brings so much dignity to Geeta, doing more to the role than it does to her. Not often do we get an actress who makes us feel guilty in a wet dream.Mohan's starting to scratch beyond the surface of paper patriotism, when Kaveriamma sends him to collect rent arrears from a farmer. To him it's just an expedition, another rustic journey to a rudimentary hamlet . But she knows more. She knows it would make him go off the deep end on a journey of self discovery. On his way there he travels on a boat, standing with a glint of amusement in his eyes, distant from the other modest passengers. He doesn't disrespect them. He just doesn't belong.He meets the farmer, through him meets with every ugly truth inundating a nation- poverty, casteism, apathy - he only knew of at an ethnicity and number-of-rivers basis till now.He came to India with first world problems like guilt from not being able to stay in touch with his foster mother. His project in NASA addressing the issue of global water scarcity that hitherto swelled his chest slowly fades away to in-prominence as he gazes skywards, from the ground reality of a third world peasant's backyard. A young boy sprinting helter skelter, to sell water for 25 paise adds further salt to his wounded soul. On his way back, he returns a different man on the same boat. He's humbled by the guilt of ignorance about a country he claimed to be a part of; humbled by the knowledge that the "humble" lives led in its heartlands was in fact euphemism to the collective sufferings. Legs folded, he's seated among the other modest beings on the boat. The distance between them had crumbled. In fact it now feels like a crime. "They" becomes "we", as he becomes Indian.
