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Does a developing country’s future rest on those who left it for good? Some might have moved out of their ‘Swades’ (‘Homeland’ in Hindi) for a better career and others for a quality lifestyle. Is it appropriate to be judgmental about mere life choices? And what happens once they arrive in a developed nation? They would adapt to the local conventions, look for middle-grounds, or get exasperated with culture shock.
Ashutosh Gowariker’s Swades, which turns 20 on December 17, is a film that slowly sinks this epiphany into our heads. It is a coming-of-age saga about a USA-based NASA scientist (Shah Rukh Khan) who falls back in love with his motherland.
Well, India is an endless circus. You may find its immediate neighbors – some of which the country birthed itself – might be a little similar to it in temperament. Yet, after 77 years of independence, there are still places without electricity and proper sanitation facilities. Who will help change this scenario? The answer is in Gowariker’s film’s tagline: We, the people.
Bollywood’s Quietest Patriot
As an average youngster influenced by Bollywood cinema, my idea of patriotism was a version propagated by Sunny Deol. If Deol’s loud yells made me feel inferior for not being physically agile enough to uproot a handpump, there was the Yash Raj – Dharma brand of patriotism that showed me how the NRI diaspora felt being away from the country. A strong case in point is Kajol’s boisterous Anjali Sharma (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham) who loved India more than she loved her husband.
The above two individuals were high on decibels as they displayed patriotic fervor. Khan’s Mohan Bhargava, on the contrary, must be the quietest patriot in Bollywood history. He wouldn’t answer unless questioned. When he speaks, Mohan shares ideas with the potential to bring about a systemic change. What more can a needy society ask for?
Family Beyond Bloodline
Mohan is a single, workaholic man. His parents are no longer alive, and he has lost touch with the only other person he treated as family – his foster mother, Kaveriamma (Kishori Ballal). Ridden with guilt, Mohan wishes to reunite with the woman who raised him. Swades follows his trail to trace Kaveriamma in a fictitious village called Charanpur in India. During the journey, he discovers his love for his nation and, in turn, himself.
The Savarna Saviour Syndrome
Gowariker’s hero is a Brahmin man. He has a bleak, outsider’s idea of the benefits he reaps from his caste identity. Be it the blessings from the elderly villagers or a respectable seat at a local screening of Yaadon Ki Baraat, Mohan gets everything on a platter.
When Mohan sets out to tackle rural India’s social iniquities for a selfish reason, the film consciously avoids scanning him through the same lens. I’m sure a Dalit hero would have complicated Gowariker’s strait-laced narrative but it would have lent Swades a much-needed heft.
As a result, Mohan’s coming-of-age is seldom deep. He is a man who gets turbulent watching a child sell drinking water for 25 paise. What must have triggered him? Was it the child’s age or the low denomination? The amount did hold some value in 2004, and child labor is not unseen even in 2024. Khan bawls his eyes out and convinces us that it is a moment of epiphany, but it also indicates how he has been living under a rock of wealth and privilege thus far. This way, Gowariker’s film offers an exoticized view keeping its hero shielded from grim realities. Whether we like it or not, it is what it is.
The Unstoppable Gita
Gowariker is braver in sketching his leading lady, Gita (played by Gayatri Joshi in her solo screen outing). Our first impression is that she is idealistic and it is impossible to disagree with her. Soon we discover she is as selfish as Mohan in seeking Kaveriamma’s company in life.
Gita is forthright when she tells off a prospective suitor when he demands her to stop working after marriage. It is a little expository but for the film’s PSA-like storytelling style, Gita’s mini-speech, interspersed with bits of English, fits perfectly in the film’s universe.
The Glaring Contradictions
When Mohan comes to Charanpur in a caravan, drinking mineral water, and running around with Gita’s school-going brother Chiku, Swades feels just right. The hitch arises when Gowariker wishes to make him a know-it-all. In a scene staged inside a classroom, Gita is seen testing her students on General Knowledge. It is a brief bit (with great sound design) where Khan unleashes his charms on her, but only at the cost of going out of character. For a man so pro at all things Indian, Mohan should never have been so startled spotting poverty, casteism, and inequality among others.
Country First, Mankind Second
Gita is curious about Mohan’s work at NASA. In their first interaction, she nods ‘very good’ to his work for Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM). In a later revelation, she tells him, “You are doing it all over there,” Gita looks at the vocation through her idea of social change. Mohan is proud to say how his work will benefit humankind. For Gita, his qualifications are nothing but an opportunity lost in offering a helping hand in India’s journey to greatness. While Swades might revel in its idealistic purview, the bigger question here is whether preventing brain drain is the ultimate solution to bring about grassroots-level changes. Is India equipped to employ a battalion of individuals with varied skill sets and disparate qualifications?
