Swades

Swades: We, the People
Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced by Ashutosh Gowariker
Ronnie Screwvala
Written by Ashutosh Gowariker
(dialogue)
Screenplay by Ashutosh Gowariker
Sameer Sharma
Srinjoy Bhattacharya
Amin Hajee
Charlotte Whitby-Coles
Yashodeep Nigudkar
Ayan Mukherjee
Story by Ashutosh Gowariker
M. G. Sathya
Starring Shah Rukh Khan
Gayatri Joshi
Kishori Balal
Music by A.R.Rahman
Cinematography Mahesh Aney
Edited by Ballu Saluja
Production
company
Ashutosh Gowariker Productions
Distributed by UTV Motion Pictures
Release dates
 17 December 2004
Running time
 195 minutes
Country India
Language Hindi
Budget ₹210 million (US$3.1 million)[1]
Box office ₹342 million (US$5.1 million)[2][3]

Swades ("Swades: We, the People") (pronounced [sʋəˈd̪eːʃ], English: Own Country) is a 2004 Bollywood drama film written, produced and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. It stars Shah Rukh Khan and Gayatri Joshi in the lead roles. The film received widespread critical acclaim and a cult following from Indian and other South Asian audiences around the world. This was a remake of Kannada movie 'Chigurida Kanasu' with Shiva Rajkumar in lead role.[4][5]

Plot

Mohan Bhargava (Shah Rukh Khan) is an Indian who works as a project manager at NASA in the United States. He keeps worrying about Kaveri Amma (Kishori Ballal), a maid at his home in Uttar Pradesh who looked after him during his childhood days. After his parents’ death, Kaveri Amma went to live in an old age home in Delhi and lost contact with Mohan. Mohan wishes to go to India and bring Kaveri Amma back with him to the US. He takes a few weeks off and travels to India. He goes to the old age home but learns that Kaveri Amma no longer lives there and went to a village named Charanpur a few years ago. Mohan then decides to travel to Charanpur, in Uttar Pradesh.

Mohan decides to rent a caravan to reach the village fearing that he might not get the required facilities there. Upon reaching Charanpur, he meets Kaveri Amma and gets to know that it was Gita (Gayatri Joshi), Mohan’s childhood friend, who had brought Kaveri Amma following her parents’ death to stay with her. Gita runs a school in Charanpur and works hard to improve the living conditions of the villagers through education. However, the village is divided largely by caste and religious beliefs. Gita does not like Mohan’s arrival as she thinks that he will take Kaveri Amma back with him to the US, leaving her and her younger brother Chikku alone. Kaveri Amma tells Mohan that she needs to get Gita married first, and that it is her responsibility. Gita believes in women empowerment and gender equality. This attracts Mohan towards Gita and he too tries to help her by campaigning for education among backward communities and also girls.

Slowly love blossoms between Mohan and Gita. Kaveri Amma asks Mohan to visit a nearby village named Kodi, and collect money from a man named Haridas who owes it to Gita. Mohan visits Kodi and feels pity seeing Haridas' poor condition, which is such that he is unable to provide his family with meals everyday. Haridas tells Mohan that since his caste profession of a weaver wasn't earning him any money, he shifted to tenant farming.But this change in profession led to his ostracization from the village and the villagers even denied him water for his crops. Mohan understands the pathetic situation and realises that many villages in India are still like Kodi. He returns to Charanpur with a heavy heart and decides to do something for the welfare of Charanpur.

Mohan extends his leave by three more weeks. He learns that electricity inconsistency and frequent power cuts are a big problem in Charanpur. He decides to set up a small hydroelectric power generation facility from a nearby water source. Mohan purchases all the equipment needed from his own funds and oversees the building of the power generation unit. The unit works and the village gets sufficient, consistent power from it.

However, Mohan is repeatedly called by NASA officials as the NASA project he was working on is reaching important stages and he has to return to the US soon. Kaveri Amma tells him that she prefers to stay in Charanpur as it will be difficult for her to adapt to a new country at her age. Gita also tells him that she will not settle down in another country and she would prefer it if Mohan stayed in India with her. Mohan returns to the US with a heavy heart to complete the project. However, in the US, he has flashbacks of his time in India and wishes to return. After the successful completion of his project, he leaves the US and returns to India with intentions of working at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, from where he can also work with NASA. The movie ends showing Mohan and Gita staying in Charanpur following their wedding.

