I recently saw 'Swades' for the first time in it's entirety and was just blown away by it's mature and intelligent treatment on the subject of brain drain. Director Ashutosh G has succeeded in making me feeling completely rejuvenated. There are so many magical moments in the movie,to pin them down would be fruitless. It goes to show what conviction, effort and the power of imagination can accomplish when they all come together in such wonderful fashion. The movie has all my favorite elements- simple clean humor, realism, a blend of old and new values,some truly good old fashioned romance and idealism. I was swept away by the lyrical quality to the film. There were many scenes that stood out. The scene where Mohan and Gita meet for the first time was refreshing and witty.The scene where Mohan entertains the village-folk with the powers of his imagination when the movie projector breaks down....the train scene where Mohan witnesses the hardships faced by rural folk up close... It would be a travesty to think that anyone but SRK was born to play Mohan Bhargava. I've never been a SRK fan,given his penchant for safe roles and scripts.But this movie has changed all that for me. I have a new found respect for his talent. Maybe he will go back to playing inane lover boy roles in the future but for me, he will forever be NASA project manager turned rural crusader Mohan Bhargava. His honest,restrained and utterly convincing portrayal of a successful NRI works,and how! This movie reminded me of a lot of things I had forgotten or pushed into the back of my mind. Indian values.Ethics.The unadulterated and intoxicating joy of pure love.Respect for one's elders and nation. I rarely am moved by any recent Hindi movie. To my chagrin, I even got emotional at certain junctures of the film. I'm sure many of you felt the same way,especially those of us living outside the country. I understand that it's quite possible that's its impact is much more since I'm living abroad, but there's no taking away from the fact that this piece of cinema will be remembered and hailed as a classic work....even a few decades down the line. I salute the makers, crew and other technicians who created this movie. We need more cinema like this. It is relevant, entertaining and has a poignant message. Never, ever forget your roots. This movie made me feel proud to be an Indian and what we, as a people,stand for.
