Such a Long Journey (1998)

Circa 1971, Gustad Noble lives in a one bedroom hall rented apartment in Byculla, Bombay. He travels to work everyday by Central Railway to Victoria Terminus and walks to Flora Fountain to ... See full summary »

Director:

Sturla Gunnarsson

Writers:

Rohinton Mistry (novel), Sooni Taraporevala

Stars:

Roshan Seth, Soni Razdan, Om Puri

4 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roshan Seth	...	Gustad Noble
Soni Razdan	...	Dilnavaz Noble
Om Puri	...	Ghulam Mohamed
Naseeruddin Shah	...	Major Jimmy Bilimoria
Ranjit Chowdhry	...	Pavement Artist
Sam Dastor	...	Dinshawji
Kurush Deboo	...	Tehmul
Pearl Padamsee	...	Mrs. Kutpitia
Vrajesh Hirjee	...	Sohrab Noble
Shazneed Damania	...	Roshan Noble
Kurush Dastur	...	Darius Noble
Noshirwan Jehangir	...	Inspector Bamji
Dinyar Contractor	...	Rabadi
Souad Faress	...	Mrs. Rabadi
Shivani Jha	...	Jasmine Rabadi

Storyline

Circa 1971, Gustad Noble lives in a one bedroom hall rented apartment in Byculla, Bombay. He travels to work everyday by Central Railway to Victoria Terminus and walks to Flora Fountain to his place of employment, namely the Central Bank of India. He has three children, Sohrab - who has finished his college studies and is now being admitted, much to his dislike, to Indian Institute of Technology (I.I.T.); while Darius, his second son, and daughter, Roshan, are school-going; his wife, Dilnavaz, looks after the children and the household. Their neighborhood is filthy, people urinate and defecate near the wall which encloses their building. Gustad asks a pavement artist to move near his building, draw pictures of religious Gods and Goddesses depicting the four main religions: Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, and Sikhism. The Artist agrees, and soon the place is transformed into a huge temple where people of all religions come to pay their respects. It is only a handful of people who know ...

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel | independent film | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 October 1999 (UK)

Also Known As:

Un si long voyage

Filming Locations:

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$44,364, 26 March 2000, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$92,943, 30 April 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amy International Artists, Film Works, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

More than 10 years after its publication, the novel by Rohinton Mistry, on which this film is based, was controversially removed from the syllabus of a university in India. In an ironic twist, the book ban followed a violent protest by a fringe political party which objected to sections of the book calling it a fringe political party that uses violent protests to stay relevant.

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Goofs

When Gustad enters the Bank Manager's office to take the call about his daughter, as he opens the glass door, a crew member in a white t-shirt is reflected.

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Soundtracks

Thare rahiyo
Written by Naushad, Ghulam Mohammed, Majrooh, Kaif Bhopali, Kamal Amrohi,
Kaifi Azmi
Performed by Lata Mangeshkar

User Reviews

A thought-provoking film, reinforcing the strength of family ties

It is wonderful to watch Roshan Seth (the strict father in 1992 "Mississippi Masala"), who once again takes on the role of a father and head of the family, and more, in SUCH A LONG JOURNEY, set in 1971 Bombay, India. Besides the closely knit family settings, subject matters include the lost and found of a friendship; the unexpected death of a friend (somehow the calm smiling face of a friend in death in the presence of prayers felt peaceful - so Gustad Noble, Roshan's character, similarly noted); a sidewalk artist's chain of events - "the wall as a latrine turned into a shrine…shrine into rumbles and ashes" was at once prophetic and philosophical. It's packed full of life lessons in different aspects of varying relationships: between father and son; mother and son; father and little daughter; little daughter and father and mother; longtime colleagues; long lost dear friends; even that of a man to man, one whose an innocent slow-witted "fool".

In spite of the tone of the film's era, it's a colorful film rich in substance, and the strength of the story in textural layers with humor and suspense. For a director who is not Indian (Sturla Gunnarsson being Icelandic), he's made a political Indian/Pakistani film. He gets into the bone marrow of the life of this Parsi portrayed by Roshan Seth, whose performance has such nuances, subtlety, and joy. (There is singing, too.) The rest of the cast is equally strong: from Om Puri the mysterious friend of a friend; Soni Razdan the enduring wife; Vrajesh Hirjee the argumentative eldest son; Sam Dastor the longtime office mate; Ranjit Chowdhry the pavement artist; to a superstitious "witch" woman of a neighbor; an unbeguiling "fool" of a man; and a long lost bosom friend - it's a world of many faces and perspectives. Director Gunnarsson has demonstrated sensitivity in the treatment of that time period and subject was well researched with attention to details. He has the good fortune to have Sooni Taraporevala (1992 "Mississippi Masala", 1988 "Salaam Bombay!") wrote the script. This is truly a worthwhile journey of a film to partake.

Along the lines of cultural exploration (road movie style), Fridrik Thor Fridriksson 1994 "Cold Fever" is an Icelandic sojourn about a Japanese young man who went across the globe in search of the specific spot to pay his last respects to his parents, dutifully following memorial rituals for the dead. Such demonstrated reverence and cross-cultural attention to family ties are heart-warming in this day and cyber age.