With a name like swades, which seems a little contrived and dated, I didn't think I would like the movie. I may be wrong but maybe it was the name which scared audience away because they thought that they would be getting a boring and a very obvious lecture on nationalism. Also there is a general misconception that this movie is preachy. Now, I agree that maybe couple of scenes like 'bhai sahib kitabon ki izzat karna seekhiye' could have been avoided but I don't think that this movie tries to preach anything. Lecture on nationalism, I think not, so much so that in one scene the protagonist Mohan Bhargava tells the villagers in plain words that he doesn't believe that India is the greatest nation in the world, it has the potential of being the greatest nation but it is not. Lastly, people think that this movie tries to propagate that NRIs should leave their jobs and return to India. Although this movie is inspired by the story of Aravinda Pillalamarri and Ravi Kuchimanchi who returned to India to work on micro-hydel project in Bilgaon but I don't think this movie tries to do that.

What this movie really does is that it shows a mirror to our generation of NRIs and IT consultants who are so caught up in this money making race that they have forgotten how to be a human and feel other's pain. Don't we belong to a generation who just doesn't care about anything else apart from how many cents I will save on Gas if I get this particular credit card? It takes a catastrophe like an earthquake or a tsunami to make us reach for our wallets and that too because it is in our face shown live on our cable TV these days. And then is it not the easiest thing to do; 'sending money'? If to tell you the truth is preachy then this movie is preachy and you can find one million reasons to avoid watching it. After all, who wants to face the truth?

The much talked about train sequence is the climax of the movie and probably one of the best scenes that I have seen. Think about it, there is nothing out of the ordinary that is being shown on the screen. You see small kids selling water or shoe shine everyday on railway platforms or streets without giving any thought. And that is the point. The scene hits you really hard and for that moment you are face to face with the truth in all its ugliness. I still get goose bumps just by thinking about it and that's how powerful that scene is.

Performance wise Shahrukh has excelled and is absolutely the opposite of what you see him in other movies, new girl Gayatri Joshi is good and has done her job well except for, well, the parting scene with Shahrukh in which she spoils everything that she has earned during the whole movie. Rest of the cast is competent and supports the movie well. Songs are unnecessary and could have been completely avoided which also would have shortened the movie to a desirable length.

Direction wise, Ashutosh has what it takes to be a good director but what this movie suffers from is the inconsistency in the style. If you are making a movie with a realistic style, I won't expect a NASA Engineer to interrupt a village Ram Leela with a song of his own. And I agree that this sequence is preachy.

It is sad that this movie wasn't commercially successful and Shahrukh was ignored for the National award but who else can be blamed for this but Shahrukh himself. Diligently and consistently he has destroyed his own image as a serious actor and now no matter how well he performs, nobody takes him seriously. I guess it will take him more movies like this and 'Paheli' to help him build a new image and shed the old one that is doing him more harm than good.

Arguably a very good movie but without a doubt one of the most important movies of our times.