Swades

Plot

Mohan Bhargava is a successful Non-Resident Indian (NRI) working as a Project Manager on the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) program for NASA in Washington, D.C. Mohan originally relocated to the United States for his higher education and chose to remain there after his parents tragically died in a car accident in India. Over time, he becomes deeply concerned about Kaveri Amma, the beloved nanny who raised him during his childhood in Uttar Pradesh. Following his parents' deaths, Kaveri Amma had relocated to an old age home in Delhi and eventually lost touch with him.

Hoping to find Kaveri Amma and bring her back to live with him in the United States, Mohan takes a few weeks of leave following the successful launch of his project's first phase. He visits the Delhi old age home, only to discover that she relocated a year prior to a remote village named Charanpur. To ensure he has access to modern amenities during his journey, Mohan rents a fully equipped recreational vehicle and drives to the village.

Upon arriving in Charanpur, Mohan reunites with Kaveri Amma and reconnects with his childhood friend, Geeta. He learns that Geeta brought Kaveri Amma to live with her family after Mohan's parents passed away. Geeta runs the local village school and works tirelessly to improve the community through education, though her efforts are constantly hindered by deep-seated caste segregation and religious biases. Geeta initially resents Mohan's presence, fearing he will take Kaveri Amma away and leave her and her younger brother, Nandan, isolated. Kaveri Amma informs Mohan that she cannot leave until she fulfills her responsibility of securing a suitable marriage alliance for Geeta. Drawn to Geeta’s progressive ideals regarding women's empowerment and gender equality, Mohan decides to assist her by actively campaigning for the education of girls and marginalized lower-caste communities. He quickly befriends two locals, Nivaaran and Mela Ram, who join his advocacy, earning the respect of the benevolent village chief, Dadaji.

As Mohan and Geeta grow closer, Kaveri Amma sends Mohan to the neighboring village of Kodi to collect land rent from a tenant named Haridas. The visit profoundly alters Mohan's worldview. He finds Haridas living in extreme poverty, unable to provide daily meals for his family. Haridas explains that as a member of a marginalized caste, his traditional weaving occupation collapsed, forcing him into tenant farming. Consequently, the upper-caste villagers socially boycotted him and denied his crops access to the local water supply. Confronted by this systemic oppression, Mohan realizes that millions of rural citizens endure similar hardships. He returns to Charanpur deeply shaken and resolves to use his engineering expertise to uplift the community.

Production

Inspiration

Swades is inspired by the story of Aravinda Pillalamarri and Ravi Kuchimanchi, the non-resident Indian couple who returned to India and developed a pedal power generator to light remote, off-the-grid village schools. Gowariker spent considerable time with Pillalamarri and Kuchimanchi, both dedicated Association for India's Development (AID) volunteers. He supposedly visited Bilgaon, an Adivasi village in the Narmada valley, which is the backdrop of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) movement. The people of Bilgaon are credited with doing 200 person-days of shramdaan (community service) to make their village energy self-sufficient. The Bilgaon project is recognised as a model for replication by the Government of Maharashtra.

The film was reported to be inspired by two episodes of the series titled Vaapsi on Zee TV's Yule Love Stories (1993–95). The story of the lead role setting up a micro hydro electric project to generate electricity was reported to be inspired by the Kannada novel Chigurida Kanasu by K. Shivaram Karanth and Bapu Kuti by Rajni Bakshi.

Themes

Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson, Tushar Gandhi, noted the theme of Gandhism in the film. The name of the main character portrayed by Shah Rukh Khan is Mohan, which was Gandhi's birth name (Mohandas or "Mohan"). The film opens with the quotation:

Hesitating to act because the whole vision might not be achieved, or because others do not yet share it, is an attitude that only hinders progress.

Gowariker tries to address the lack of scientific temperament and widespread ignorance among the rural folks through the energetic number "Ye Tara Wo Tara", where Mohan is seen encouraging the children to experience the fascinating world of stars through his telescope. In a symbolic manner, the song rejects the defunct divisions of caste and class and at the same time, through its protagonist, tries to instill in the audience an appreciation of curiosity and observation.

