SRK plays the patriotic jingle

SRK plays the patriotic jingle

TIMESOFINDIA.COM[ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2004 03:27:09 PM ]

Ashutosh Gowarikar's last outing was the successful period drama Lagaan in 2001.

Having recovered from an Academy Award nomination for the best foreign film and a successful home run of his Aamir Khan-starrer set in the locales of Kutch in Gujarat, Gowarikar is now hoping that he gets lucky again with Swades – We the People .

Slated for a December 3 release, Gowarikar's social drama has the director teaming up with Shahrukh Khan for the first time. After having directed long time friend Aamir Khan in flop Baazi and super hit Lagaan , the West is West actor is now wielding the directorial baton for Badshah Khan.

With viewer expectations running high post- Lagaan , can SRK reassuringly say " Main Hoon Na " to Gowarikar, who, incidentally, has produced the film along with United Television (UTV).

Touted as a social drama, it's the first Indian film to be actually shot inside the Nasa research centre at the Launch Pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Centre of Nasa in Florida.

Essentially, the story revolves around a small village and how a slogan ' Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan ' (Hail Farmer, Hail Knowledge) stirs the hamlet and infuses a new sense of confidence and courage in its people. Shahrukh Khan (Mohan) is a Nasa engineer working on a rainfall monitoring satellite known as the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), which is lifted into an orbit aboard a Space Shuttle.

In the process, he is almost switched off completely from the outside world. However, before taking off on the mission, he decides to take a much needed break and buoyed by filial and patriotic ties, he decides to leave the States and return to his homeland. His return is also a homecoming for his childhood sweetheart Gayatri Joshi (Geeta), who is now a school teacher.

Consequently, the film develops on the different paths that the lives of the childhood sweethearts have taken and individual priorities in their lives.

It is also a process by which Mohan rediscovers his homeland and his roots and goes through an emotional conflict of whether to stay on in India or return to the US – a topical issue that most NRIs are faced with when asked to make a choice between return or staying on to create a better life.

Incidentally, it was Aamir and not SRK, who was supposed to play Mohan. Thanks to non-availability of dates, Gowarikar chose SRK, who's already had a hit this year with Farah Khan's Main Hoon Na over friend Aamir, who's not had a single release after Dil Chahta Hain in 2001.

Projected as a 'different and powerful movie' by industry insiders, Gowarikar has tried to show Shahrukh in a different light, miles away from all the hamming and the romancing that he is so used to doing.

Gowarikar's mysterious girl is none other than Gayatri Joshi, a Miss India finalist in 2002 and a model who has also featured with Shahrukh Khan in a Hyundai Santro advertisement.

It remains to be seen whether her portrayal as a village school teacher will charm SRK enough to keep him rooted to India and make Gowarikar smile.

With a musical score by A R Rahman, it remains to be seen whether a poignant introspection of an individual into his life and the surrounding society can help Gowarikar pay Lagaan for his Swades ???