Swades

CBFC:U2004 | Musical Drama | 03h : 09m

Mohan Bhargava, a successful NRI working at NASA returns to his homeland to find the nanny who raised him, intending to bring her back to America. His journey leads him into the rural heart of India, to the village of Charanpur, and sets him on an outward and inner quest to find where he truly belongs.

Watch Now

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

For authenticity, Ashutosh Gowariker shot a scene at Launch Pad 39A, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. This is the first Indian film to be shot inside the NASA research center.

The book "Bapu Kuti" written by Rajni Bakshi which was a source of research in the making of Swades, is acknowledged in the film and is shown in the bookstore scene when Shahrukh Khan is at the billing counter.

The song "Yun Hi Chala Chal" was re-used in the 2018 Hollywood action-comedy movie Deadpool 2.

When Mohan and the villagers get together in the school for a celebration, we see a blackboard in the background with a design drawn on it in chalk. That design is the symbol of Saraswati (Goddess of Education & Knowledge) and it is also incorporated in the logo of Ashutosh Gowariker Productions.