In ‘Defence’ of Swades
Jodhaa Akbar is the flavour of the month- some love it, some love to hate it- as for me, I fall somewhere in between, I guess. Maybe the reason why I am not so drastically dejected by the film is that I wasn’t really expecting a Lagaan or Swades out of it, and also that the leads actually did way better that I expected them to- admittedly, if anyone’s faltered here, it’s Gowariker- without doubt. (My review, which I cannot publish at PFC, owing to website policy is dying to be read here at my blog.)
I doubt if Gowariker is ‘the new K Asif’, as someone on PFC recently proclaimed him to be- I frankly find the comparison rather absurd- but he definitely is one of the best filmmakers we have in India- and I don’t really mind if if his film gets a little more than it deserves, as long as he continues to strive to make great cinema- which his latest film certainly falls way short of.
Anyway, all said and done- recently, Kartik and I were having one of our usual discussions over the phone on recent films and events, during which I discovered that Anurag Kashyap, in his infamously ‘controversial’ article in criticism of Black in Tehelka, had also compared the aforementioned film with Swades calling both films terribly indulgent, and remarking that Swades was a 15 minute idea stretched to the point of exhaustion.
Indulgence is a tricky thing to discuss, really. Some of the best films and filmmakers in the world are terribly indulgent- and for that matter, even Mr. Kashyap’s latest and most unfairly derided film is unquestionably indulgent, almost to an extreme. Having said that, I failed to see how exactly Swades is ‘indulgent’.
I have to confess that criticism of Swades somehow always manages to strike a raw nerve with me, considering how deeply it touched me. I was reasonably intrigued and surprised- I found it rather odd that the two films be mentioned in the same breath- and did finally read the article. And without any bias, I have to say that I found it unobjective and the criticism leveled at the film unfair and based on presumptions and preconceived notions. And while I can hardly claim to be as erudite and knowledgable about cinema as Mr. Kashyap (who I have immense regard for as a filmmaker), I do feel compelled to- for lack of a better word- ‘defend’ what is one of my favourite films and one that has unnecessarily been bogged down by adjectives like ‘preachy’ and ‘documentarish’.
Anyway, coming to my point, let me quote:
Bhansali’s Black is a classic case of sheer technique dictating content. Like Gowariker’s Swades, it suffers from the terrible Oscar fever that seems to have gripped Bollywood after Lagaan’s journey.
As for craft overshadowing and dictating content (an accusation the author makes against Black)- I personally don’t always mind that- but then, the craft has to actually be that good. I am not a huge admirer of Sanjay Leela Bhansali or his body of work, and though I find the ire vented at Black in the article a tad overt, I don’t think that is really worth discussing, considering that it is admittedly a film that has been discussed far more than it is worth.
What I really find questionable is how Swades is tagged along with Black as an ‘Oscar-baiting’ film, made by Gowariker simply for the purpose of attempting to duplicate Lagaan’s success at the Academy awards. Now anybody who has seen and appreciated Swades, will probably agree with me when I say that it is a very personal, intimate film- and that it can only truly resonate with those of Indian origin- and I say this not because it supposedly preaches ‘patriotism’, but because the soul of the film- amply reflected in the script, dialogue and imagery- is too ‘Indian’ to really be absorbed and comprehended by audiences alien to Indian culture. Lagaan, in that sense was a simpler, more ‘universal’ tale- that with its ‘underdog’ theme and exuberant tone finding favour with all audiences.
Reading on further, the author goes on to say:
In the process of touring the world with Lagaan and experiencing the hysteria surrounding it, he thought he had hit upon a formula, long dead, of the real, rural, India. And he made Swades, but ‘We the people’ was further from the people than its predecessor. Swades had none of the innocence of Lagaan. It said, “I know what I’m doing. I’m here to change the world.” It would have sufficed if the film had said, “I want to change the world. I know it’s a tall order but give me a chance.” We have to pretend to love it for we might be deemed unpatriotic.