Cast

Production

Motivation

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.[6][7][8] Gowarikar spent considerable time with Aravinda and Ravi, both dedicated Association for India's Development (AID) volunteers. He supposedly visited Bilgaon, an Adivasi village in the Narmada valley, which is the backdrop of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) movement. The people of Bilgaon are credited with doing 200 person-days of shramdaan (community service) to make their village energy self-sufficient. The Bilgaon project is recognised as a model for replication by the government of Maharashtra.

Themes

Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson, Tushar Gandhi noted the theme of Gandhism in the film. He found it unfortunate that the movie was not box office success[9] The name of the main character portrayed by Shahrukh Khan is Mohan, which was Mahatma Gandhi's birth name (Mohandas or "Mohan"). Swades 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. ”

Gowariker tries to address the lack of a scientific temperament and widespread ignorance among the rural folks through the energetic number "Ye Tara Wo Tara" where Mohan is seen encouraging the children to experience the fascinating world of stars through his telescope. In a symbolic manner, the song rejects the defunct divisions of caste and class and at the same time, through its protagonist, tries to instill in the audience an appreciation of curiosity and observation.

Casting and filming

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

The role of Mohan was first offered to Hrithik Roshan who refused after reading the script.[10] Then Shahrukh Khan got this offer from Ashutosh Gowariker.

Swades was the first Indian film to be shot inside the NASA research center at the Launch Pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.[11][12] The rainfall monitoring satellite known as the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) in the film is an actual NASA mission and was launched in 2014.[13][14][15]

Reception

Critical reception

The film received overwhelmingly strong critical acclaim from critics. Most of the critics felt that Shahrukh Khan's performance in Swades was his best till date. Subhash K Jha of Indiatimes Movies gave 4.5 stars out of 5 and said "Swades is a unique experiment with grassroot realism. It is so politically correct in its propagandist message that initially you wonder if the government of India funded the director's dream."

Mayank Shekhar from MiD DAY gave 4 stars and called it 'bravo!' and added "I cannot think of a better film for the longest that deserved a stronger recommendation for both touring cinemas of India's villages, and plush multiplexes of Mumbai or Manhattan." Jitesh Pillai of the Sunday Times of India gave 4 stars and said "After Lagaan, what? The answer's blowing in the wind. Swades. Here's the verdict: This is a gusty and outstanding film. Welcome back to real, solid film-making." He added "Swades is undoubtedly the No 1 movie of the year." Shradha Sukumaran of Mid-Day gave 3.5 stars and said "At the end of it, Swades is a far braver film than Lagaan. It could have hit the high note — if it hadn't tried so hard."

Avijit Ghosh wrote in The Telegraph, "With its gentle humour, the film acts as an entertaining vehicle for social change. And hopefully, it will do more for positive nationalism than the Union government's Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity (DAVP) ads ever will."[16]

Swades went on to become a cult classic and currently holds a rating of 8.5 out of 10 on the Internet Movie Database , and Khan's performance as Mohan Bhargava is considered one of his best by many.[17]

Box office

Swades earned ₹152.5 million (US$2.3 million) nett in India.[2] In the overseas market, the film made $2,790,000.[18] It had a lifetime worldwide gross of ₹342.6 million (US$5.1 million).

Soundtrack

Swades
Soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman
Released 2004
Recorded Panchathan Record Inn
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Label T-Series
Producer A. R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman chronology
New (film)
(2002)		 Swades
(2004)		 Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero
(2005)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Planet Bollywood link

All lyrics written by Javed Akhtar; all music composed by A. R. Rahman.

