Swades | Has It Aged Well? ft. Abhimanyu Mathur

In keeping with the spirit of Independence Day Abbas and Urjita sit down with entertainment journalist Abhimanyu Mathur to talk about Ashutosh Gowariker's 2004 ode to the nation 'Swades' starring Shah Rukh Khan. Topics discussed include: What made Gowariker tell a personal story on a grand scale? Is Makrand Deshpande this film's "item boy"? What makes Rahman's soundtrack an all time classic? The strong supporting cast, crying our eyes out over THAT train scene, the film's portrayal of caste and privilege and a lot more.
You can watch the 'Vapsi' episode of Zee TV's Yule Love Stories here: • Love Story | Ep.49 | M...
Listen to Rahman's background score for Swades here: • Swades - Score - 5. Theme
Follow Abhimanyu here: / madcrazyhatter_
Follow Abbas here: / abbasmomin88
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[@abbasmomin]

Some trivia I forgot to mention on the episode: In 'slumdog millionaire' Latika's ringtone is the Swades theme.

[@dia606]

Mere Brother ki Dulhan spoofed Swades very directly when Katrina’s character was picking up Ali Zafar’s and kept singing the Swades shehnai music and asking if NRIs hear that when they return to India

[@bhaaratsharma6023]

All your guests are really passionate movie lovers and Abhimanyu was no exception. This is such a great series. Thanks

[@dia606]

The struggle you guys had trying to figure out the caste problem and name it, was interesting. Shouldn’t be surprising - it’s very difficult for us uppercaste urban kids to comprehend the caste issue when that’s our blind spot. It’s also Ashutosh Gowarikar’s blind spot. His movies are full of good intention and righteous individuals who don’t see caste, but they’re all uppercaste saviours who think one can just stop seeing caste. The characters who are Dalit or OBC are also just tools in the narrative and their entire identity is their caste. Everything can be solved with the right intention according to his framing so structural inequalities just don’t exist.

[@NileshKumar-nr2vj]

Well said. People see caste as immediate discriminatory thing, like not letting you to move across upper caste neighborhoods or making you sit on the floor. They ignore that it's a structural, institutional problem. How caste marriages are a way to keep the cultural capital intact, that creates a caste based nepotistic network that extends way beyond just your extended family. So someone like Suresh Raina would say that he didn't feel alien in Tamilanaadu because there are many Brahmins in TN. And these network then help you make decisions like where you want to buy property, and their extended caste clans in PWD would let them know where next highway is going to be planned and plotting there will make you millionaire over night. And that place again would transform into a caste ghetto of upper castes, which will further casteist notions

[@jptdude565]

That train scene is such a heart wrenching….

[@sunny96789]

Fun Fact: Ayan Mukerji started his career as an assistant director with Swades at the age of 19. Which explains why he brought back this character in Brahmastra, it was very close to him. Also Karan Malhotra the director of Agneepath was the assistant director for Jodhaa Akbar. My guess is that these big films had heavy involvement of the ADs, even Lagaan (many scenes were directed by Kiran Rao and Aaamir himself. So i feel Ashutosh needs a good team to do well. Why he suffered later on was becos he let go of such talented ADs. They were the main reasons for the brilliance in those films.

[@charchitacharya9477]

Working with Urjita has made Abbas so ageist , that he asks a 28-29 year old if he "was around" in 2004 😂😂👌

[@IdliAmin_TheLastKingofSambar]

The NASA scenes in _Swades_ were shot at Goddard Space Flight Center, about 20 miles from my house here in Maryland. Some of my neighbors are current or former employees; I’ll have to ask them if they were there when the movie was filmed. As a poorly-made American copy of an Indian (referring to myself, to be clear), I also have to say that I appreciate that the movie gave a pretty balanced view of both India and the U.S. Mohan’s defense of the U.S. to the villagers of Charanpur is among the most eloquent I’ve seen in popular culture, and it was written by an Indian.

[@DevashishJagirdar]

Just the thought of this movie saddens me, depresses me and leaves my throat parched for a glass of water. A glass of water that Mohan Bhargav had from a kid who is making a living from selling water in kullads in some godforsaken station on some godforsaken route in our godforsaken land. This scene is the acceptance of reality for Mohan and the naked fact in today’s times, in the nation where the class differentia is a metaphor for the distance the water cup travels from the hands of a kid to the throat of an awoken Mohan. Hats off SRK ! and Ashutosh Gowarikar for making the masterpiece that Swades is, the movie is filled with conflicted ideologies and metaphors. While Yeh Tara Woh Tara was not about stars but about Unity, Pal Pal Hai Bhari was about stagnant mentalities. No! He did not help the villages build a dam or get electricity he showed - hope - he lit a bulb. Sadly and maybe due to lack of publicity, the movie boomed at the box office. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, the masses do not want a thought-provoking cinema to build in a sense that will spark the grey cells, the audience wants the death of grey cells by watching impossible stunts, news that will keep you on the edge whether true or false, baseless rumours that would keep the mind off the mundane thing that is your life.

