'Swades'

Article Updated 18 December, 2004 02:26:09 AM IST

'Swades'

The fact that Ashutosh Gowariker's, 'Lagaan' turned out to be one of the biggest hits of 2001 and also won an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film category made people await the release of 'Swades' with bated breath. Would the director be able to repeat his success story? This film is the real acid test for him. So has he made it or not?

Well, not quite. Unlike 'Lagaan', this is not a commercial film. To begin with 'Swades' is painfully long. But to give credit to the director one has to add that a more competent editor could have made a brilliant film out of this one. This means at least 40 minutes of the film needs to be snipped off! Although set in a rural area, the director has managed to stay away from cheap titillating sequences involving village belles swaying their hips in the fields. But we have to add that the film has not been well researched and there is a lack of attention to details. It makes us wonder if this is the same director who gave us 'Lagaan'!

The story. Mohan Bhargava (Shah Rukh), a NASA scientist develops guilt pangs suddenly for neglecting his childhood nanny, Kaveri Amma (Kishori Ballal), of 12 years. On an impulse he flies to India straight into a fictional village, Charanpur, in U.P. Kaveri lives there with a stern young school teacher, Geeta (Gayatri Joshi) and her kid brother (Smit Shah).

A few supposedly non-humorous encounters with a couple of village comedians after which Mohan is exposed to the ugly side of this village like erratic electric supply, casteism; these are some of the problems troubling the village inhabitants. Mohan being the superhero has a solution for this.

Here Gowarikar stoops to the typical Bollywood filmmaker level. A song, and sermon are used to sort it out. Now Mohan decides to channelize his energies into doing his bit for Charanpur. The songs actually come as a welcome relief from the boring narrative.

Director Ashutosh Gowariker deserves credit for making Shah Rukh Khan look the character, Mohan Bhargava. But somehow Shah Rukh cannot break away from the Johar and Chopra mould and ends up looking a bit of a misfit in the rural setting. However, that does not take from the fact that Shah Rukh has put in a sincere effort and is appearing genuine.

Newcomer Gayatri Joshi, as Gita, the village schoolteacher, and Mohan's love interest, does not look the part. She looks too model sort with her perfectly manicured nails and the way in which she carries herself.

While some may hail this film as a masterpiece, yet others would like to refer to it as archaic and regressive. The latter is the verdict of the masses. According to them, it could very well pass off as one of those social awareness documentaries played just before the start of a feature film in theatres. And while we wait for the box-office verdict, why don’t you go watch the movie and be the judge!

Overall Rating: ***

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