Shwaas (2004)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I am a Maharashtrian, a teenager living in the 21st century, and its obvious that I'm not much into even Bollywood, let alone Marathi movies. Yet, when I watched Shwaas, it left me with a unique feeling, one which only an extremely effective movie is capable of generating.It is a fact that, like most Indian movies, the movie has its true and complete effect only if viewed in its original language. A lot of the emotion and meaning of the movie is embedded in its Marathi dialogues, which, however hard one tries, can not be effectively translated into English.Shwaas explores, in intricate detail, the relationship between a grandparent and a child. And it does complete justice to this strong bond. Dialogues like "mazha parsha pan laakhat ek aahe"(My parsha is also one in a million) enhance the emotion. Anyone who has closely observed the grandparent - child relationship will be able to relate to the situation portrayed in the movie.Overall, it definitely worth watching. Its a movie that has left a profound effect on me. I will surely recommend it to anyone!

Caught this movie on DD while flipping channels...And thank heavens, that too when it just started.. Having studied in Pune, this film touched off many happy memories of the city...that apart, one wonders why more movies like this aren't made...Every character is so well etched-the grandpa, the kid, the doc...except for the social worker who grates a tad, the rest of the movie hardly has a flaw...a deserving entry for the Oscars, even if it wasn't nominated...definitely leaves a lump in the throat...who sez u need mush to tickle ur lacrimals ? And to think that this movie needed Sachin Tendulkar to propagate it. Inspite of being in Marathi, there was hardly a moment where I wasn't able to follow the movie...the subtitles were good.. A must watch for any fan of good cinema.

This is a slow moving film which is good if you have time to kill or want to get indoors in a climate controlled environment.There are so many details that the story really drags. How much time do we need to spend on who is going to tell the little boy about his prognosis? In this movie, the answer appears to be forever! This film is too much like life rather than focusing on being entertainment.Grandpa seems worried all the time so I would have had more empathy if his character would have had more depth. (Does he happen to have any more facial expressions at his disposal?) The kid is portrayed as a brat in many scenes. My sympathy was stretched thin at liking his character. The Social Worker appears to have recently graduated from the school of overacting--summa cum laude. The Doctor is likable. Although why the script won't let him tell the kid about his diagnosis in the first place is beyond me.The story is rather maudlin. At the end many women in our audience were crying. I couldn't feel the empathy because the story had numbed me. The cultural insights are: when you bob your head left to right that indicates "yes" (as opposed to up and down), "BaBa" means grandfather, people are shown everywhere which one expects in a country with the second highest population in the world.A few realistic twists or turns would have made the time seem to pass quicker.Continuity problems: operating in the evening after spending the day seeing the sights—what about the anesthesia and the boy's stomach contents? The doctor puts on his gloves in his office—what about the sterile field? (So now how are you going to get me to fly to India and have surgery?)

Hadnt heard a lot about this movie, except it being National award and Oscar entry. Its a Marathi movie, n I cant make out apple from orange in marathi. But when I saw the movie playing on DD1 late Sunday night, I just got glued. Now I am no judge of cinematic techniques and acting skills. But I have watched a good number of movies, of various genres, and for an average viewer, I will highly recommend this movie. The feel is very earthy and realistic, though there are some melodramatic moments. Watch it to feel human. Lately haven't seen any movie, which touches heart, especially in Hindi cinema. the crowning achievement of the movie is when the young kid returns home. The camera moves around to reveal the kid, wearing black glasses, having lost his eyes, the kid hears the other kids splashing in the water and starts clapping. I was awestruck. And the two hours I spent watching the movie - very much worth it :-)