[@shriyajoshi4042]

The only thing that wasn't quite agreeable would be that this film isn't the most un-SRK thing to do. His TV career is exemplary in being an actor before a superstar. His early roles didn't set him up for stardom, they were his hungry actor roles.

[@anugop]

Completely agree to the analysis by Abhimanyu of SRK choosing his movies. But at 48:00 time stamp, when he analyses hiw srk living in the US will be unable the caste system in the village, is something i disagree. Mohan was born and raised in India and went to Philadelphia for Grad school. And having gone through the same, i can very well duscuss Indian politics a d issues well. So, i think that's acceptable

[@hiteshpuri1]

Welcome change of Urjita's background. Middle class setting seems more relatable than the Piano. कुछ मैले कपड़े भी पड़े होते बेड पर, तो एकदम connect बन जाता।

[@gauravshahi2127]

@56:00 is the take that I fully AGREE with given by Urjjita cause at least there's some sort of recognition of the kind of political temperament that was there at the time and is still present cause even if we like to believe it or not but a person who is from a relatively from a privileged class is still more successful in bringing about successfull change than a person from a subjugated class and that's the reality that we are dealing with right now. I understand that we ought not to make it a stereotype but still it does exist and instead of villifying it we ought to take it and build upon it with constant commenting on the type of constant class struggle that a person from a unprivileged is forced to face. It's a complex statement but I still believe a concious person would still recognise the merit in the statement even if it's coming from a relatively class concious person who is privileged.

[@urjitawani.]

Yes! Thank you for saying this.

[@amritananda6804]

Mohan was born in india, he went for grad school. I did the same and can talk about Indian politics etc

[@IdliAmin_TheLastKingofSambar]

_[NOTE: The film earned Rs. 15cr at the domestic box office; it earned another 20cr or so overseas.]_ I feel bad saying this, and I might be full of crap anyway since I didn’t grow up in India, but my sense is that the elements that made _Swades_ a good film were also the elements that made it a flop with audiences. Not sure what that says about the moviegoing public IMO, at least in 2004, but it could also just be that my tastes don’t align with mainstream Hindi film audiences (I absolutely HATE _DDLJ,_ for example). And I can understand the feelings of people like that cab driver who liked _Dhoom_ but not _Swades,_ whose day-to-day lives aren’t easy, and thus want escapist fare, plus I’m thinking that “multiplex cinema culture” was still in its infancy at the time. That said, Abhimanyu speculated that if the film were to be released today, it would still flop, which is disappointing. I wonder if it would flop because for the same reasons it did in 2004, or if it would be because of politics. It’s not hard to imagine some dumb-ass political group pretending to be offended in order to get publicity and raise money. On the other hand, that might actually help the film-hello, _Pathaan._

[@priyankaharkare2690]

There is a non profit here in the US called AID : association for India’s development which was started by Ravi( one of the persons this movie was influenced by). I didn’t know until I met some folks from AId that Swades was actually influenced by a real life couple

[@sourabhkatti]

Can we please not have several seconds of meaningless awkward silence between panelists when Urjita does her quiz? Can the editor not cut it out?

[@ManjunathKaranth]

Loved this episode. I revisit this movie pretty often. It has enough great things that it brings me back to it. I’d give good money to see this movie with commentary of AG and SRK. Few things I wanted to mention. 1. I thought you guys will mention Amir Khan ‘s cameo. 2. Mohan represents real life Bapu, an expat retuned to bring change in home country. Similarly, Kaveri’s character (isn’t coincidence that it’s played by Kannada actress) juxtaposes it’s time’s predicament of Kaveri river and political turmoil over it. Two states fighting over it just like a Mohan and Gita. 3. It used to be a nightmare to tag ARR in mp3 files for my Winamp in its days. He used to be credited as AR Rahman, A.R. Rahman, AR Rehman, etc. I have seen quite a few movie credits in south as Rehman. I believe his mom or family had a big say on manner of his credits at that time.