Here, not only does the author make a silly assumption about the filmmaker’s thought-process and intent behind making the film, but also seriously undermines the intelligence and integrity of Gowariker as a filmmaker to contending that he stupidly thought that he had hit upon a ‘formula’- that is- ‘Rural India’- and cash on it through Swades. Though Bhansali’s look-I-am-making-a-masterpiece conceit was ostentatiously evident in almost every frame of Black, it completely escapes me how Mr. Kashyap sees the same assured smugness in the wholly honest and unpretentious Swades.
It is extremely naïve and ignorant to view Swades as merely a ‘patriotic’ film, made by a self-possesed director obsessed with sermonizing and preaching to the audience. Ironically, while people may see the film as a vain attempt ‘to change the world’, the film, to use the words of Mahatma Gandhi, is about ‘being the change you want to see in the world.’ Swades is a many-layered film- a film that works on so many levels- if only one tries to see. Though at one plane it may be seen as a film with a strong nationalistic message, it is also more importantly a film about self discovery- discovery of your identity and your roots. It is about finding yourself and where you belong. It is not about Mohan transforming a village and its people, but rather how the village transforms him, and in that sense, Swades is an extremely internal film.
Swades is one of those rare films where each dialogue, each moment has so much purpose and meaning. Take, for example that wonderfully constructed moment where Mohan refers to his countrymen as ‘You Indians’, which gently yet powerfully conveys how alienated he has become from his own people. Then there are those absolutely lovable characters that populate the landscape of Gowariker’s film- and think it is the very innocence that Mr. Kashyap finds missing in them that makes them exude such warmth- warmth that envelops you without even trying. When Mohan is shown meeting Kaveri Amma for the first time in years in the film, it is hardly an emotionally manipulative moment- we haven’t even been force-fed with a sepia-tinted flashback ala K3G so that we can feel the bond between the two- and yet, inexplicably, I have a lump in my throat every time I watch that scene played out on screen with beautiful restraint by Kishori Ballal and Shah Rukh Khan (in what is a towering, career best performance that excuses all that terribly hammy acting that simply deserves to be sandwiched between two slices of bread.)
The brilliance of the film of course, reaches its zenith in the unforgettable sequence where Mohan goes to another village to collect some unpaid debt, and returns a changed man. This is what could in a way be described as one of the few ‘dramatic’ points in the rather subdued film, and it is filled with such beautiful, memorable images wonderfully capturing the contrasts in the film and shot vividly by cinematographer Mahesh Aney- that of the protagonist sitting on the boat, in a rickety bus, in the train- finally culminating in that heart-breakingly poignant scene where he buys water from a child at a nondescript station.
Water is used both as a metaphor and leitmotif in Swades with marvellous subtlety, standing as a symbol for life and change. It is these small touches in the film that for me elevate the film to another level altogether. The characters are all affectionately portrayed, with Gowariker’s unique tinge of gentle humour, and it is to the director’s credit that none of them appear as caricatures. There are of course, some parts where the director shows spectacular flourish, especially in the Yeh Tara Woh Tara song where with trademark earnestness and audacity he has Mohan drop the curtain separating the people and breaking the caste barrier, making the children- the future- come together united and reach for the stars, quite literally.
Towards the end, we see Mohan at NASA, haunted by memories of his native land as Rahman’s evocative Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera plays on, and then of course- predictably, one might say- he chooses to go back to India like a true hero, selflessly giving up his career. But even here, his decision does not really stem from any sudden bout of patriotism and altruism, but rather the from fear of dying alone, in an alien land- something also well captured in Mira Nair’s superb adaptation of The Namesake. As the old Fatema says in one of the best dialogues in the film- “Apne hi paani mein pighal jaana barf ka muqaddar hota hai.”
