Swades

One of my favourite movies. I am not a big fan of Shahrukh Khan but the scene where he has tears in his eyes on drinking a bowl of water just took my heart away.

The movie addresses a number of issues. Though some people think it was an attempt to get NRIs back to India, I think it was an honest attempt to make people aware of what is going on in the rural world on India through the eyes of an affluent NRI.
It was heart rendering to see how a poor farmer is not able to get water from his own villagers because he has changed his profession or that a rich panchyat guy saying his grand-daughters dont need higher education, they will learn household chores.
Each and Every character is that film is sketched beyond excellence. Be it the cook who wants to open a Dhaba on the US Freeways or the Postmaster who wants to get email in his village (he says, saare mail, email se email kar doonga) or Kaveri Amma who makes Mohan aware of the problems but lets him decide what is best for him. Characters of Geeta and Mohan are more than ideal still they strike a chord. We do need more females like Geeta who is working towards making a difference and who stands for what she believes in. I am sure in real life, it must be a very difficult decision for someone like Mohan to come back to India but doesnt he touch your heart when he says to his friend in the end "Agar tum abhi bhi nahin samjhe toh tumhe samjhana fizool hai, tumhe wahan aakar dekhna hoga."

There are a couple of more dialogues that really made an impact:

An old women asks Kaveri Amma why doesnt she ask Mohan to stay back and Kaveri Amma says she doesnt know what he wants, then the former lady says:
"Apne hi paani mein pighal jana burf ka mukaddar hota hai, samjhana dena usko."

Towards the end when Mohan is leaving, he says to the cook, I will send sponsorship papers for you and he refutes saying:
"Apne hi ghar ka diya, giving light to neighbour's house !!!"

Most of the people have acted very well. My favourites being the Cook (I am so sorry I cannot remember his name), Kaveri amma and Mohan Babu.

I like the songs too, especially the title song. A R Rehman has done full justice to the film and the song. I attended one of his concerts where he sang this song. Though rendered beautifully he forgot half of the lyrics which was kind of sad really !! He has done a very good job with the background score as well, do watch out for all the character specific tunes, it is simply amazing.

A lovely attempt by Ashutosh Gowariker. May god bless him for giving Swades to us.