[@ms.tipsy9314]

Where's the Amir cameo.. It would be very helpful if you can please mention the scene

[@ManjunathKaranth]

@@ms.tipsy9314its a movie in a movie cameo. There is a yadon ki baaraat screening for village around middle of the movie. You can see Amir as child artist there.

[@AbhishekSharma-yu7pj]

I feel Urjita is turning into chota Cyrus minus the intellect

[@aakash_235]

No alternate ending or pitching of a sequel in this episode?

[@krunalrajawadha9268]

Please do an episode on A Wednesday...

[@fibicreations]

I just love the guests and their chemistry with the hosts. I want more stories. I will join membership if I have to get insider details.

[@chaitanyaparab_]

I had Swades background score on loop while listening to the episode.

[@elizabethfrancina4606]

He was the first Indian to get permission to shoot in Nasa.

[@rohitminekar3395]

❤ SRK ❤

[@tangerine8912]

Aamir playing alien in PK, Ayushman in Article 15 and SRK in Swades follow the same formula. It is a character who comes from a progressive place to a regressive place. He can't believe how regressive it still is. But people there have just accepted it as fact of life, and have a victim complex. That's why the character has to become a savior.

[@rishabhmundra6942]

I agree with you on this in case of article 15 and Swades but not in pk ... because firstly he is an alien secondly he didn't save anyone...he just pointed out the absurdity of religion..he didn't solve the problems of religion. But hey that's just how I interpret the movie.

[@revanthbandari1560]

Abbas has this unique thing where he adds one year to every film he mentions. RDB and LRMM is 2006 but says 2007 ! He says another SRK where he adds one year to it

[@arkaketanchatterjee2665]

Not to mention that it was the first Indian/Asian movie ever to be shot inside actual NASA

[@sonalishenai7359]

Please do an episode on movie "Dil se"

[@MohakJoshi1]

Quick answer- Not aged well.

[@Ullu_ka_pillu]

Legends already saw this episode yesterday 😅

[@sardaarji249]

Please cover Dosti it was a great movie back in the days

[@panchanansahoo3297]

A true a fan would never like this movie to be a super hit at the cost of altering its content with a tangible antagonist . This movie was a cult classic and for me it was a pure entertrainer as well.I was hooked to my mobile screen for straight 3 hrs without skipping a second ( also watched it multiple times thereafter) . If somone did not like this movie I think they need to give a thought about their movie taste first. The movie was/is/will a gem in itself

[@hiteshpuri1]

Once again, best line of the video goes to Urjita. "Caricatures of Ananya Pandey".

[@ankitview246]

Missing those old golden days of studio podcast 🙄

[@RonakPandey-qn9hc]

Yash

[@B1it3krieg]

Can we have these podcasts back from the studio?

[@RB-ey5se]

Yeah, what's the story here? It's like everyone at IVM podcasts is having a retro covid experience for some reason.

[@B1it3krieg]

@@RB-ey5se I thought it was the incessant rains due to which they were recording from homes.

[@RB-ey5se]

@@B1it3krieg Ah that makes sense. No longer in Bombay and so forgot how much of a pain that can be.

[@mainshaayartonahi27]

There was a (literal) fire in the studio last I heard, hence the arrangement

[@urjitawani.]

Next time episode onwards we’re back in the studio! :)

[@maheshmenon1363]

Urjita and Abbas , mere “India Pod Day 2023” ke comments ke liye maafi. Now I have binge listened to this 3rd episode after Dev D and DCH. Abhimanyu mentioned that when he saw the trailer he was wondering why SRK has done such a movie. That’s the difference found in fans from South India especially Kerala. There the fans stand by the star no matter what role they choose.

[@aksharapalshetkar2295]

Guys, do Chennai Express!!!!😅

[@devs2790]

Just like Swades, there is a possibility that even Lagan was inspired by a TV serial episode. There was this show called Nukkad back in the day and in one of the episodes there is a cricket challenge and the rag tag inexperienced team wins in the end. There’s no way to confirm this hypothesis though 😊 Edit: it’s on youtube - Nukkad Episode 38

[@hspraj]

Interesting, but the story structure of Lagaan is similar to BR Chopra's Naya Daur

[@laser3210]

Problem with SRK is he is insecure. He decided to work with Gowarikar only after Lagaan success even though Gowarikar was his friend from TV days. He doesn’t take risks working with new directors. Worked with Rohit Shetty, Imtiaz Ali etc and now Hirani only after they have been successful.

[@dia606]

Bang on. Even when he worked with Shimit Amin that was a yrf production and Gauri Shinde was after English Vinglish again.