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Jahan….Swades for me is without any doubt best work of Ashutosh Gowariker ..even ahead of Lagaan…
Thanks for a post on Swades ….it surely deserves …..=d>
Jahan, it was difficult for me to follow the complete post as it was more of a word-by-word reply to Anurag’s post (which I have not read), but I still have a few words to say. As a disclaimer – I loved Black (one of my all-time favourites), found Swades was at best ordinary and hated No Smoking. And a lot of people will come and say that you dont have a taste for classic cinema and wat not… Anyways, I am not trying to defent my choice but just want to make a few comparisons.
The problem with all 3 movies is that directors try to make a point and a very strong point. There can be 3 cases here:
1) In some cases, the audience gets it and the audience totally agree with them(it which case they love it – as was the case with me and Black, you with Swades and half of PFC followers with NS)
2) In some cases the audience gets the point but still has some problems (as was the case with me and Swades – I got almost everything the director was trying to say but then didn’t get engrossed in the movie. the choice of lead actress was just based on a fresh fact with no talent. the movie was too slow and too long and what not – nevertheless, the idea and intent was good)
3) In some cases, the audience either does not get the point, or the point gets lost among a lot of other points or something else happens…. I guess thats what happened when I watched NS.
The success of a movie or director will depend on how many people lie in which group. As with SLB, I think a lot more people lie in the 1st group and with AK, a lot more people lie in the 3rd grp – atleast based on NS.
Ashutosh G lies somewhere in between. And the number of people who truly connect deeply with Swades is limited to PIOs settles abroad. This along with a 3.5 hr long movie was the reason if limited success of Swades. Acknowledge it man, he might be a good director (and he is not great as he was nothing before Lagaan (part directed by Aamir) with Baazi and Pehla Nasha on his name), his problems with scissors are evident in both Swades and Jodha Akbar.
Dont want to make this a post in itself – sorry for taking so much of real estate.
Great Article, After a long time I have read such an honest article at PFC. I liked Swades a lot especially when Mohan says “India duniya ka sabse acha desh nahin hai, but ho sakta hai”
Sir this was an awesome article, I agree to every bit of it.
@ jahan –
i will watch swades again. i liked it the first time around, but i’m very impatient. yet, i tolerated and dare I say enjoyed the slow rhythms of the movie. But there was something else that was missing or not enough of in the movie. don’t know what it is. it is one of the few hindi movies that i am willing to watch a second time.
if swades had been made by some kiarostami dude from Iran, people will be raving about how great it is, and why can’t we make similar movies…
I watched that cherry movie and some other movies of his. so fucking boring. he said in an interview that he doesn’t like movies that excite. he would much rather lull you to sleep. guess what asswad, i’m not paying $12 for a lullaby.
Jahan, I can’t count how many times I’ve watched Swades. I’ve also shown it to several people who are not very familiar with India and they all enjoyed and understood it. So, I don’t think it’s too Indian in its sensibilities to appeal for the Oscars crowd.
What I do think makes it a non-contender is its guilelessness in showing how one outsider can swoop in and make so much difference to a village.
That to me is its only flaw.
In fact, each detail of Swades was so carefully wrought to support its main points that it set up my expectations for a similarly clear vision from Jodhaa Akbar. In such great company, J-A missed the marked.
@shreyash
agreed that ashutosh gowarikar movies are long and slow. but is that really a bad thing? i mean, by that account, you would die with boredom if you happen to watch any of the satyajit ray movies. but the forte of ray was not the pace of his movies, but the pure, humanism he tended to portray in his movies. and for those moments alone, generations of movie buffs world over simply adore ray.
not comparing gowarikar to ray, but he is probably the only director in india who has that trademark cinematic flourish in his movies. (not counting pehla nasha and baazi, they were probably the mistakes which made gowarikar realize his true potential). my problem with black is that the only truly great moments in the movie are straight lifts from the miracle worker. i actually liked devdas more (not adored though). don’t say that swades only connected with NRIs. the sense of belonging that is portrayed in swades is a universal feeling. let’s face it, most of the indians who leave for foreign shore do so only because they are disgruntled by the way things function here. but they always miss their homeland. there is just a sense of connect and belonging in all of us which ties us to our homelands which cannot be really described in words. but swades really does show that really prominent but ignored aspect of human nature beautifully. sure, it isn’t lagaan. lagaan was quality which may not be matched many times in the future. sure swades is long, unentertaining in the sajid khan way, but there are those moments of sheer cinematic beauty which do strike a raw nerve. for that alone, few indian movies have ever come close to swades, ever.
