Swades

Swades: We, the People
Directed by	Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced by	Ashutosh Gowariker Ronnie Screwvala
Written by	Ashutosh Gowariker (dialogue)
Screenplay by	Ashutosh Gowariker Sameer Sharma Srinjoy Bhattacharya Amin Hajee Charlotte Whitby-Coles Yashodeep Nigudkar Ayan Mukerji
Story by	Ashutosh Gowariker
Starring	Shah Rukh Khan Gayatri Joshi Kishori Balal
Music by	A.R.Rahman
Cinematography	Mahesh Aney
Edited by	Ballu Saluja
Production company	Ashutosh Gowariker Productions
Distributed by	UTV Motion Pictures
Release date	17 December 2004
Running time	203 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹210 million (US$3.1 million)
Box office	₹342 million (US$5.1 million)

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Swades ("Swades: We, the People") (pronounced [sʋəˈd̪eːʃ], English: Own Country) is a 2004 Bollywood drama film written, produced and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. It stars Shah Rukh Khan and Gayatri Joshi in the lead roles. The film received widespread critical acclaim and a cult following from Indian and other South Asian audiences around the world.

Mohan Bhargava (Shah Rukh Khan) is an Indian who works as a project manager at NASA in the United States. He keeps worrying about Kaveri Amma (Kishori Ballal), a maid at his home in Uttar Pradesh who looked after him during his childhood days. After his parents’ death, Kaveri Amma went to live in an old age home in Delhi and lost contact with Mohan. Mohan wishes to go to India and bring Kaveri Amma back with him to the US. He takes a few weeks off and travels to India. He goes to the old age home but learns that Kaveri Amma no longer lives there and went to a village named Charanpur a few years ago. Mohan then decides to travel to Charanpur, in Uttar Pradesh.

Mohan decides to rent a caravan to reach the village fearing that he might not get the required facilities there. Upon reaching Charanpur, he meets Kaveri Amma and gets to know that it was Gita (Gayatri Joshi), Mohan’s childhood friend, who had brought Kaveri Amma following her parents’ death to stay with her. Gita runs a school in Charanpur and works hard to improve the living conditions of the villagers through education. However, the village is divided largely by caste and religious beliefs. Gita does not like Mohan’s arrival as she thinks that he will take Kaveri Amma back with him to the US, leaving her and her younger brother Chikku alone. Kaveri Amma tells Mohan that she needs to get Gita married first, and that it is her responsibility. Gita believes in women empowerment and gender equality. This attracts Mohan towards Gita and he too tries to help her by campaigning for education among backward communities and also girls.

Slowly love blossoms between Mohan and Gita. Kaveri Amma asks Mohan to visit a nearby village named Kodi, and collect money from a man named Haridas who owes it to Gita. Mohan visits Kodi and feels pity seeing Haridas' poor condition, which is such that he is unable to provide his family with meals everyday. Haridas tells Mohan that since his caste profession of a weaver wasn't earning him any money, he shifted to tenant farming.But this change in profession led to his ostracization from the village and the villagers even denied him water for his crops. Mohan understands the pathetic situation and realises that many villages in India are still like Kodi. He returns to Charanpur with a heavy heart and decides to do something for the welfare of Charanpur.