Shwaas: Breath --> Movie: Breath of fresh air.

Had the opportunity to see Shwaas yesterday and was totally impressed by the movie. I'm not saying this coz this movie was Oscar nominated or whatever. For that matter even Devdas was but the movie was...to put it gently - 'a Disgrace'. Shwaas was made on a shoe string budget of 60 lakhs whereas the most expensive 'Magnum Opus' piecashit costed over 600 million. This is where Shwaas scores big time (and ofcourse it doesnt have that asshole Khan and the thumb twiddling,semi-paralyzed Jackie).
Shwaas is a very simple story of the relationship shared between a 7 yr old kid and his grandfather. They hail from some remote gaon in Maharashtra and set foot in Pune(i think) for an eye check-up for the kid. It so turns out that the kid has a rare cancerous growth near the retina or somewhere(sorry Bio fail) and the operation wud take away his eyesight. There are no twists or cliches at all in the movie....so even if i wish i cant share the spoilers...there arent any.
As far as the technical angle goes, the movie is astounding. The scenes where they show parts of the village, the birds flying over the brooks etc are stunningly shot. The camera is really 'in your face' coz the movie is all about capturing the character's emotions; which reminds me of the acting...SENSATIONAL!
The kid has done a tremendous job especially in the scene where he comes to know of the 'dark' truth that he is going to be blinded for life. Here I am really talking about a prodigy...no definitely not in the Jugal Hansraj mould. The actor who plays the grandfather seems a natural...after seeing him enact its hard to imagine anyone else who could do justice to that role. But walking away with the plaudits is the guy who plays the doctor...nonchalant,unfazed and a thoroughbred professional.
What really catches the eye in Shwaas is its simplicity. The movie couldve been made very melodramatic keeping in mind the sensitive subjectmatter, but the director thankfully refrained from it.The marathi is really not that difficult to understand as the dialogues are delivered at a very slow pace and not many demanding words are in use. Sad that it didnt make the grade at the Oscars but i was really very impressed that atleast at the National award level Marathi movies fully got a rub of the green. A must watch, I give it a 4/5.

-Balls