Swades (2004)

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 Ballal

Top Rated Indian Movies #58 | 13 wins & 23 nominations.

Cast

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

---

Plot Keywords:

india | village | nasa | postmaster | childhood nanny | 

---

Taglines:

We, the people

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is largely based on the Kannada film "Chigurida Kanasu" (Sprouting Dreams).

---

Goofs

In the scene when Mohan Bhargava installs turbine for electricity generation, the turbine's blades are seen as "forward curved". However with forward curved blades, losses are significantly high and normally they are not used in turbines. Sometimes where they are used, an additional pressure turbine is used, but that was not there in the movie.

---

Quotes

Mohan Bhargav: I'm only speaking of things I've experienced while living here. And that is that we keep fighting among ourselves when we must fight against illiteracy, over-population & corruption. Everyday, in our streets & homes, each one of us keeps saying their is no future of this country. This country is on the path of destruction. If we keep saying this, we will one day actually land up there. You'll need to do something about this. You too! Not just the members of the Panchayat but everyone in the ...
[...]

---

Connections

Referenced in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah: Chennai Express Special Part 1 (2013)

---

Soundtracks

Pal Pal Hai Bhaari
Sung by Madhushree, Vijay Prakash & Ashutosh Gowariker
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

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 USA:

$424,804, 19 December 2004

Gross USA:

$1,223,240

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,953,889

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ashutosh Gowariker Productions, Dillywood, UTV Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

210 min 195 min (Blu-ray)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital Dolby SR Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1