One of the principal(principle?) questions Anurag raised in his thumbing down of ‘not bad’ Black was the use of English.Couldnt the same be said about ‘Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi’?
Ah,Swades.Its a film I liked a lot,it hits you where it hurts the most–the heart.But,then again looking at the ‘piecemeal quality’ of the film,I dont know whether it classifies as a great film or not.The arduous length makes it difficult to sustain interest in the film for its duration.Gowariker certainly follows too many cliches,which tend to put me off,anyways.
gr8 article… cudnt agree wid u more jahaan…
@Dabba
“if swades had been made by some kiarostami dude from Iran, people will be raving about how great it is, and why can
jahan – Swades is the only movie Ashutosh made from the heart. It is infused with a sense of the ordinary that is so real and yet it ends up making a profound impact. There are no villains except what out own prejudices are, every cast member is real and I am able to relate to him or her. The way Mohan dsicovers what his roots are and where he belongs is beautifully shown by the moments of his bathing, sleeping and ultimately drinking the water of his soil. I love this film.
Nice read.
Swades was compelling in it’s raw realistic beautiful honesty. There were no excuses made about us Indians. Yes, the farmer had to suffer because we ARE bigots, which we have to accept and rectify. No, India is not the greatest country in the world, not even close, but we can be better, if only we accept. That is the beauty of Swades, the realism, the restraint, and I repeat, the honesty. And I’d beg to differ with regard to the comment that the movie would only connect with Indians settled abroad. An middle class urban Indian would probably be almost as alien to those conditions as NASA employee Mohan. However, it was too long and it did sag a lot in places.
Maybe Gowarikar should sit down with someone like Sriram Raghavan when writing his scripts.
Swades still works for me.
I saw it once and could not help but watching it 4 more times. And every time I could not help melting down in “the great Mohan Bhargav moment” at the railway station. It is beyond the feeling of a usual NRI disturbed at the poverty of India. It is beyond that and it is the soul of the movie and as mentioned by this author – it is not for the perusal of Oscar awards committee or any other alien film appreciation forums. It is for Us the Indians who should get out and do something. This is 2000 times more powerful than the “in the pub one day dying for a cause next day” Rang De Basantis. This is beyond cinema. And Cinema is great, because it always allows the content and the maker t pass through norms, rules, methods, techniques, modes that generally form basis of film appreciation . rule 1 in cinema – break the rules. Disregard Critics . make what your heart says. It is no wonder that such an honest film took over King Khan and transformed him. I have mentioned this point many times, there are always makers who approach cinema like video game, experimenting and toying with it – they create cults, they create mind benders, their group is always ecclectic. Then there are those, who have millions of thoughts and feelings to express, they say it through a camera on a film. Methods and manners mean none to them. For the first category there are Tarentinos who consider nothing sacred, while the second category who create something sacred. And Swades is a Sacred creation. It is beyond cinema and should be archived in our ministry of social justice and finance for inspiration.
So, it was a movie straight from AG’s heart. Fine.
Is that enough to make it a great movie? No!
There were things in the movie that I didn’t like. As I said it appeared artificial (no I do not mean Utopian) to me.
I do give it a status of a movie that should not be analysed. If you feel it, you feel it. If you don’t, you don’t.
It didn’t manage to touch me.
@VP Jaiganesh(13)
“This is 2000 times more powerful than the
Swades is a great movie. Maybe not in the typical sense, but in what it conveyed/conveys. I agree with Shreyas about the film being a tad longer than necessary which kind of diluted the effect. Also agree about the fact that it is mostly PIO’s abroad who connected to the movie more than others.
