''Road, Movie'' () is a 2009 Indian

road movie A road movie is a film genre, genre of film in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the the ...

directed by

Dev Benegal Dev Benegal is an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter, most known for his debut film ''English, August (film), English, August'' (1994), which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English, Best Feature Film in English at the 42nd ...

, and starring

Abhay Deol Abhay Deol (born 15 March 1976) is an Indian actor who is known for his work in Hindi films. Born in the Deol family, he made his on-screen debut in 2005 with Imtiaz Ali's romantic comedy '' Socha Na Tha''. Deol was praised for his performance ...

Tannishtha Chatterjee Tannishtha Chatterjee is an Indian actress and director who is known for her work in several Bollywood, Hindi and English language, English Independent film, independent films. For her performance in the film ''Dekh Indian Circus'', she won the ...

, and

Satish Kaushik Satish Chandra Kaushik (13 April 1956 – 9 March 2023) was an Indian actor, director, producer, comedian, editor and screenwriter. He found his fame in Hindi cinema, Bollywood with ''Mr. India (1987 film), Mr. India'' starring Anil Kapoor, Sri ...

. It premiered at the 2009

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

and opened the section Generation 14plus at the

60th Berlin International Film Festival The 60th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 11 to 21 February 2010, with Werner Herzog as president of the jury. The opening film of the festival was Chinese director Wang Quan'an's romantic drama '' Apart Together'', in com ...

in February 2010. ''Road, Movie'' was released in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

on 5 March 2010.

Plot

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 1942

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

across the desert to the sea, where it has been sold to a local museum. As he sets off across the harsh terrain of desert India, Vishnu discovers he is not merely transporting a battered vehicle but an old touring cinema. Along the way, Vishnu reluctantly picks up a young runaway ( Mohammed Faizal Usmani), a wandering old entertainer (

) and a striking

gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

woman (

). Together they roam in the barren land, searching for water and an elusive fair. The journey turns dire when they are waylaid by corrupt cops and a notorious water lord. 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 ''

One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition ( ...

'', 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 especially for Vishnu who discovers life, love and laughter on the Indian highway.

Cast

as Vishnu *

as the Woman * Mohammed Faisal as the Boy *

as Om * Yashpal Sharma as the Waterlord *

Veerendra Saxena Virendra Saxena (born 23 November 1961) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi theatre, film, and television. He is an alumnus of the National School of Drama. Saxena is known for his character roles as well as his unique voice. He has acted i ...

as Police Chief *

Amitabh Srivastava Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

as Father *

Suhita Thatte Suhita or Soheeta (died 1447), was a Javanese queen regnant and the sixth monarch of the Majapahit empire, ruling from 1429 to 1447. Early life and succession She was the daughter of King Wikramawardhana (formally Bhra Hyang Wisesa), her pre ...

as Mother *

Hardik Mehta Hardik Mehta is a writer-director who works in both fiction as well as non fiction formats. He won the National Award, in addition to several other awards and honors across international film festivals, for his documentary short Amdavad Ma ...

as Masseur * Shradha Shrivastav as Sister *

Roshan Taneja Roshan Taneja (1931 - 10 May 2019) was a pioneer in teaching acting in India. He set up the acting department at the Film and Television Institute of India, and founded the Roshan Taneja School of Acting in Mumbai, India. He coached several actor ...

as OPJ

Production

''Road, Movie'' began in 2004 as an original idea by

. To do research for the film, he travelled for a year with a transient cinema troupe that showcased different films in rural

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

villages. Benegal completed the first draft of the film's script in only 10 days. The script was written at a difficult period in his career as his other projects had been unsuccessful in finding financial backers. He successfully submitted his screenplay to the L'Atelier screenwriting portion of the 2006

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

signed on to play the role of Vishnu after reading the script which he found "really nice, dreamy and humorous." Filming took place in desert areas of the

Kutch District Kutch district (), officially spelled Kachchh is a district of Gujarat state in western India, with its headquarters (capital) at Bhuj. Covering an area of 45,674 km2, it is the largest district of India. The area of Kutch is larger than ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

and

Jaisalmer Jaisalmer , nicknamed ''The Golden city'', is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur, in the heart of the Thar Desert. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Jaisalmer district ...

Release

''Road, Movie'' premiered on 18 September 2009 at the 2009

. It was also screened at the 2009

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. According to the FIAPF, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals and the second largest film festival in Asia behind the ...

where it was nominated for the Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix Award and at the 2009

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

Box office

''Road, Movie'' released in theatres on 5 March 2010 to a poor turnout at the cinemas. The film grossed a poor INR 11.1 million in its first week. In its second week, the film's collections saw a drop of a massive 90%, and netted INR 1.2 million. It was declared as a disaster at the box office.

Awards

; 2011 Star Screen Awards Won * Star Screen Award for Best Sound – Vikram Joglekar

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1190894 2009 films 2000s Hindi-language films 2000s road movies Films scored by Michael Brook Films about films Films set in India Films shot in India Films shot in Gujarat Films shot in Rajasthan Indian road movies Viacom18 Studios films Indian drama road movies