Swades

I have been quite busy throughout the month of December. This had restricted me from posting on the blog. But now I am back. And along with me are the blog posts.

I will not deny the fact that I have seen many movies and series while being on this hiatus of mine. But, those did not give me the urgency to talk about it. In fact, I had begun to get bored of these repetitive plot points of the blockbuster movies!

Hence, I began my journey to find entertainment. And to my disbelief, I found it in Bollywood movies.

I had previously seen Swades, when I was a child. It aired on the Television and being a Shah Rukh Khan fan back in the days. I had caught a glimpse.

The movie was not meant for the viewing of children and it failed to appeal to me at that age! But, now in 2018, it blew my mind!

The movie is about an Indian named Mohan, who lives in the USA and works for NASA. The story revolves around Mohan's experiences upon returning to India. This movie is terrific because it provides a real, raw and beautiful insight into India. Unlike all the other Bollywood movies which focus on big cities, this movie takes Mohan to a small village to visit his old Nanny. Mohan respects his Nanny like his mother and hopes to bring her to the USA to live with him.

Mohan's journey takes him deeper and deeper into the real India, he realizes how backdated the thinking is of these villagers. How they still abide by the caste system and do not allow even children to get along with children from other castes. He sees how when a tailor changes profession to a farmer, he is disbanded by the village, letting him and his family with little children to die a slow and horrible death! He sees how the elders won't allow girls to attain education and how they force others to take their life. This film plays with real and serious issues and portrays them with almost perfection.

My favourite scene from the film is that of a little boy selling water in the railway station. The scene shows how privileged we are and how difficult can it be to earn money to meet our daily needs! The scene is heartbreaking and is a proper reflection of real life.

The film is not however without its flaws. The biggest one would be its runtime. It is long! It surely could have been paced up! And the third act seemed unbelievable and felt unwelcomed in this film on harsh reality.

The actors, however, were fantastic and made the long run time feel short. Especially Meelaram, he is one of the best supporting character I have seen in a Bollywood movie. He along with the Postman character inject some humour into the film.

Overall, this movie is a gem and shocked me to my cores. It left me in disbelief on how did this movie got made in this loud and music filled industry that is Bollywood! It is a must watch for sure!