story

Set-in modern-day India, Swades is a social drama that tackles the issues that development throws up on a grass root level. It is to this India, which is colourful, heterogeneous, and complex that Mohan Bhargava, a bright young scientist working as a project manager in NASA, returns to on a quest to find his childhood nanny.
 
In his attempts to persuade Kaveriamma, the symbol to him of motherhood and family, to return to America with him, he gets drawn into the life of a village called Charanpur and finds himself searching for answers to the questions of progress and development that the village is facing. His curiosity is piqued by Gita, an admirable young woman teaching in the village primary school, who chooses to live here despite problems like casteism, prejudice and a lack of basic amenities like proper electricity.
 
What was a simple mission prompted by nostalgia and affection turns into a journey for Mohan into the heartland of rural India, both literally and metaphorically, in search of that metaphysical and elusive place called ‘home’.

Trivia

CAST

Shah Rukh Khan
as Mohan Bhargava
 
Gayatri Joshi
as Gita
 
Kishori Ballal
as Kaveri Amma
 
Smith Seth
as Chiku
 
Rajesh Vivek
as Nivaran Dayal Shrivastav
 
Dayashankar Pandey
as Mela Ram

CREW

Director
Ashutosh Gowariker
 
Producer
Ashutosh Gowariker
Sunita Gowariker
Ronnie Screwvala
Zarina Mehta
Deven Khote
 
Story
M.G. Sathya
Ashutosh Gowariker
 
Screenplay
Ashutosh Gowariker
Lalit Marathe
Amin Hajee
Charlotte Whitby-Coles
Yashodeep Nigudkar
Ayan Mukherjee
 
Dialouges
K.P. Saxena
 
Director of Photography
Mahesh Aney
 
Production Design-Art
Nitin Chandrakant Desai
 
Music
A.R. Rahman
 
Lyrics
Javed Akhtar
 
Editor
Ballu Saluja
 
Costume Designer
Bhanu Athaiya
 
Hair & Makeup
Madhav Kadam
 
Sound Design
Stephen Gomes

Details

Production Companies
Ashutosh Gowariker Production PVT LTD
UTV Motion Pictures
 
Distributed By
UTV Motion Pictures
 
Release Date
17 December 2004
 
Original Language
Hindi
 
Available
Netflix
 
Runtime
3h 9m