An extinct genre of Indian film makers believed in portraying symbols of Indian culture(now almost marred with westernization) in order to grab the attention of the west.With Swades Ashutosh Gowarikar adds to that line of pathetic creatures.Lagaan has been selected towards the Oscars from India and was deprived of best foreign movie award.May be that inspired him and tempted him to make experiments towards that direction.This mere fact make Swades sink to the level of poorly made documentaries at certain instances.

The Acting part of Swades remains simply horrible.Lead star Shah Rukh Khan leads the pack with his ever boring mannerisms and clichés.Gayathri Joshi who walked into the film straight from the sun shine car ad with Shah Rukh remains in the ad level itself.

AR Rahman simply steals the show with his charming back ground score and tremendous songs which capture the essence of Indian folk music with a touch of west.

Several bollywood flicks tried to build on the lighter side of returning non resident indians such as Pardes and the lot, but most of them failed miserably where Swades scores nicely.

Altogether Swades differ markedly from conventional Hindi movies which loath in hollow stories and abuse of women.Swades presents a much focused story and use women with respect.

Worth watching even though it extends over a tiring three and half hours.Recommended especially to non resident indians dwell all over the globe.