BY JYOTHSNA HEGDE

Acclaimed filmmaker Dev Benegal, director of English, August and Split Wide Open presents Road, Movie, a whimsical expedition of a young man discovering love, life, laughter, tears and fears on a road trip as he tries to get away from his family business. The movie premiered at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival and opened the section Generation 14plus at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2010.

Vishnu (Abhay Deol) is young, restless and definitely not in the mood to get into its father's faltering hair oil business. He bolts out at the first opportunity when he offers to drive an old truck across the desert to a city on the seashore. Along comes a smart mouthed kid from the dhaba who calls Vishnu a driver and when he grimaces simply asks him if he should be called a doctor when he is driving a truck! A few miles later Chacha (Satish Kaushik) agrees to fix the truck that stops at regular intervals as long as he is dropped off in the truck at a mela (fair). A striking gypsy woman (Tannishtha Chatterjee) joins the troupe as they encounter merciless cops beating up villagers and notorious water peddling dacoits. The group eventually discovers that the truck is in fact a traveling cinema and also a source of immense solace and reason to smile for many people amidst poverty, thirst and pain. The journey as it turns out transforms each of the travelers in different ways leading them to, ‘destinations destined’, as described by the gypsy woman. 

It is often said the journey must be enjoyed as much as the destination. It appears that Dev Benegal stretched the idea and made the journey enjoyable but the destination, does not appear to be clear. Road, Movie has an abstract construction and leaves a lot of room open for imagination. Problem is, the movie and some of the characters are underwritten and while it is nice to leave some things for open for interpretation, it does not help when the narrative is not enough and yet the movie feels long. Some movies offer explanations, for example the protagonist of the movie A Wednesday played by Naseeruddin Shah has no name, and that makes sense because the director does not want to attach a religion to an act of terror, as well intentioned as the act was. But in Road, movie the young boy and the gypsy woman who are part of the journey remain nameless and nothing in the movie or about the movie makes sense to the reasoning. The mela brings some vibrancy but ends on a rather abrupt note. The romance between the gypsy woman and Vishnu never really builds or end well.

Despite its shortcomings, there is a certain warmth and love in the treatment of the movie that cannot be missed. An escape from their dreary lives, where villagers have to travel miles to get water, the traveling cinema manages to bring smiles across the tired, oppressed faces. Benegal’s sense of humor comes through in the scene where a dacoit (Yashpal Sharma ) trades water for the oil Vishnu so despises but is carrying upon his father’s insistence. The entire scene feels absurd as part of the plot but is funny when taken away from the context of the movie. Benegal has said that the movie was inspired by his travel in India and cinematography by Michel Amathieu does justice to his vision capturing landscapes of Kutch and Jaisalmer at their glorious best. Abhay Deol is organic as ever. Satish kaushik breathes life into his character as does Mohammed Faizal Usmani. Tannishtha Chatterjee does well. 

It makes sense why the Road, movie is separated by the comma because the film is essentially about the invincible, unexplainable effect of the road and the movies in India. The movie had potential to dig much deeper and uncover many more truths along the ride. Instead it leaves you asking for more explanation and less screen length. Be that as it may, Road, movie is still a tribute to traveling cinema that transports its drained audience to an alternate world that makes them smile fulfilling the need of the human spirit to beam in the face to adversity, even if it is for a little while, even if it is not real. Justifying the comma in the title, Road, Movie also pays its homage to the incredible roads of India that is embraced with curiosity and love in spite of lingering fears and tears engulfing its travelers.