The Anthem of Unity
A R Rahman’s soundtrack and the original score are constant, mellifluous streams flowing through every running minute of Swades. If the American portions have the composer treating us to sophisticated saxophone strains, he blends the narrative with Alka Yagnik’s honey-soaked vocals to underscore Gita’s appearances.
Swades touches its musical pinnacle during Udit Narayan’s National Award-winning ‘Yeh Tara Woh Tara’ number. At first, it sounds like a children’s song about constellations. Yet it does not take too much deep-diving to understand the depth of Javed Akhtar’s lyrics which signal us to unite and conquer. Brownie points to the young children who perform and sing with great zest as Khan and Narayan work their time-tested chemistry.
A Fiction Feature Narrated Like a PSA
As much as I enjoy watching Swades with all its flaws, I disagree with the allegation that it feels like a documentary. No, documentaries do not have to resort to over-simplifying devices. Gowariker’s method resembles a Public Service Announcement (PSA) as he spoon-feeds several of his noble ideas. Remember the Akshay Kumar PSA (feat. Nandu) that ran for years in cinema halls? Similarly, Swades carves a story by mixing the message with elements like the Ramayana. Even the dialogues are penned to remind a government PSA. Sample? “Wahaan par aam logon ke liye bahut saare suvidhaayein uplabht hai. Swasthya kendra, chikitsa, bacchhon ke shiksha ke karyakram! This isn’t how a Delhi-bred, US-returned man in his mid-30s would talk. Plus, at all points, the villagers are naïve and are searching in the dark for a better life.
Swades, in its quest to transform their lives, offers no surprises to an educated viewer. Predictability aside, the film ceases to entertain after a point, and this very factor contributed to its commercial failure in 2004.
India is Not the Greatest of all Countries
Despite the film’s decidedly sedate tone, the best moment in Swades is when Mohan asks the elders of the village panchayat to cut out their nonsense. He refuses to hail India’s culture and tradition as superior to anybody else’s. Mohan mentions how a country like the USA has a culture of its own that deserves the same respect. A Muslim lady (Farrukh Jaffar as Fatima bi) questions him about the refugee crisis in the US. This is disconcerting on this date when the CAA/NRC discussion is still not over. Khan, quite effortlessly, delivers a masterclass by delivering unpleasant truths without flinching an eyelid.
A Believable Love Story
It would be a mishap to cast the ‘king of romance’ in his career peak and not give him a love story. In Swades, Ashutosh Gowariker crafts a believable and naturally progressing romance between Mohan and Gita. Like any romantic relationship, they charter the whole 360 degrees from a meet-cute to early bickerings to consolidating it into something meaningful. If Gowariker provides the couple with multiple romantic moments, AR Rahman and Javed Akhtar spin a couple of love songs to establish their fire-and-ice chemistry.
A Sensational Ensemble Cast
Swades is a rare film in its space with repeat value. Interestingly, it’s a feat made possible by its splendid cast. Not just Khan and Joshi but the ensemble consisting of Kishori Ballal, Farrukh Jaffar, Rajesh Vivek, Lekh Tandon, Daya Shankar Pandey, Smit Sheth, VM Badola, and Makarand Deshpande have been cast with immaculate care.
If Gayatri Joshi’s freshness works wonders to make Gita’s passion come alive, Kishori Ballal lends love and warmth to Kaveriamma. Rajesh Vivek is a force of nature as the postman-cum-wrestler whereas Daya Shankar Pandey with his quirks and yummy recipes is a scene-stealer. The best minutes of Swades unfold at points where the maximum number of players unite. For the record, it’s not a film that does its silences well if not aided by music. Among other things, I still wonder why Gowariker made Gita look lustfully at Mohan as he describes how a turbine works.
Jokes aside, Swades is a film treasured by millennials. Some love it for Khan’s extraordinary performance, some for the music, some for the message, and some for Gayatri Joshi who remains a one-film-wonder. Upon dissecting, the film’s flaws come out conspicuously but that does not make us stop appreciating its intent. Although Ashutosh Gowariker’s filmmaking in Swades may not be as accomplished as Lagaan or Jodhaa Akbar, the Shah Rukh Khan film has a heart of gold and is firmly in place. 20 years down the line, that is.
Ashutosh Gowariker’s Swades is now streaming on Netflix.
