It is very difficult for me to describe the experience of viewing Swades because the movie says so much and I have so much to say about it. It is a brilliant original piece of work no doubt but those words do not do justice to the feelings that Swades conjured in me as I watched it.

Comparing it with Lagaan is - for the lack of a better phrase - like comparing apples to oranges. Swades is one of the most passionately and practically patriotic viewing experiences of my life. It is the patriotism that some of us feel and the rest of us should.

I do not remember hearing a single musical composition, dialogue or seeing a visual that talked about desh-bhakti or bharat. In fact, I do not remember seeing the Indian flag even once. But since watching a little gem of a movie called Dhoop, I have not seen a film that is more intrinsically Indian in its emotional content.

In Swades the villain is the enemy within and not a country, organisation or group of people. The enemy is us. And the ability to influence and hence destroy that this enemy possesses is far greater than what the aforementioned entities could ever hope to have.

I remember reading somebody's comment here that there is no brand name clothing, no grand entries, no sermons on country and duty, no breathtaking visuals - because villages don't have any breathtaking visuals. They are at times congested and claustrophobic and at best minimal and clean.

The most brilliant directors of our time break through with that uniquely brilliant film that is not a Hollywood rip-off and that actually has a prepared and detailed screenplay. Varma with Shiva, Ratnam with Roja, Bhansali with Khamoshi, Santoshi with Ghayal, Kukunoor with Hydrebad Blues, Farhan Akhtar with Dil Chahta Hai and Gowariker with Lagaan. And just like all of them have proved with their subsequent efforts that they are here to change the direction of cinema and are not just one-film flukes, Gowariker has proved with Swades that he is truly our filmmaker and one of our finest. 10/10.