Nevertheless, it was a non-commercial, simplistic endeavour to communicate a noble cause. I have a friend who dropped out of Stanford and returned to Bangalore after watching that movie. Good on him although it doesn’t make practical sense… much like the movie
I am glad to see that I am not alone. Lagaan is definitely a better and more flawless film, a masterpiece- but it is still Swades that I hold closer to my heart. And Evelyn the ‘guilelessness’ that could be perceived as a flaw is also in my opinion, one of the film’s core assets. Thank, you everyone and thank you, Ashutosh Gowariker.
VP Jaiganesh- couldn’t agree more with your beautifully articulated thoughts.
I had always wondered how Lagaan became so critically acclaimed… it was an exciting film… and i absolutely enjoyed watching it… in the movies with my friends, howling and cheering… an underdog movie in a period setting… good enough… but Oscars… now that seems like a backdoor entry of sorts to me…
And Swades… in a movie hall… amidst loud (fake) snores… boos… and what nots… but it touched me… I loved Swades… And i am completely against Anurag Kashyap for saying its not a courageous attempt… Slow movies dont work in India… atleast for the last two decades… But it was honest and decided to stick to its pace. Though i believe a little bit of editing wouldnt have been a huge ask for ‘mass appeal’.
first of all thanks for the link to anurag’s article. i found it extremely amusing that i was also harping about ‘courage’ while he had done the same thing years back!!!
when i skimmed through the article in the morning. this sentence struck me.. “Water is used both as a metaphor and leitmotif in Swades with marvellous subtlety”…
came back and read thru the whole bit… and…some queries and comments
leitmotif/metaphor..? i might have forgotten Swades a bit, but im kinda confident nothing in the film warrants such lofty terms. it was pretty much a straight sweet story al beit a bit looong for comfort. you sure? really interested in what u meant there
Secondly, it seems u have taken some words out of the context to support an argument. (indulgent being one of them) which is fair enough. But reading the article as a whole gvies us a totally different picture of what Anurag was saying. definitely he did not say ‘oscar-bait’ nor anything remotely pointing in that direction.
with regard to anurag assuming ashutosh’s thought process and intent, u seem to be making the same assumption wrt to his intelligence and integrity. both are somewhat juvenile, but while he seems suggestive, u are totally up against it .
@DPac: About the ‘water’ metaphor, watch the film again if you can and you will see- it is used throughout the film visually as well as in the dialogues. Will explain further if you want.
Secondly, about the oscar bait thing that is what I understood when i read this- and I quote again- “Like Gowariker
please do go on about the metaphor bit…
(have watched the film twice)
like i said ‘both’ assumptions (if it was so in anurags case) were juvenile. unless u know ashuthosh, i would presume ur verdict is based on him making Lagaan and Swades against all odds… and of course for the fact that u mentioned about low publicity.
both reasons are highly debatable- whilst Lagaan was pretty much against all odds. Swades had everything going for him (not too many odds u see)
His publicity campaign as I see it follows a similar pattern as his films.
Lagaan did not have a low publicity, in fact, it was promoted more heavily & smartly than either of Swades and Jodha Akbaar.
Lagaan had teamed up with Sony and on SET channel every half an hour there was an ad of Lagaan…
@DPac: Making a brave film like Swades and risking your reputation as a ‘hit director’ when you finally have everything going for you finally after all that sweat and toil is what I call integrity.
About the metaphor bit yeah, sure will explain further…but another time. Will explain with examples when I have time and patience to do so…btw there is an example in the article itself, have a look at the last line of the piece.
@Honhaar- Yes, Lagaan was undoubtedly intelligently marketed. However, I don’t want to get into another silly argument with anyone on marketing logistics (ala Jodhaa Akbar), so I think I’ll avoid that topic any further.
i did not have a problem with Ashutosh using same Lagaan formula in Swades because I had liked the film, if I had not liked the film, then I also would have made….
