Road, Movie (2009)

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

Director:

Dev Benegal

Writers:

Dev Benegal, Sunil Huske (script supervisor)

Stars:

Abhay Deol, Satish Kaushik, Tannishtha Chatterjee

2 nominations.

Cast

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

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 | water | desert | mechanic | death | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

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

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor) Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dev Benegal has directed two movies, Road, Movie (2009) and English, August (1994), with commas in the title.

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Goofs

When showing the arrival of performers for the fair, the setting sun is first shown about to disappear behind the horizon and a few scenes later it is higher above the horizon.

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Crazy Credits

Before the end credits, the film acknowledges to have ended by a slide-show of the words "The End" in different fonts, types, colors & even languages.

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Connections

Features Jaal (1986)

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Soundtracks

Cake Walk Times
Written by Rosa Treacher

User Reviews

The journey of life, the magic of cinema!

'Road, Movie' is an extraordinary movie and one of the most beautiful films I've seen in recent years. This is the story of Vishnu (Abhay Deol), a young apathetic and carefree guy who hits the road in his old neighbour's very antique kind of a truck, a 1942 Chevy with a traveling cinema in its back carrying Victoria film projectors. For him, this truck is in a sense a way to escape his family's burden - selling Atma hair oil for his dad — and take a week of freedom while driving from Rajasthan to the sea. On his way, Vishnu picks up several passengers who go on this journey with him: a smart orphaned boy, an old wise mechanic, and a beautiful widowed gypsy. Even this barren place has its rulers, however, and they appear in the form of a sadistic policeman and cruel, water-hoarding gangsters.

This movie is visually stunning, poetic, artistic and completely real. Dev Benegal's direction is fantastic. In order to understand the true meaning of this symbolic piece, one would have to figure out what every object in the movie signifies - the oil, the water, the well, the people he meets and goes on this journey with, the group of water searching women he always encounters on his way. This is the journey of life, and everyone is free to interpret it the way they want. But it does not really matter if you just want to enjoy the film. The movie is just engaging, mysterious and interesting without forcing you to find a hidden significance in the story. The situations, the dialogue, the characters, the locations are so authentic and fascinating that the movie flows extremely well. I was captivated not only because it is visually stunning; it is also perfectly paced and has an inexplicably understated sense of life.

Road, Movie captures the serene and peaceful beauty of the broad and desolate desert landscapes. It is done is a way that is so precise that there seems to be no way possible to take your eyes off the screen. This is aided by two aspects which are of the strongest in the film: the exquisite cinematography and the superb background score. These two aspects, done with sheer excellence by Michel Amathieu and Michael Brook, respectively, are perfectly brought together on-screen to create a breathtakingly mesmerising visual treat. The music complements the images and vice versa. I loved the sequences in which the group started screening different classic films, used to relax the villains. From Deewaar (1975) to Jaal (1986) to Andaz (1971). And ironically, Vishnu's father's damned hair oil somehow always comes to his rescue.

As already mentioned, the film is extremely realistic, and the acting is roundly natural. All characters no matter how lengthy or brief they are look totally genuine. Abhay Deol leads this film, and this brilliant actor yet again proves why he is possibly the finest actor of his age bracket. He is a brave actor as he is not afraid to be unlikable or look selfish and he does it exceedingly well. Mohammed Faisal plays the nameless boy who is in search of a better life with ease and conviction. Tannishtha Chatterjee is mind-blowing as the mysterious and widowed gypsy woman. The scene in which she starts singing a beautiful folklore song is wonderful. However, the one who steals the show is undoubtedly Satish Kaushik - he is simply outstanding from start to end. He makes his character so authentic, likable and memorable. This is one of his finest performances and according to me the finest in the movie.

In one of the film's most wonderful dialogues, Satish Kaushik's character says something that really epitomises the power of this picture: "Ah, the magic of cinema - lets you forget life, pain, worry... Takes you far away into a world of dreams." 'Road, Movie' really is a lyrical tribute to the magic of movies - a breathtaking, beautiful and fascinating gem. This is a spectacular picture.