Road

This is one of the most stylish films in Bollywood's recent history. Yes world, we are now finally a part of the MTV generation, with our piercings and sexy dancing, fast cars and lots of flesh. Road is a slick film, to say the least. The visual style is reminiscent of Wong Kar Wai's works, lending the film a racy mood. And the best part is, these are characters to whom we can relate. As beautiful as Antara Mali is, she does not come across as one of the many light-eyed, light-hair, candy floss castle types that have become icons of Indian romantic cinema.

The initial premise is simple - guy loves girl, girl loves guy, dad hates guy, they elope. But we never see Daddy dear, and there is none of that weepy confrontation between father and daughter that indian films love so much. Lakshmi is a spunky girl. Her words are witty, and she mocks Arvind (Vivek Oberoi) when he says he wants to marry her. Yet they elope and en route from Delhi to Rajasthan, they encounter an unusual hitchhiker.

I won't say more about the plot, because there are some incredibly suspenseful scenes that keep you on the edge of your seat. The music works well as a vehicle for the plot, building the mood instead of coming across as superfluous moments of pretty scenery. There are some delightfully funny moments, that arise naturally from successful 3-dimensional characters. All in all, a great film that should inspire the new generation of Indian filmmakers that there are other genres to be explored. Let's face it, the era of family dramas is coming to an end.

Road is - thankfully - a departure from the Indian cinema norm. No guy meets girl, parents disapprove, 15,000 songs, good guy bad guy mumbo jumbo. A simple story, brilliant acting, and great cinematography.

In a nutshell, a guy (Vivek Oberoi) and girl (Antara Mali) are in love and on the run. Pretty Bollywood so far. But this is until they run across a wanderer (Manoj Bajpai) in the deserts of Rajasthan. The rest I leave up to you to watch.

The only point I wanted to reinforce was Vivek Oberoi. He made his debut in Company, and has risen through the ranks, straight to numero uno. As always, he is outstanding. Do not be surprised if he leaves the Hrithiks and the Arjun Rampals in his dust. Keep your eyes on this one.

Manoj Bajpai - one of my personal favorites - was no less then his "good guy" counterpart. He was superlative in Satya (my all time favorite movie), and has a string of other successes under his belt. Once again in Road, Bajpai is at his best.

The girl. One word. Hot.

This is a Ram Gopal Varma movie. He also made Satya and Comapany. Enough said. I think I like this man.

By and large, Road was superb. Great songs, an awesome soundtrack, and flawless acting all make for one of the better movies released in Indian cinemas of late. Enjoy!

The Ram Gopal Varma name in the credits sets up expectations that are left unsatisfied.

The script and characters are all needlessly unrealistic. For example, Arvind and Lakshmi (Oberoi and Mali) live in a vacuum, set off on a road trip to nowhere in their SUV with a pack of biscuits, and don't display much emotion, either toward one another or toward anything else. It's hard to identify with either of these characters. The scenery is out of the world, too: petrol pumps spring up from nowhere next to lonely stretches of desert highway as if the landscape were the western United States.

Great locations, photography, and sound fail to dress up this dog. I can't believe at the time of posting this comment on IMDB that seventeen people have voted an average of 7.4!

The good: "Road" is different for a Bollywood film. It's a thriller and road film and not yet another sappy love story. The 3 leads are all good performers and breathe life into a script that has its share of holes and Bollywood nonsense. The camera work is ok (not counting that awful hair in one shot) and the 5.1 sound is quite effective as well.

The bad: The subject may be new for Bollywood, it has been done do death in Hollywood since Spielberg launched this sub-genre with Duel (1971/I) (TV) (see for example also Breakdown (1997)/Joy Ride (2001)/Friday Night Date, A (2000)/Hitcher, The (1986), etc.). So there goes the originality. The songs are there because a Bollywood film has songs, period. They don't do much for the story. They could be cut without any loss. They slow down the pace. The police shenanigans are tiresome, the ending is very Bollywood. Finally the cut and paste technique in the background score with straight lifts from existing Hollywood soundtracks is annoying. (For example check the scene where Bajpai forces Oberoi out of the car the second time and shoots at him. The music at that moment is a direct copy from "Rock, The (1996)".) It does not matter that the intended audience is not likely to notice this. It's unethical and unprofessional. If Bollywood has any aspirations to go global that practice has to stop at once.

Rajat Mukherjee's 'Road' is an exciting slick stylish black comedy-thriller. The makers inspiration from films like Spielberg's 'Duel', Lynch's 'Wild at Heart' and several other films clearly shows and what he comes up with is an enjoyable ride. In addition to that there are numerous fun references to Hindi movies. It does look very much like a Ram Gopal Verma film what with the playful camera-work, the cast etc yet Mukherjee puts most of it well together.

The film starts with the two romantic couples rock and rolling in the first few minutes and takes a different turn as they hit the road through the mysterious deserts of Rajasthan. From then on it's a road movie. The first time I watched it (about 6 years ago), I didn't like it. Therefore I must say that it's not a film to be taken seriously but just for us to sit down, watch and enjoy.

There are certain plot holes (e.g. Babu's reappearance in the Safari) but while a few of them add to the mystery element, others just require some explanation as it makes the following sequence look forced.

Sandeep Chowta, Amar Mohile, Nitin Raikwar and Sandesh Shandilya do an outstanding job with the music. Both the soundtrack and background score are awesome. I love the rock and roll tracks and the erotic 'Makhmali Yeh Badan'. However, the songs are used in the clichéd Bollywood way where many of them appear out of nowhere like music videos. The background score, combined with the amazing cinematography (by Sudeep Chatterjee), is brilliantly used and it creates characters out of the road and desert themselves.

What further elevates 'Road' are the performances. Vivek Oberoi is confident and fits his part a comfortable glove of the right size. Antara Mali is a sex bomb. Even though her fashion sense is at times awkward (especially in the first two songs) she too carries herself with confidence, sensuality and a kind of stamina and she wears her character like a comfortable modern top of the right size. Manoj Bajpai proves yet again what a gifted actor he is. One will have to watch the movie to know that this part was made for him as he effortlessly pulls it off with complete ease showing hues of comedy, intensity and subtlety.

Watching 'Road' brought back some memories that I had of enjoying the Ram Gopal Verma gems (he did produce it after all) like 'Satya', 'Rangeela' and 'Company'. He was one of the most successful experimenters while others kept making the same old Bollywood fluffy romance trash. Who knows what happened to him that he has opted for making money-spinning trash like 'Sarkar' and 'ki Aag' in recent years. One can only hope he goes back to making great movies.

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