Una luce dal passato

I recently saw 'Swades' for the first time in it's entirety and was just blown away by it's mature and intelligent treatment on the subject of brain drain. Director Ashutosh G has succeeded in making me feeling completely rejuvenated. There are so many magical moments in the movie,to pin them down would be fruitless. It goes to show what conviction, effort and the power of imagination can accomplish when they all come together in such wonderful fashion. The movie has all my favorite elements- simple clean humor, realism, a blend of old and new values,some truly good old fashioned romance and idealism. I was swept away by the lyrical quality to the film. There were many scenes that stood out. The scene where Mohan and Gita meet for the first time was refreshing and witty.The scene where Mohan entertains the village-folk with the powers of his imagination when the movie projector breaks down....the train scene where Mohan witnesses the hardships faced by rural folk up close... It would be a travesty to think that anyone but SRK was born to play Mohan Bhargava. I've never been a SRK fan,given his penchant for safe roles and scripts.But this movie has changed all that for me. I have a new found respect for his talent. Maybe he will go back to playing inane lover boy roles in the future but for me, he will forever be NASA project manager turned rural crusader Mohan Bhargava. His honest,restrained and utterly convincing portrayal of a successful NRI works,and how! This movie reminded me of a lot of things I had forgotten or pushed into the back of my mind. Indian values.Ethics.The unadulterated and intoxicating joy of pure love.Respect for one's elders and nation. I rarely am moved by any recent Hindi movie. To my chagrin, I even got emotional at certain junctures of the film. I'm sure many of you felt the same way,especially those of us living outside the country. I understand that it's quite possible that's its impact is much more since I'm living abroad, but there's no taking away from the fact that this piece of cinema will be remembered and hailed as a classic work....even a few decades down the line. I salute the makers, crew and other technicians who created this movie. We need more cinema like this. It is relevant, entertaining and has a poignant message. Never, ever forget your roots. This movie made me feel proud to be an Indian and what we, as a people,stand for.

This movie is without doubt ...one of the greatest Hindi movies ever made.This movies combines with superb direction and amazing performances from all the artists.And Sharukh khan..........he comes up with the outstanding performance and proves that...he is an amazing actor....i feel he is not utilized properly by other directors except few for his talent......hope he does more movies like this.Gayatri was beautiful and perfect and no one could have done better than her.The music and background theme is awesome and hits perfectly to the scenes.I watch this movie at least twice in a year.Truly masterpiece from Auhotosh ans Srk.As few jerks say its boring...i promise it does not bore even for a min....i recommend this Gem of movie to all who love movie which is entertaining as well as thought provoking....and truly inspiring.......watch it least once in lifetime.........Swades :)

Mohan (Shah Rukh Khan) is a very successful engineer working for NASA in the States. His job is a very important one and he lives in a lovely apartment overlooking Washington, DC. But despite this, he's been plagued with dreams recently. He keeps thinking about his nanny that helped raise him and how guilty he feels because he left her back in India long ago. Now he's decided to head back to find her and bring her back with him to live in the States.

His route turns out more complicated than he'd thought. While she had lived in a nice nursing home, some time ago, she left and she now apparently resides in a small village in remote northern India. So, Mohan travels there and soon finds her. But this is very early in the film...there are still about 2 1/2 hours to go! So what's next? See the film.

This is a wonderful story, filled with some lovely acting, sweet writing and a lot of characters you can't help but like. I nearly scored this one a 10 and love the film's messages about working to make the world a better place versus working to make one small part of the world a better place. Well worth your time and among the best of SRK's films....which is saying quite a lot!

By the way, imagine this American's surprise when it turned out quite a bit of this Indian film was filmed near where I grew up. Much of the film is set at Goddard Space Flight Center in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. However, it's also confusing because often scenes switch between there and Cape Canaveral...which are about 900 miles apart! And, if you visit Goddard Space Flight Center, there is a decent Indian restaurant nearby...in case you're interested.

Ashutosh Gowariker, has really made this movie straight from the heart. It has none of the ridiculous clichés one is typically used to seeing when one sees a story about an India returning home. He has captured something which perhaps no other Indian movie has - that love for ones country can be strong without making an excessively big deal about it.

It is a long movie. But I think the rather leisurely pace of the movie is required because it gives enough time for the protagonist, Mohan Bhargava, to come to India (with his mineral water and caravan) and start to fall in love with its beauty as well as understand its incongruities which frustrate us all as well. I thought there were three moments in the movie that captured it all

1. The feeling he gets when he starts to land in India. All of us feel it. I do even today. It's called coming home. 2. The mineral water - that is a classic. In fact it is a character of its own throughout the movie and plays its own part! 2. The boy serving water at 25paise to the train passengers and Mohan Bhargava's reaction

I am saddened that Indians both in India and around the world have not liked this movie. It will be remembered as an epic. 2.

Definitely a thoughtful movie. Thanks to Gowariker, gives an insight to the rural parts of India, their lifestyle, concise outlook… Different treatment of Patriotism, AG is quick to know the pulse of his viewers,

SRK has done a brilliant job. I'd read, a leading director who commented on him, that he comes in a package with best designers, director, music, best locations on shoot etc. etc…, I strongly recommend him to watch this movie, and would like to know what he could say to this. It was good and a big change to see SRK dancing with children. Star SRK has transformed into character, good!!!. AG has carried simplicity in every angle of the film.

Another good thing is the casting, Ashutosh deserve a big applause for this, all faces were apt for the character. Visuals, music, cinematography in short the whole crew a big applause, you guys had done a wonderful job.

Truly anticipate seeing such movies .