Road, Movie (2009)

A young man's journey across the mythic Indian landscape becomes a life changing odyssey.

Director:

Dev Benegal

Writer:

Dev Benegal

Stars:

Abhay Deol, Satish Kaushik, Tannishtha Chatterjee

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Abhay Deol	...	Vishnu
Satish Kaushik	...	Om
Tannishtha Chatterjee	...	The Woman
Mohammed Faisal	...	The Boy (as Mohammed Faisal)
Amitabh Srivastava	...	Aatma - Father
Suhita Thatte	...	Mother
Hardik Mehta	...	Masseur
Roshan Taneja	...	OPJ - Truck Owner
Shradha Shrivastav	...	Sister (as Shraddha Shrivastava)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rajinder Grover
Niraj Kothari	...	Developer
Veerendra Saxena	...	Police Chief
Yashpal Sharma
Bharat Vaibhav	...	Head Constable

Storyline

VISHNU, a restless young man, itches to escape his father's faltering hair oil business. An old truck beckons, which Vishnu sees as his ticket to freedom. He offers to drive the antique Chevy across the desert to the sea, where it has been sold to a local museum. As he sets off across the harsh terrain, he discovers he's not merely transporting a battered vehicle, but an old touring cinema. Along the way, Vishnu reluctantly picks up a young runaway, a wandering old entertainer and a striking gypsy woman. Together they roam the barren land, searching for water and an elusive fair. The journey turns dire when they are waylaid by corrupt cops and a notorious waterlord. The key to their freedom is the eccentric collection of films and the two forty-year-old film projectors in the back of the truck. As in 1001 Nights, if the films are good, they live and move on. If the films are boring, they face death in the outback. The journey proves transformative for each of the travelers, but ...

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Plot Keywords:

truck | desert | death | water | film projector | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

India USA

Language:

Hindi English Rajasthani

Release Date:

5 May 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Road Movie

Company Credits

Production Co:

August Entertainment, Indian Film Company, Studio 18

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dev Benegal has directed two movies, Road, Movie and English, August, with commas in the title.

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Soundtracks

"Tel Maalish"
Music Produced by Eric V. Hachikian
Performed by Eric V. Hachikian

User Reviews

Moving Pictures

Dev Benegal had previously captured the starkness of Bombay in his chilling 'Split Wide Open'. This time he enchants the viewer with the tantalizing, mysterious, and unsympathetic beauty of Rajasthan. Rajasthan has hardly ever been portrayed with such rawness. The stunning cinematography fascinatingly captures the exquisiteness of the hot landscape and the eclectic score gives it voice. As stunning as the shots are, none of them intrude on the story as Rajasthan is just as important a character as its leads.

Benegal's lyrical screenplay is first rate. It's full of metaphors. The dialogues are minimal but concise and loaded with subtle humour. The characters are human. Initially, they are hard to like but as the viewer witnesses their growth and how they achieve their triumph, one can't help but like them. I was only disappointed by the ending especially the fate of The Woman.

Abhay Deol does an inimitable job as the brooding young man in search of significance. Satish Kaushik springs a pleasant surprise. He's actually not annoying. Enigmatic Tannishtha Chatterjee is splendid both as actress and singer. The rest of the cast do a fine job.

Benegal has done it once again and this time his film also celebrates cinema. Not only does it pay tribute to some classics, but the sequences where the rural audience (some of them have never watched a movie in their life) reacts to films alone depict the place cinema has in our lives.