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Swades

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Swades
File:Swades movie poster.png
Directed byAshutosh Gowariker
Written byAshutosh Gowariker
M.G. Sathya
K.P.Saxena (dialogue)
Produced byAshutosh Gowariker
Ronnie Screwvala
StarringShahrukh Khan
Gayatri Joshi
CinematographyMahesh Aney
Edited byBallu Saluja
Music byA.R. Rahman
Distributed byAshutosh Gowariker Productions Pvt. Ltd.
Release date
17 December 2004
Running time
197 mins
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi/English
BudgetRs. 200,000,000 (~$5,000,000)[1]

Swades (Hindi: स्वदेश, Urdu: سودیس, literally Homeland) is a 2004 Indian film written, produced and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. The film stars Shahrukh Khan and film newcomer Gayatri Joshi. Music is by A. R. Rahman, lyrics by Javed Akhtar and costume design by Bhanu Athaiya. The tagline of the film is: "We, the people."

Plot summary

Mohan Bhargava is an NRI working at NASA in a lucrative and prestigious position. After twelve years in the US, he decides to return to India to find his nanny, Kaveri Amma, with whom he has completely lost touch. Along the way, he meets a number of interesting people from the village where Kaveri Amma now lives; there's the village postmaster, eager to know more about e-mails and the internet, while also having a keen hobby of wrestling; the ex-freedom fighter who teaches history at the local school and is a lone voice of reason amongst the village elders; there's also a cook who harbours ambitions of opening a dhaba on a US freeway, and sees in Mohan an opportunity to get himself a visa.

While Mohan soon adapts himself to life in the village and endears himself to its people, he also encounters some of its harsher aspects. Among them are poverty, caste discrimination, child marriage, illiteracy, a general disregard for education and an apathy to change. He tries in his own way to bring about some change, even succeeding to the point of dissuading the village elders from moving the local school to smaller and far-away premises. In doing this, he earns the respect of Geeta, a childhood acquaintance who lives with Kaveri Amma and runs the local school.

One day, Kaveri Amma sends him away to another village to collect dues from a farmer who has rented their land. Along the journey, Mohan realises that the problems he had seen in the village mirror those faced by almost all other villages in the country. Haridas, the farmer who owes rent has no money to feed his own family, mainly because the villagers won't support his attempts at a change of profession (he was earlier a weaver). Mohan returns empty-handed but resolves to take more interest in improving the quality of life of the villagers.

He enlists the support of a few hundred men and guides them through the building of a reservoir beneath a perennial spring on a nearby hill. Buying turbines and other equipment from his own money, he sets up a small hydro-electric power plant that would solve the problem of irregular electricity and make the village self-sufficient.

By then, it's time for him to leave as his project at NASA is in its final stages. Kaveri Amma, whom he had intended to take along with him, refuses to come citing an unwillingness to adapt to a new culture at such a late stage in her life. Geeta, whom he had fallen in love with, also refuses to come with him, wanting to remain in the country and continue running the school that her parents had founded. He returns alone but feels a growing sense of responsibility towards his country and guilt for not being able to do much for the welfare of its people. He, nevertheless, stays to finish his project at NASA before resigning and returning to India.

Inspiration

Swades is inspired by the story of Aravinda Pillalamarri and Ravi Kuchimanchi the NRI couple who returned to India and developed the pedal power generator to light remote, off-the-grid village schools.[2][3][4] Ashutosh Gowariker is believed to have read Rajni Bakshi’s book Bapu Kuti, through which he got to know about Aravinda and Ravi, and the Bilgaon project.[2] The idea of lighting a village appealed to him. After spending considerable time with Aravinda and Ravi, both dedicated Association for India's Development (AID) volunteers, Gowarikar supposedly visited Bilgaon, an adivasi village in the Narmada valley, which is the back drop of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) movement. The people of Bilgaon are credited with doing 2000 person-days of shramdaan (community service) to make their village energy self-sufficient. The Bilgaon project is recognized as a model for replication by the Government of Maharashtra.