…. i mean.. no that many people had a problem (including me) with Jab We Met in which Imtiaz used same formula of Socha Na Tha. Because people had liked the film..
.. no?
so, bottom line is, if you like the film than there won’t be much to talk…. :-?
@jahan…i saw the title of the post and rated it five stars and then started reading it. simply love the film. have seen it so many times and still dont get tired. the only film of srk that i have seen so many times. it always works.
courage is also about making a superstar act like normal guy…doing nothing heroic. make him wear check shirt n jeans without big overcoats. will someone dare to do that with rajni??
courage is also telling a story thats rooted in the country,thats set in a village…when was the last time u saw a rural story in bollywood. we dont do. these r all suicidal factors in bollywood. i could never saw what was indulgent and oscar aspiring in swades.
ye jo desh hai tera…its so powerful…the song,the visuals…mohan had to return. predictable it might be but then look around and you will c many mohan bharghavs. atleast i know quite few of them
and thats my fav dialogue in the film….apni hi paani me pighal jaan barf ka muqaddar hota hai!!
but jahan,wish u had written more about ur views on the film without bothering much about anurag’s. thats the beauty of cinema….it means differnt things to differnt people!! one will never understand the other.
I can help with the water metaphors. In the beginning, Mohan drinks from a purified water bottle and showers inside his oversized RV camper. This is evidence that he has become thoroughly Americanized. When he has his revelation on the train ride, he drinks water from a somewhat questionable looking glass being handed him through the window by a boy at the station. He bathes outdoors, and by the end he is willing to stand in the community well.
Also, Mohan brings consistent electricity to the village via harnessing the power of a downhill stream. And the work he does with NASA includes a satellite that measures global water usage, and they warn constantly that we are wasting water.
Does that help?
@Phoenixnu,
Whats similarity between SRK and Rajini Kant in real life?
Who can dare in entire Indian film industry to appear in that way as Rajini comes before public?
Remove all L’Oreals from them and if we can identify the men/women on street?
no evelyn. i know and remember each and every use of ‘water’ in the film. u have explained only one side of the coin.
what i want to know is why jahan termed it ‘leitmotif/metaphor’…
check out what a leitmotif is and then u will understand why i am confused..
@jahan,
whenevr u get time…
@hg..
if u like or dislike a film, thats when u talk and ponder over it.
@pnu
u shld check out more rajni movies not the recent ones..
Could the leitmotif be that when you share water, you have an intimate bond, and when you waste water, you are disregarding your ties with other humans?
@RK…m not comparing real life but the star status. If its srk, i cant think of anyone else but Rajni. so i mentioned him. AB doesnt pull crowd anymore.
And if its about real life,then its AB and Rajni n u know what i think about AB.
@Dpac…i havent seen all but seen those where he is the star. check out in what context m saying that.
@pnu,
i thgt i did…
i lot of people have made rajni the star be ‘normal’
in their movies…
@evelyn
now we r stretching it a bit aint we? :-)
lets wait for Jahan
n here is mr ozzie on swades…the other extreme…
http://desitrain.com/2008/02/19/jodha-akbar-of-fat-mohturmas-and-pink-slaps/
@Phoenixnu,
Ok I got. You are strictly speaking regarding crowd puller status that is star status.
Now what Jeans and check shirts have to do with acting ability and looking genuine on screen and how not wearing over coats can be a sign for good acting?
Mohan Bhargav was a character visiting India from USA where he works in NASA. They wear over coats there. Now not wearing them even once can be slightly odd in context to real characterization.
India is a hot country and perhaps he visited during summer time so he did not wear over coats.
But if he was wearing over coats in India also then was his performance was going to be less good for you?
Or I am taking you wrong and you mean his selection of characters and its not his performannce?
