He takes a leave to return to India to find Kaveri amma (Kishori Ballal), his childhood nanny and surrogate mother, who still lives in a rural village called Charanpur (in Uttar Pradesh).
(We did it, didn't we?) – The last line of the film.
He decides to build a small hydroelectric generator using his engineering skills — not as a “savior,” but as a participatory act. The villagers, initially skeptical, join him. The moment the lights turn on in the school is the emotional climax of the film.
Let us state the obvious: It is devoid of the "SRK-isms"—the dimpled smirk, the theatrical dialogue delivery, the slow-motion swagger. He disappears into Mohan Bhargava.
Swades is essentially a film about the "We" in "We, the people." It tackles the complex identity crisis of the NRI with nuance. It doesn’t shame the NRI for leaving; rather, it questions their indifference.