Several film critics alleged that the film is a remake of the Kannada film Chigurida Kanasu, directed by T.S.Nagabharana, which was based on a novel of the same name by Shivaram Karanth. This claim was refuted by Swades writer M G Sathya who said that he had been working on the story since the 1980s.[5]

Production

The role of Mohan was first offered to Hrithik Roshan who refused after reading the script.[6]

Panorama of Menawali - the village in Maharashtra where Swades was shot

Swades was the first Indian film to be actually shot inside the NASA research center at the Launch Pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center of NASA in Florida.[7][8] To add to the authenticity of his film, Gowariker actually wanted to shoot the scene in the NASA space center rather than on a set. The rainfall monitoring satellite known as the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) in the film is an actual NASA mission and is currently scheduled to launch in 2013.[9][10]

Themes

Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson, Tushar Gandhi noted the theme of Gandhism in the film.[11] The name of the main character portrayed by Shahrukh Khan is Mohan, which was also Mahatma Gandhi's birth name (Mohandas or "Mohan"). The film also opens with the following quotation from Gandhi:

Hesitating to act because the whole vision might not be achieved, or because others do not yet share it, is an attitude that only hinders progress.


Reception

Overall, Swades got positive reviews. Mannish Gajjar from BBC wrote "Swades is most probably the best film of 2004. It's a thought provoking film which we can relate to. [12]On IMDB, Swades currently has a 8.4 out of 10 stars.[13]

Awards and nominations

Filmfare Awards

Winners:

Nominated:

  • Best Director
  • Best Film
  • Best Lyricist
  • Best Music Director
  • Best Playback Singer - Female
  • Best Playback Singer - Male

Global Indian Film Awards

National Film Awards

Zee Cine Awards

Star Screen Awards

Bollywood Movie Awards

Film Café Awards

Rupa Cinegoers Awards for Jury Best Actor

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features seven songs and two instrumental pieces by A. R. Rahman.

  1. "Yeh Tara Woh Tara" (Udit Narayan, Master Vignesh, Baby Pooja, children)
  2. "Saanwariya Saanwariya" (Alka Yagnik)
  3. "Yun Hi Chala Chal" (Udit Narayan, Hariharan, Kailash Kher)
  4. "Aahista Aahista" (Udit Narayan, Sadhana Sargam)
  5. "Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera" (AR Rahman)
  6. "Pal Pal Hai Bhaari" (Madhushree, Vijay Prakash, Ashutosh Gowariker)
  7. "Dekho Na" (Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan)
  8. "Pal Pal Hai Bhaari" (Instrumental)
  9. "Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera" (Instrumental)

Notes

  1. ^ "Swades-NRI. young scientist working as a project manager in NASA returns to on a quest to find his childhood nanny". NRIINTERNET.COM. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  2. ^ a b "The Real Swadesis: Aravinda and Ravi". NRIPULSE.COM. Retrieved 2007-12-25.
  3. ^ "Bilgaon Village : From Darkness to Light". AID Austin. Retrieved 2007-12-25.
  4. ^ "The Bilgaon model". FRONTLINE (THE HINDU). Retrieved 2007-12-25.
  5. ^ "Something borrowed". Times of India. 2005-06-03. Retrieved 2007-08-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Ash, Hrithik ready to go back in time". The Times of India. 2006-10-11. Retrieved 2008-07-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  7. ^ "Swades". BBC. 2004. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
  8. ^ "Radio Sargam Interview: Shah Rukh Khan!". Radio Sargam. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
  9. ^ "Lights, Camera, Liftoff!". NASA. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
  10. ^ "Global Precipitation Measurement". NASA. Retrieved 2008-07-28. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ "'I'm pleased with Hirani's Gandhigiri,' says Gandhi's grandson". NowRunning.com. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
  12. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/films/bollywood/2004/12/swades_review.shtml
  13. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367110/
  14. ^ "Film Cafe: Winners". BBC Radio Online. Retrieved 2008-07-28. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  15. ^ "Awards". Bollyvista. Retrieved 2008-07-28. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

Reviews:

Template:Cinematic depictions of and references to Mahatma Gandhi

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