Being a big fan of SRK, I don’t normally criticize his movies however bad the movie may be. When Paheli got released I really wanted to watch it and I forced few other guys to join me. The movie, however, was a huge disappointment and I had to be on the receiving end of highly obscene language from my friends. Credit to SRK and Amol Palekar though for trying something different but, at least in my books, this effort failed miserably.
So when I heard that it was Indian nomination for the Oscars, I was shocked. Specially because of the fact that the kind of movies it had shrugged off. I have not seen ‘Parineeta’ but I have heard some rave reports about it. I can understand why ‘Black’ did not get a vote. It is basically a very western movie and even though it was new and novel for us, it might have been routine for them.
But for me, ‘Swades’ should have been home and dry. I mean, it has got everything. An Indian feel, story line is unlike Hollywood movies, outstanding performances and it is a real movie of substance.
Moreover it had huge chance of winning Oscars because of its theme. It shows that an Indian working in US comes back to India. If this movie was nominated then the US government itself would have promoted the movie in the hope that at least some Indians get inspired by this and return to India. :)
But I still hope against the ‘Paheli’ reaches somewhere and does not bow out in the first round itself.
