 Being hailed as India’s ‘Cinema Paradiso’, Dev Benegal’s film Road, Movie tells the story of a restless young man who itches to escape his father's faltering hair oil business.
The movie stars Abhay Deol, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik and Mohammed Faizal Usmani.
Vishnu (Abhay Deol) doesn’t want to be tethered to his father’s 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 of desert India, 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 (Mohammed Faizal Usmani), a wandering old entertainer (Satish Kaushik) and a striking gypsy woman (Tannishtha Chatterjee). 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 '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 especially for Vishnu who discovers life, love and laughter on the Indian highway.
Directed by Dev Benegal and produced by the US-based Ross Katz and Susan B. Landau, ‘Road, Movie’ is set to release on March 5.
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