He does not wear over coats in Chalte Chalte also. He wears jeans and check shirts there also. was it good performance? or to say it correctly was it justified character for you?
in KANK. he wears over coats so his character/performance is bad? and here you wont consider that his kind of characters may wear those kind of clothes in videshi bhumi?
RK..i mean how the character was designed. when i think of srk,the first visuals that comes to mind is srk in long big black overcoats n running in slow motion or a romantic guy whom any girl would die for…blame it on k jo and yrf films. the images are so strong. in swades, it was a new image of srk, an image that i liked and stayed with me. srk looking like any other person on the street. nothing that make him look like a star.
also love the visuals in the the song ye jo desh hai tera…srk gets out of his bed, his feet touchs the floor,cut to close up of srk’s feet…getting into the village pond…and m not mixing his acting with overcoats. but for me, this was srk’s best act. dont like him much anyway. but surely he is among the counted few intelligent guys in the industry. someone who knows atleast how to talk and what to talk.
@Phoenixnu,
Your liking him in Swades is based on your liking his character in Swades. You liked how his character was designed. or it can be said you liked Swades so you liked his presence there.
Same can be said about Chak De India. You liked the film so you liked him also.
No doubt he has a sharp mind. and certainly he knows what to speak at what time of his life.
can anyone help .. post #20 http://passionforcinema.com/the-worst-job-in-the-world/
Jahan.. AMAZING! I couldn’t agree with you more.. It is indeed very shallow to see Swades as merely a patriotic film. Maybe some people didnt look deep enough. But I hold Swades in higher regard than Lagaan – because I identify with Mohan Bhargav more than Bhuvan, because Mohan’s dilemmas are more real to me – I know a lot of Mohan Bhargavs’ around me. I liked Lagaan too, but Swades is far closer to me. Swades is very ‘today’..
I loved the way you have decoded the whole thing.. Swades is an exemplarary piece of work.. And will figure in the top works of both Ashutosh and Shah Rukh, no matter what all they go on to make in the future.
@Dpac: Hi there. Just want to know what according to you is a leitmotif, since you say you remember the use of ‘water’ in the film. According to what I know, it is a theme conveyed by images, music or dialogue that appears reccuringly during the course of a film. Would like to know if I am wrong before I attempt to explain.
@Phoenixnu: I get what you mean. Actually the starting point of this piece was reading Anurag’s article and hence I have qouted it and refuted it to dispel some of the unfair notions people have of this film. I guess I could have written more, yeah- but I had seen the film long back and don’t remember it in as much vivid detail that would help me to write a more comprehensive piece.
BTW, that interview of Ashutosh Gowariker on CNN-IBN with Anuradha Sengupta was great. Much more depth and critical insight than Rajeev Masand would have extracted. After watching it, I also kind of forgive some of Jodhaa Akbar’s flaws really- Gowariker’s intentions are really, really noble- but while he managed to achieve the balance between catering to a ‘mass’ audience and the ‘intelligensia’ very well in Lagaan, he hasn’t been able to achieve the same fluidity in JA.
Read the interview here- http://www.ibnlive.com/news/jodhaa-akbar-more-liked-than-lagaan-ashutosh/59558-8-p0.html
Watch it on Video here:
http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/59558/02_2008/ashu_etonight1/jodhaa-akbar-more-liked-than-lagaan-ashutosh.html
@jahan,
yep, you got it half right. it is a recurring theme as you said. and yes i would really like to know your particular interpretation here. so also the metaphor involved.
Jahan thanks a lot for the wonderful write up on an equally beautiful movie.
SRK’s performance in Swades redeems all the hamming that he’s been doing his entire life…
I just wish AG had cut out a couple of songs…definitely the ramlila one was a waste of time. And he should have got a different lead actress…
dazedandconfused …the ramlilla song was not waste of time atleast for me …the stanza SRK sings (hariharan) is really well written .. ….in the song Ravan questions Ram’s presence and asks where is ram and thhis is what SRK says then :
Dekh taj ke paap raavan, raam tere mann mein hai
Raam tere mann mein hai, raam mere mann mein hai
Mannse raavan jo nikaale, raam uske mann mein hai …
For me …this really worked ….