[@aymanhaque6936]

Great observation, the only debut director SRK worked with without any past credentials was Karan Johar and Farah Khan, Farhan Akhtar all worked well for him, but lately he hasn't taken too much risk.

[@laser3210]

@@aymanhaque6936 Again Farhaan Akhtar debut was with Dil Chahta Hai so that’s again after success. Karan Johar and Faraah Khan came through YRF stable.

[@snehpatel9234]

Insecure is a wrong term here. That man gave 200 cr+ budget to Ananad L Rai who had not directed a movie of even half of that budget before. Ask Anubhav Sinha how much financial freedom he was given while the making of RA One who has never made such high budget movie in past. Aziz Mirza was given very high budget for Phir bhi dil hain Hindustani. These are just few examples of him giving economic liberty to the directors he worked with. If you are putting your so much money, faith and time in someone, then absolutely nothing wrong in looking at the capability of the directors from their past work.

[@shaunakkulhalli]

I mean he and Gowariker go back to KHKN, circus etc. doubt he was “insecure”. You’re talking about the man who did Darr and Baazigar when he was told that they were career ending moves. If anything he has taken more risks when he didn’t have to. I say this as someone who doesn’t even like him as an actor

[@ankityeshpattnaik936]

Trivia: Golmaal fun limited : AJAY- DADAji SWADES dekhi toh India aa gaya(don't remember the exact dialogue ,somewhere close ) IGNORE this ,She mentioned it

[@gurudeepranjan]

Ajay Devgan says also in golmaal that Swades dekhana isiliye ayya

[@shashankreddy8130]

Recommendations of movies where i felt i was watching swades 1 the boy who harnessed d wind ( Netflix) : homegrown hero n no savior complex but does something similar what mohan does to Village 2 : shrimanthudu (telegu ) : masala swades but boy is from indian city not nri

[@laser3210]

Why does this channel has analysis of films mostly from 2000s ? Not many 90s films, forget films from 80s and before. Do a has it aged well for Saagar.

[@drprathamprakash1408]

I think there are episodes discussing Anand, Karan Arjun, Shaan, Dil toh Paagal hai and more.. They did go in that direction

[@fazlefahim7129]

SRK is the actor here not the superstar

[@hiteshpuri1]

Anil Kapoor's speeches in Nayak were not out of place as it was a masala movie but in Swades, all the speeches seemed out of place and never seemed genuine.

[@3322siddhartha]

Naming srk ‘S character mohan bhargav in Brahmastra was a nod to swades i guess

[@user-mc9mw2qd3y]

41:55

[@adityasingh6461]

Pls review tere naam

[@RB-ey5se]

Loved the episode much more than I did the film which I found unwatchably boring - the tark vitark school debate style dialog was terribly boring.

[@arvind_tty1]

she saw two guys on her screen ek bal wala and ek takla . and her brain autocompleted sentence as "bal khich khich ke takla kar raha hai" 😂 7:56

[@sardaarji249]

Shahrukh Nasa vasa sei aata hei and says OMG mera desh jal rha hei 😂 too funny

[@bhavinsoni1317]

Kya bekaar episode tha. Urjite ne 'wow Abbas wow' bola hi nahi. 🥲

[@suraj250684]

Sometimes the dumbness these discussions astound me !

[@geettongbra1325]

kaun hai yeh ladki?i was trying so hard to listen to the whole conversation but so disappointed ...swades is a masterpiece and i have seen many good reviews about this movie but sorry to say this whole convo is damn boring and stupid specially that girl

[@manozr]

have we found all the cliche movie well?

[@rajatbharti1133]

Urjita is the most irritating woman I have seen

[@notorioussaint13]

This girl is really annoying

[@Ss-gs2es]

Why no omg2 or gadar2 review here? SRK KJO ki sirf chaatni hai

[@anindyarastogi1]

Arre Bhai ye review channel nahi hai... Purani picture ko analyse karte hai.. 10 20 saal puraani picture ko... Akshay Kumar ki bhi bhool bhulaiyaa aur Mai Khiladi tu anari Kari thi..

[@hiteshpuri1]

Unpopular Opinion: AR Rehman made a mess of this movie's soundtrack. Even Javed Akhtar's lyrics couldn't save it. The setting of Ye tara wasn't suited for the lyrics of the song. And the title song had that irritating voice of Rehman.

[@panchanansahoo3297]

The opinion itself justifies why it is unpopular

[@shrikantshingate2283]