Casting and filming

Gowariker initially offered Mohan's role to Aamir Khan (who worked in Gowariker's 2001 film Lagaan), but he rejected it because he found the story to be weak. Mohan's role was then offered to Hrithik Roshan, who refused after reading the script. Gowariker contemplated casting R. Madhavan before offering Mohan's role to Shah Rukh, who finally accepted it after listening to the story and he started crying during the story's narration. Bhanu Athaiya, an Oscar winner for Gandhi (1982), was the costume designer for the film.

Swades was the first Indian film to be shot inside the NASA headquarters and inside the NASA research center at the Launch Pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rainfall monitoring satellite known as the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) in the film is an actual NASA mission and was launched in 2014.

A major part of the film was shot in Menawali, Maharashtra.

Soundtrack

The song "Dekho Naa" is a modified version of the song "Kichchu Tha" from the film, Baba (2002). The song "Aahista Aahista" is set in raag Charukesi.

On 27 March 2021, members of United States Navy Band sang "Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera" for Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the Ambassador of India to the United States and United States Navy Chief of Naval Operations at a special dinner event. The video of the band members singing surfaced on Twitter and received praise and nostalgia from Shahrukh Khan, A. R. Rahman and netizens alike.

Tamil version

The Tamil soundtrack under the title Desam was composed by A.R. Rahman. All Lyrics were written by Vaali. According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 13,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the eleventh highest-selling of the year.

Reception

Critical reception

The film received universal critical acclaim and went on to become a cult classic, and Khan's performance as Mohan Bhargava is considered one of his best to date.

Subhash K. Jha of Indiatimes Movies gave the film 4.5 stars out of 5 and said, "Swades is a unique experiment with grassroots realism. It is so politically correct in its propagandist message that initially you wonder if the Government of India funded the director's dream."

Mayank Shekhar from Mid-Day gave it 4 stars, stating, "I cannot think of a better film for the longest that deserved a stronger recommendation for both touring cinemas of India's villages, and plush multiplexes of Mumbai or Manhattan."

Jitesh Pillai of the Sunday Times of India gave the film 4 stars and said "After Lagaan, what? The answer's blowing in the wind. Swades! Here's the verdict: This is a gutsy and outstanding film. Welcome back to real, solid film-making." He added, "Swades is undoubtedly the No. 1 movie of the year."

Shradha Sukumaran of Mid-Day gave it 3.5 stars and said, "At the end of it, Swades is a far braver film than Lagaan. It could have hit the high note – if it hadn't tried so hard."

Avijit Ghosh wrote in The Telegraph, "With its gentle humour, the film acts as an entertaining vehicle for social change. And hopefully, it will do more for positive nationalism than the Union government's Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity (DAVP) ads ever will."

Box office

Swades earned ₹15.25 crore (US$1.6 million) net box office in India. In the overseas market, the film made $2,790,000. It had a lifetime worldwide gross of ₹34.64 crore (US$3.6 million). The film topped the box office in Chennai on its opening weekend.

Awards

National Film Awards

Best Male Playback Singer – Udit Narayan for "Yeh Taara Woh Taara"

Best Cinematography – Mahesh Aney

Global Indian Film Awards

Best Actor – Shahrukh Khan

Best Newcomer – Gayatri Joshi

Zee Cine Awards

Best Director (Critics) – Ashutosh Gowariker

Best Female Debut – Gayatri Joshi

Best Story – Ashutosh Gowariker

Best Sound Re-recording – Hitendra Ghosh

Star Screen Awards

Most Promising Female Newcomer – Gayatri Joshi

Stardust Awards

Dream Director – Ashutosh Gowariker

Bollywood Movie Awards

Best Female Debut – Gayatri Joshi

Film Café Awards

Best Actor – Shahrukh Khan

50th Filmfare Awards:

Won

Best Actor – Shah Rukh Khan

Best Background Score – A. R. Rahman

Nominated

Best Film – Ashutosh Gowariker

Best Director – Ashutosh Gowariker

Best Music Director – A. R. Rahman

Best Lyricist – Javed Akhtar for "Yeh Taara Woh Taara"

Best Male Playback Singer – Udit Narayan and Master Vignesh for "Yeh Taara Woh Taara"

Best Female Playback Singer – Alka Yagnik for "Saawariya"

Legacy

The character of Mohan Bhargav, played by Khan, was reprised again in Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva. Director Ayan Mukerji confirmed that it is the same character from Swades. In the 2023 film Jawan, Khan's character Azad is raised by a character named Kaveri after his parents are presumed dead.