Anand- you may be right. i did not notice these lines. But these lines belabor the same points which by then had already been made in the movie. Consequently the song just flogs a dead horse. The song doesn’t add anything new coming as it does so late in the movie…
D&C ….The song worked for me…and it didn’t work for you ..it’s all personal taste ….some movies require time to grow on you and swades is one such movie …..
Ramlila song is part of Mohan’s journey of coming back to his original roots. He can correlate with these mytholocal tales/characters, he can get inspiration from these because these have been told to him since very early childhood. He understrands them but he has forgotten their importance because he is not exposed to them while living a life of Scientist at NASA.
Henec for his transformation, Director is showing how roots can affect him again. He only has to remove the dust from his memory.
Anand…true…the song didn’t work for me…but I loved Swades nevertheless…
Thank you for the wonderful post …
Have seen Swades only one but loved it tremendously nonetheless …
Even from that one viewing what stayed with me is the entire episode of Mohan going to collect the debt and returning in the train and having water from the boy on the platform.
And also the Yeh Jo Desh hai Tera …
I remember while watching Swades we wondered if it would be SRK coming on as Ram in that Ramlila sequence, and sort of cringing in anticipation of that Bollywood moment. But to our surprise and delight it was a group of young men who played the various princes. This was the most authentic village Ramlila sequence I have ever seen – and it worked beautifully as it set the stage for Mohan questioning the passive acceptance of lack of facilities in village life.
@DPac: Am sorry to be taking so much time- the reasons being:
1)The author is an extremely lazy being and is already stressed with the burden of college projects and penning a script
2)Have seen Swades long time back, so need more time to recall the exact use of metaphors, collect my interpretations and thoughts and express myself appropriately.
Will probably add further thoughts and explanation in the article itself rather than in comments so that the piece becomes more comprehensive. You can expect this in a day or two- thanks for your feedback and patience.
@no worries jahan.
just wanted to understand what u were trying to say. will wait
I’ve watched Swades only once but I just can’t forget it. I had to fight back tears when Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera was playing. No loud drama, no glam heroines, a laidback pace, no obvious villains…you’re absolutely right to say AG made this film with a lot of GUTS. And he got a career-best performance out of SRK, whom I’ve liked only in Swades and CDI in the last 9-10 years.
Swades is an absolute gem. A faster pace would have brought in the masses, perhaps, but what’s more important is that it’s become a SIGNIFICANT film that everyone associated with it will be forever proud of.
@ Jahaan ..
Very well written sir …
Completely in sync with my idea of Swadesh …
I loved Black too. despite the Overuse of English and ostentious sets and all that …
It was a delight to see Amitabh bachchan act like that …
He made a statemant with that film … I AM THE FATHER of Acting …
^:)^
Swadesh is SRK’s best till date and I think it is Gowarikar’s best too(I didn’t like Lagaan, I dont know why …)
And I dont care if a movie is 3 hrs long or 4 hrs long…
If u are a true cinema lover and the movie is good , U have to sit through it …
Truly speaking, after I had finished watching the whole film , I just kept quiet for the rest of the day. I was simply astounded. A hearty Thanks to the director, Mr. Ashutosh Gowarikor , for writing such a beautiful film and directing it with precision. I loved Shahrukh and Gayatri – both of them looked perfect in their roles and they carried it out properly.Their were no mountains ,no rivers flowing by , or the snowfall or “main tumhare bina raha nehi sakta” or the same old dialogues. Yet it has made such an indelible mark in my mind that I will never forget the tears that rolled down my cheeks . I’d just say that these are the films worth winning the oscars . Anyway, even if it has never been nominated for the oscars , it has won , undoubtedly , the hearts of all viewers til now . Keep going Ashu , HATS OFF TO YOU ………