No. TitleArtist(s) Length
1. "Yeh Taara Woh Taara"  Udit Narayan, Master Vignesh, Baby Pooja 7:13
2. "Saanwariya Saanwariya"  Alka Yagnik 5:17
3. "Yun Hi Chala Chala"  Udit Narayan, Kailash Kher, Hariharan 7:28
4. "Aahista Aahista"  Udit Narayan, Sadhana Sargam 6:49
5. "Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera"  A. R. Rahman 6:28
6. "Pal Pal Hai Bhaari"  Madhushree, Vijay Prakash 6:50
7. "Dekho Na"  Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan 5:46
8. "Pal Pal Hai Bhaari" (Flute)Naveen 3:38
9. "Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera" (Shehnai)Madhukar Dhumal, 4:00

Tamil version

The Tamil soundtrack under the title Desam[19] was composed by A.R. Rahman. All Lyrics were written by Vaali not by Vairamuthu.

Title Singer(s) Length
Thirukona Moolam S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, Master Vignesh, Baby Pooja 7:13
Kaaviriya Kaaviriya Madhushree, Alka Yagnik (humming) 5:17
Unnai Kelai T. L. Maharajan, Hariharan 7:28
Kettenaa Naan Mohammed Aslam, Sadhana Sargam 6:49
Unthan Desathin Kural A.R. Rahman 6:28
Mazhai Mega Vanna Chithra, Srinivas 6:50
Thai Sonna K.J. Yesudas, madhushree 5:46
Unthan Desathin Kural (Shehnai) Madhukar T. Dhumal 4:00

Awards

National Film Awards
Filmfare Awards
Global Indian Film Awards
Zee Cine Awards
Star Screen Awards
Stardust Awards
Bollywood Movie Awards
Film Café Awards

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Swades - Starring Shahrukh Khan, Gayatri Joshi, Kishori Ballal, Dayashanker Pandey, Rajesh Vivek. Swades's box office, news, reviews, video, pictures, and music soundtrack. Ibosnetwork.com. Retrieved on 2015-03-30.
  2. 1 2 Boxofficeindia.com. Web.archive.org (2013-10-14). Retrieved on 2015-03-30.
  3. ↑ Boxofficeindia.com. Web.archive.org (2013-09-26). Retrieved on 2015-03-30.
  4. ↑ "Lost in Translation - Part 1/2". Filmfare. 8 September 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  5. ↑ Deepak Mahaan (4 August 2011). "Arts / Cinema : Intoxicated with second love!". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "The Real Swadesis: Aravinda and Ravi". NRIPULSE.COM. Retrieved 25 December 2007.
  7. ↑ "Bilgaon Village: From Darkness to Light". AID Austin. Retrieved 25 December 2007.
  8. ↑ "The Bilgaon model". FRONTLINE (THE HINDU). Retrieved 25 December 2007.
  9. ↑ Jha, Subhash K.; Service, Indo-Asian News (2015-11-19). "\`I\`m pleased with Hirani\`s Gandhigiri,\` says Gandhi\`s grandson". Sify.com. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
  10. ↑ "Ash, Hrithik ready to go back in time". The Times of India. 11 October 2006. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
  11. ↑ "Swades". BBC. 2004. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
  12. ↑ "Radio Sargam Interview: Shah Rukh Khan!". Radio Sargam. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
  13. ↑ "Lights, Camera, Liftoff!". NASA. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
  14. ↑ "Global Precipitation Measurement". NASA. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
  15. ↑ "GPM Launch Information". NASA. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
  16. ↑ "A film that dares". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 24 December 2004.
  17. ↑ Verma, Sukanya. "10 Best Bollywood Movies of the Decade". Rediff.com. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  18. ↑ Archived 6 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  19. ↑ Kamini Mathai (2009). A.R. Rahman: The Musical Storm. Penguin Books India. pp. 256–. ISBN 978-0-670-08371-8.
  20. ↑ Suhasini, Lalitha (19 July 2005). "Destiny's child". The Indian Express. Pune Newsline. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  21. ↑ Pratiyogita Darpan (May 2005). Competition Science Vision. Pratiyogita Darpan. pp. 289–.
  22. ↑ imbd, imbd (March 26, 2005). "zee cine 2005". Imdb. Pune Newsline. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  23. ↑ "Film Cafe: Winners". BBC Radio. Retrieved 28 July 2008.

External links

Reviews

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