Shwaas (2004)

This story is about how an old man tried to show his grandson the preciousness and beauty of life in a no win situation such as cancer. It is about keeping a positive attitude towards life.

Director:

Sandeep Sawant

Stars:

Arun Nalawade, Ashwin Chitale, Sandeep Kulkarni

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Arun Nalawade	...	Keshavram Shantaram Vichare
Ashwin Chitale	...	Parshuram 'Parshya' Vichare
Sandeep Kulkarni	...	Dr. Sane
Amruta Subhash	...	Ashawari (Medica Social Worker)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vibhawari Deshpande	...	Receptionist
Ashwini Giri	...	Mrs. Vichare
Ganesh Manjrekar	...	Divakar (uncle)

Storyline

Parshuram (affectionately called as 'Parsha') is like any other child of his age - chirpy , mischievous and utterly likable . However when he complains of vision problems his grandfather Keshav Vichare (Arun Nalawade) travels all the way from their small village in the Konkan region in Maharashtra to Pune for getting his eyes checked . It turns out to be retino blastoma , a type of eye cancer that has only one cure - eye removal . Dr. Sane (Sandeep Kulkarni) asks Mr. Vichare to break the news to Parsha . Vichare is procrastinating at first but realizes later that the need of the hour is not only to break the news to Parsha , but also to show him the value of life and the joy of living even after rendered blind .

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Plot Keywords:

hospital | eye | village | doctor | kathi arts | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [India] (English)

Country:

India

Language:

Marathi

Release Date:

10 December 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Breath

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$1,042 (USA) (10 December 2004)

Gross:

$1,042 (USA) (10 December 2004)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

India's entry for best foreign film at the Oscars 2004.

User Reviews

Extremely overrated movie

Shwaas may have a good story, but the director is utterly devoid of talent. He does not know when to stop. When the story calls for people to act confused, there are ten minute scenes of people miming the act of confusion. When the story calls for a little background history, there are ten minute scenes of Konkan's greenery. When the story calls for a kid throwing tantrums... you get the idea.

Not to mention the extreme closeups so that you can count people's nose hair. There are movies that should be seen on a big screen, this movie should be seen on a 13" TV. Also Amruta Subhash who plays Asavari is the worst actress I've seen in quite a long time. A normal human being would need to practise overacting for years to achieve what she does so effortlessly.

I give it 4/10 solely because the subject matter is different, and the story is not bad. The fact that a movie like Shwaas gets to be India's entry to the Oscars tells volumes not about the state of Indian cinema but the state of Indian judging committees. A movie is not good just because its subject matter is arty.