Swades...

I saw Swades this weekend. Yes, yes its a lot later than I should've seen it, but better late than never.

As a person of Indian origin living outside the country, (specifically in the US), movies which have central characters who are NRI's always evokes strong feelings in me. The movie itself was not bad. It avoided a lot of pitfalls possible in such a story and inspite of being three and half hours long, it didn't seem to drag. It also avoided many mistakes that it could have done - Shah Rukh's character actually goes back to the US to finish his project. Or the scene where he is shown getting money from the bank prior to buying the turbine for generating electricity. Small things like that make you feel better.

Of course, one could always nitpick - he gets a long vacation without seeming repercussions, the presentations on the GPM (Global Precipitation Monitor) are a little flimsy. But these don't take away from the movie. What I thought was a much interesting question was what sort of work is this guy going to do after returning to India? He mentioned some place in India where he could find work, but that was it. There was also some implication apparently that NRI's (or smart NRI's in any case) aren't doing enough for the motherland. The director (Mr Gowariker whose only claim to fame is Lagaan [I'm not impressed]) tried hard not to come off sounding as though he were preaching, and yet if the female lead of the movie declares stubbornly that she will never go to the US, then that speaks about the director's mind a bit. And this is the same guy who was drooling at the prospect of getting an Oscar for Lagaan!!

I would have liked to see what would've happened if Shah Rukh had not met a girl he fell for in the village. Would he return to India only for the country, or for the old lady? That would have made for an interesting proposition --

But I'm not complaining. Baby steps, they say. One day, we might have movies which go that extra step in trying to be realistic.