SWADES disappoints big time. The story of SWADES would've been ideal for a documentary, but for a feature film with a running time of 3 hour plus and starring the country's biggest star, it just doesn't work.

Swades is a modern film with a modern day dilemma. The protagonist, Shah Rukh Khan has scaled the rungs at NASA, his green card is in the mail and yet he feels an undefined longing, an incompleteness within himself. He identifies this as guilt for not taking care of his nanny, Kishori Ballal, who brought him up. He sets out to rectify this by coming back to India to visit her in the hope that she will come back to America with him so he can give her a good and comfortable life.

So Mohan decides to take a well deserved break by making a journey to India to trace the woman who brought him up. Soon, Mohan's trip turns into a journey of self realisation as he travels into rural India, meeting people and seeing in reality the country he had only imagined in his dreams. He finally finds his nanny in a village called Charanpur. She is cared by a young girl named Gita (Gayatri Joshi) who works as a school teacher. As time goes by, Mohan becomes close to her. He also realises how backward his village is due to lack of opportunities for the people. So Mohan takes it upon himself to help the villagers. By using his knowledge and experience he gained abroad, he revitalises the village. In return he discovers the warmth and richness in the hearts of these people. At long last, Mohan sees part of India which he has never seen before. Will he have the heart to leave these people behind and go back to America?

Swades is sagacious and stimulating cinema about an erudite Indian who like many others goes abroad in search of greener grass and greenbacks but is then made aware of his identity and roots and stays backs.

First time in a long, long while, Shah Rukh Khan, the actor, IS the role he plays: Mohan Bhargava. And that is one thing director Ashutosh Gowariker should be credited for. This may not be his 'best,' but this will definitely go down as one of his most 'genuine' performances.

Newcomer Gayatri Joshi, as Gita, the village schoolteacher, and Mohan's love interest, is fairly competent.

A.R. Rahman's music may sound soothing when you hear it, but when viewed with the story, most of the songs are of the 'fast forward' variety.

Cinematography [Mahesh Aney] is excellent. The rural look has been captured beautifully. Dialogues [K.P. Saxena] are outstanding, but they tend to get into a sermonizing mode after a point. Gowariker's screenplay also does not have enough moments that would instantly catch the attention of the masses.

On the whole, SWADES disappoints. There are too many times when the movie seems to stand still and at a three-hour plus running time, you want Gowariker to just get on with it.