Is Swades a Life Changer ???

I'm taking a geograpy of asia class in college now, and my teacher made me spend 3 and a half days watching this film and I have to tell you that I never want to see another Bollywood movie ever again. I understood where it was coming from, it was just incredibly long, boring, and the singing out of nowhere was stupid, I mean singing when you pick up a hitchhiker? C'mon! So it did change my life in that I never want to see another Bollywood movie again. If I want to watch a movie about India, I'll watch the Darjeeling Limited.

I, honestly, don't know how to explain the impact this movie has had on me. I, truly, feel this is SRK's finest movie, so far. I own it and I play it almost every day. Every time I've watched it, I see 'something' different in the movie. Something I missed or a nuance I failed to notice before. Trust me, I have watched this movie more times than I can count.

Has it been life changing? I would say, yes, because this movie makes me VERY aware of what's important in life. Money is NOT the end-all. We ARE able to change a situation with enough ingenuity, compassion and insight without destroying or compromising the dignity of those around our wish for change.

You cannot move quickly through Swades. You will miss so many extremely subtle points, i.e., giving the bottle water to the traveler. Was the gesture appreciated or naive on Mohan's part? This makes me think of things I do in every day life. I, now, try to think before reacting too quickly. I'd gotten out of the habit.

It totally is. I have to say it developed a huge amount of compassion in me for other people especially for people in India. And yes, at times I've thought about moving back. Not that it would make a difference in the system but something about this film makes me wanna move back.

I rented the movie at the video store and kept it for over a week. Well, i was sick at the time so i couldn´t return it. at least not for the first 3 days. but i kept it for 5 more days. i watched it everyday, sometimes twice, and as soon as i finally got up to return it i went and bought the dvd. a few months later i bought the soundtrack. needless to say: I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!!!
i did a class in college about bollywood, which was very interesting and i learned a lot about the hidden meanings in the movies. you know, stuff you couldn´t know as non indian. like why there, usually, isn´t any kissing, or why there are so many wet saris (boy that was a surprise!).
i have to admit, when i saw Swades i was pretty shocked to hear SRK talk about all that´s wrong, or less than perfect, in india. i was used to "india is the best country in the world" (you know like the U.S. are always the best in any hollywood movie ;-) )
i wouldn´t say that Swades changed my life, but i did learn a lot! i always liked bollywood movies but until this one i used to think that all of them are a love-and-kitsch-fest. "we´re oh so happy-it´s oh so tragic-yeah love wins" i´m sure there are other movies which show you what it´s like in india. but this one is definitly the most entertaining.

There must be at least one lakh people in this world whose life or at least their decisions changed after watching this movie.

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