Swades

By the time I finish writing this post, it's probably going to be tomorrow. So first of all, a Merry Christmas to all my readers.

As you can probably make out from the title, I went to see Swades today with a few friends. The few friends in question being Mr. Vaibhav Sahgal, Ms. Anuva Seth, Ms. Tara Kaul, and Ms. Anchika (I don't know her surname, and I hope I have not messed up her first name's spelling). As none of these people have actually been mentioned on my blog earlier, I would like to begin by giving all my readers a brief introduction to them, before launching into a lengthy description of what I liked about the movie and what I did not like about it.

Mr. Vaibhav Sahgal (aka Tutu) is crazy. He is absolutely and completely mad. He was with me in school. He was, I think, the President of the Debating Society at school, a post which is now held by Mr. Bhavya Khanna. Important in this context would be to mention the fact that Mr. Bhavya Khanna has a major khundak with Vaibhav, for reasons that are not known to me. Currently doing Engineering at Purdue, Tutu is also known for occasionally carrying two mobile phones (on such occasions he holds one mobile phone in each hand and says contentedly, "Aaj mere paas 2-2 mobile hain.", which explains the nickname), and his far from proficient singing skills. He was the lead singer for a band which was aptly titled Apocalypse. Apocalypse wasn't too good when it came to music, but when it came to soaring enthusiasm levels, Apocalypse towered over other bands. Too bad it isn't around any more. Tutu looks like a lizard with long hair.

Ms. Anuva Seth (aka Rocky) is smart and cool. She has weird hair and weird specs. One of my friends, Mr. Aditya Bhatla, thinks that she looks like Harry Potter. She is also from my school. She has a cellphone which has a land-line number, and unbelievably stupid games. She is currently doing Eco. at LSR.

Ms. Tara Kaul (aka Bunty) is short, and looks like a witch. A pleasant witch, I would like to add. She was one of the Presidents of the Students' Council while we were at school (I was the other one). She is now at LSR, and is, from what I hear, in the same class as Rocky, which means that she is also doing economics. She is the only person I know who has the dubious distinction of a)Missing her own Gold-Medal Ceremony at school and b)Falling in love with the eyes of an extremely respected member of our school faculty (If you had come here a bit earlier, you would have also found his name, which has now been removed on Ms. Kaul's insistence.). Also to be noted here is the fact that Bunty owns an iPod, which makes her a cool person. Point of clarification here. Ms. Kaul is NOT a witch. She merely looks like one.

Ms. Anchika (if somebody knows her surname, please do let me know) is somebody I got to know quite recently, in class XII. She is also from the same school as I am. My friend, Mr. Aditya Bhatla, thinks that she looks like Mr. Gheedia (1st year, Electrical Engineering, IIT Delhi, aka Muski) in female form. As you can probably deduce, my friend Aditya is a wiseguy who has nothing better to do than to pass comments at other people's physical appearances.

So I went to see Swades, accompanied by the people described above. Did I like the movie? To be frank, I think I did. It is a lovely movie, very touching at times, and yet not too sentimental and rona-dhona types. It is long, and it is a bit documentaryish, but it is, at the end of the day, a good, entertaining commercial film with a relevant message behind it. It has its moments of romance, of emotion, of drama, and even of humor (though they are few and far in between).

The story is new, and the movie is well-made. Shah Rukh Khan has got a wonderful role, and he does full justice to it. Definitely one of his best performances till date. He is totally convincing as Mohan Bhargava, although he does look a bit out of place as the NASA project-manager. But he more than compensates with his flawless performance as a US-Returned Indian, in a small Indian village. He must also be commended on his choice of shirts in the film. Some of the shirts he is wearing are pretty cool.

The message behind the film is very relevant and very contemporary. Although I doubt the movie is going to result in NRIs flocking back to India in large numbers to help their homeland, it does make a very significant impact on the viewer. It might not result in an exodus, but it has a deep-seated sense of patriotism and self-reliance in it which people, both in India, and abroad, can learn from.

I would say, Swades is definitely worth a watch. I would recommend it to everybody. If not for anything else, then for the two very interesting observations I made during the movie:
1. Mr. Mohan Bhargava seems to be a Mac-lover. He is shown working on a Powerbook throughout the entire movie. So one gets the opportunity to look at the wonderful machine every 5 minutes or so.
2. Gayatri Joshi, who plays the female lead in the movie, is soooo pretty. She can't act, and is totally unconvincing as Geeta. But she is soooo pretty. She brought a smile to my face every time she came on screen. I was completely mesmerised by her beauty.

Look out Ms. Preity Zinta. Seems like you have some competition. Not in the acting department though.