Swades (2004)
"Swades: We, the People" (original title)

A successful Indian scientist returns to an Indian village to take his nanny to America with him and in the process rediscovers his roots.

Director:

Ashutosh Gowariker

Writers:

M.G. Sathya (story), Ashutosh Gowariker (story),

Stars:

Shah Rukh Khan, Gayatri Joshi, Kishori Balal

12 wins & 23 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shah Rukh Khan	...	Mohan Bhargav
Gayatri Joshi	...	Gita
Kishori Balal	...	Kaveri amma
Smith Seth	...	Chiku (as Master Smith Seth)
Lekh Tandon	...	Dadaji - Freedom Fighter
Rajesh Vivek	...	Nivaran Dayal Shrivastav
Daya Shankar Pandey	...	Mela Ram
Farrukh Jaffar	...	Fatima Bi
Vishnudutt Gaur
Raja Awasthi
Vishwa S. Badola	...	(as Visshwa S. Badola)
Bhim Vakani
Rahul Vohra	...	Vinod (as Rahul Vora)
Rajesh Balwani
Bachan Pachehra	...	(as Bachan Pachera)

Storyline

Set in modern day India, Swades is a film that tackles the issues that development throws up on a grass root level. It is to this India, which is colorful, heterogeneous and complex that Mohan Bhargava (Shah Rukh Khan), a bright young scientist working as a project manager in NASA, returns to on a quest to find his childhood nanny. The film uses the contrast between the highly developed world of NASA, which has been at the forefront of advances in space research, and this world back home in India, which is at the crossroads of development. Mohan's simple quest becomes the journey that every one of us goes through in search of that metaphysical and elusive place called "home".

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Plot Keywords:

india | village | nasa | postmaster | childhood nanny | 

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Taglines:

We, the people

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi English

Release Date:

17 December 2004 (India)

Also Known As:

Swades

Filming Locations:

Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£96,842 (UK) (17 December 2004)

Gross:

$1,223,240 (USA) (4 February 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ashutosh Gowariker Productions Pvt. Ltd., Dillywood, UTV Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

210 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital Dolby SR Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mohan Bhargava is working on a rainfall monitoring satellite known as the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), which is lifted into an orbit aboard a Space Shuttle. The GPM is an actual NASA mission, currently scheduled to launch in 2007.

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Goofs

In the book store where Mohan meets Geeta for the first time, while billing he mistakenly checks the price for Hindi book "Bal Bharti" and bills for Mathematics.

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Quotes

Fatima Bi: Apne hi paani me mil jaana barf ka muqqadar hota hai.

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Connections

Referenced in Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera"
Sung by A.R. Rahman
Lyrics by Javed Akhtar
Composed by A.R. Rahman

User Reviews

Well Done but..

This is one of the most thought provoking movies to come out of Bollywood in recent times. I loved the characters of pretty much everyone in the movie but felt that all the good work was little bit undone by the length. Yes, Lagaan was long too but then it had a cricket match running and that was enough to maintain the intensity. However, it has to be said that AR Rehman's background score especially during the scenes when Shahrukh Khan travels by train and boat is nothing short of brilliant.

The movie also fell a little short in that it failed to address all the ideas about India that it raised. However, I am giving it high ratings because the script is good and fresh and the director has done his job passionately.

Its good to see Gowariker doing movies close to his heart and not falling for the "mass-hit" formula which many other promising directors have done.

Prashanth