Swades

Thursday, December 09, 2004
By: Anjali

Producer: Ashutosh Gowariker Productions/UTV Motion Pictures Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Makrande Deshpande, Gayatri Joshi (Introducing)
Music: A.R. Rahman
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar

Director, Ashutosh Gowariker always attempts something unique. This time around he has come up with a sensible thought-provoking film, Swades. Bollywood 'baadshah' Shahrukh Khan plays the lead role in the movie. Swades tackles the issue facing the citizens of this nation at grass root level. Ashutosh focuses on the theme of patriotism without getting too monotonous.

Mohan Bhargava (Shah Rukh Khan) a bright young scientist working as a project manager in NASA, returns to discover his roots in India on a quest to find his childhood nanny.

Mohan's simple quest becomes the journey that every one of us go through in search of that metaphysical and elusive place called "home". A man with strong individualistic personal beliefs, Mohan goes through a multitude of experiences back home that lead him to make a difference in the lives of everyone around him.

Mohan finds his nanny, Kaveriamma (Kishori Ballal), the symbol to him of motherhood and family. He finds her in a village called Charanpur, a small village in Central India, besides three other villages near Wai in the interiors of Maharashtra, where Charanpur was re-created with the expertise of art-director Nitin Desai. Mohan also meets an admirable young woman Gita (Gayatri Joshi) and her younger brother Chikku (Master Smit Sheth). Gita, is the woman who in many ways plays the catalyst in Mohan's emotional and idealistic crossover.

Swades uses the contrast between the highly developed world of NASA, which has been at the forefront of advances in space research, and this world back home in India, which is at the crossroads of development.

Swades is the first Indian film to have been shot at NASA, with Gowarikar managing to secure an official permission from the space research organization for a 15-day shoot. It is shot inside the NASA research centre at the Launch Pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center of NASA in Florida. Locations at the Goddard Space Flight Centre, Washington D.C. and Cape Canaveral were also selected.

The supporting cast of the film comprises of Raja Awasthi, Vishwas Badola, Rajesh Balwani, Vishnudatt Gaur, Bachan Pachehra, Smit Sheth, Lekh Tandon, Bhim Vakani, Rahul Vohra and Makrand Deshpande.

The film has music by A.R. Rahman while Javed Akhtar has penned the lyrics.

The film is scheduled to release on December 17, 2004.

Stills Swades
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