bc movie review

7/31/2019 Bc Movie Review

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bc-movie-review 1/5



Movie review: Swadesh Producer: Ashutosh Gowariker & UTV

Director: Ashutosh Gowariker Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Gayatri Joshi, Kishori Balal,

Rajesh Vivek, Dayashankar Pandey

Music: A.R. Rahman

Lyrics: Javed Akhtar

Ashutosh Gowarikar, the director of epoch making LAGAAN, has

come out with his next venture after four years. SWADES, which

had created a lot of expectations, has the country’s biggest star

Shah Rukh Khan as its main protagonist.

If LAGAAN was marked by its grandeur, SWADES is marked by

its simplicity. Though it harps on the feeling for the motherland, it

avoids preaching slogans and echoing clichés.

The film focuses on rural India that is under developed and

struggling even to get basic amenities. This gloom scenario isdepicted in the backdrop of rapid urban development,

technological leaps, and the IT boom.

Mohan Bhargava (Shahrukh Khan), a scientist working on

NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement satellite wants to visit

India to trace his childhood nanny, Kaveriamma (Kishori Balal).

Mohan arrives to Charanpur, a remote village in Uttar Pradesh to

find his nanny. Here he encounters a world with features that arequite opposite to the American lifestyle he is used to. The village is

in a very poor condition in terms of Electricity, education, road

facility and so on.



There is a light in the form of Gita (Gayatri Joshi), teacher in the

local school. She works hard, with the aim of creating some sort of

change in the society. She just can’t take Mohan’s criticism of the

government’s inability to provide the basics for its people. She

retorts his arguments by questioning his contribution to thissociety.

Amidst this ideological conflict, Mohan pursues Kaveriamma to

come to America with him. But Kaveriamma is not only his

nanny. She is the mother figure to Gita too. Gita is not willing to

let her go. Kaveriamma too is not that keen to leave India.

She finds a solution. She assigns Mohan a simple task: collect

overdue rent from a poor farmer who has leased Gita’s land.

Mohan takes up this task.

The journey puts Mohan’s world upside down. He realizes the

position of the poor villagers who crave for a leader to initiate

efforts that could bring about development. He realizes that

persons like him must take initiative. He decides to lead these

helpless people.

SWADES sends a timely reminder to Indians at home and abroad.

Development cannot be complete if it is not spread to the villages.

One needs to take initiatives at the grassroots level to make the

whole thing fruitful to one and all.

Gowarikar has carefully sketched the characters. Though Mohan

is a pragmatic person she is not without emotions or passions.

Gowarikar develops each and every supporting character with the

aim of influencing his protagonist’s goal. Gita, for exampleinspires Mohan through her own example.

The portrayal of the village and its people is realistic. The village-

folk’s innocence is brilliantly depicted and this makes room for

some natural humor.



The script is strong and focused. Unlike LAGAAN, the enemy in

SWADES lies within in the form of submissive acceptance of

injustice by those who suffer it and ignorance by those who

witness it. Mohan helps the villagers identify their enemy, teaches

them to fight it. At the same time, he also learns a lot from them.

A.R. Rahman’s soulful music and Javed Akhtar’s powerful lyrics

augment the tone of the theme. Songs such as “Yeh Jo Des Hai

Mera” and “Pal Pal Hai Bhaari” strengthen the narration. The

production design by Nitin Desai adds much value to the entire

venture.

Gowrikar has extracted some first rate performances from his

cast. Shah Rukh Khan is extremely brilliant. He deftfully handles

dramatic and emotional sequences. He once again proves that he

is not merely a super-star, who has mass appeal. He shows that he

is a super performer too.

The serenely beautiful Gayatri Joshi makes a classy and confident

debut. She effortlessly exudes an unassuming grace and poise.

Though she leaves much to be desired when it come to strong

expressions, she has manages to make her presence felt in her maiden venture.

The film has its flaws too. The pace of the movie is not consistent.

The editing lacks maturity. The camera work by Mahesh Aney is

not up to the mark. Though the script is focused and the execution

is professional, the emotional quotient of the film has not emerged

strongly and hence it might fail to create mass appeal.

Despite some flaws, SWADES undoubtedly provides asinspirational experience. It touches the right card at the right

time. It gives patriotism a new and pragmatic identity in the era of

globalization. Since the film has a pan Indian appeal, it is

expected to do well all over the country. The dubbing in Tamil



must augment its business prospects down south, as the Tamil

people are fond of Shah Rukh and Rahma

STILL PICTURES FROM THE FILM SWADES

bc movie review

Documents