Hit the Road: India

Hit the Road: India (2013)

*** (out of 4)

Good documentary about two friends who decide to tackle the 12-day Mumbai Xpress, which is a rally from Mumbai to Chennai and is according to many one of the greatest adventures in the world. HIT THE ROAD: India comes from co-directors Gor Baghdasaryan and Mushegh Baghdasaryan and I'll admit that the subject matter really didn't spike my interest very much. I really wasn't sure what to expect but by the time the 80-minute film was over I found myself entertained. I'm not going to call this a masterpiece or anything like that but if you're familiar with the old James A. FitzPatrick 'TravelTalks" shorts then I think you're going to enjoy this film. Those shorts just had FitzPatrick going to countless places and showing off the locations and the locals. The main attraction to this film is getting to see a city by city tour of India and this here is reason enough to watch the film. I thought the camera-work was quite good for a film like this and there's no question that the directors know where and how to shoot a scene. I'm not going to pretend to sit here and say what the directors were trying to do with this film. However, if it was to show off this event and the beauty of India then they're certainly succeeded. There are many memorable moments scattered throughout the film but I think one of the best things is that it actually makes you want to pack your bags and head to India to live some of this stuff for yourself. This was actually the first time I had ever heard of this race but it was interesting seeing the contestants make their way from various cities and the hardships that happened along the way. I think the one flaw with the picture is that I really didn't connect with the main people very much and I think a little more information about them would have made this journey better.

watched HIT THE ROAD: India ...never heard of it UNTIL one day I got a message from Mr. Gor asking me(I mean me!) if I'd like do a review of his film..& as a self proclaimed "movie critic" I accepted the offer gladly

SO we have two North Americans(just regular tourist) in an auto rickshaw/tuk-tuk & a distance of 2000 km to be covered in 12 days in a country like India, where its monsoon time(you have the plot) & they have all the odds(you can bear an auto ride & its sound for 50-60 km BUT not for the 2000 km & this crap is not even designed for it)....Film's cinematography is visually stunning at times..screenplay kinda becomes repetitive(BUT given the plot its a fine job)..with some of the coolest background scores/tracks..AND it shows you the plight, struggle, flickering attitude(see it changing with the time), & of course the "adventure" of these guys as they bears the traffic, potholes, heavy rain, in a bunk ride of India (& this considered as one of the top-10 adventures!)

NOW its a travel documentary about a particular adventure/event that take place in India(makers have mentioned it..so if you expect any other thing, its your fault) & it shows the humane nature of a one particular team(the only cast)during that event n their hazards during the trip...its good that movie stay focused on the topic(it claims) till the end..(its not "perfect" tho)

Given the genre n chosen subject this film is nice & WORTH A WATCH....For someone who is planning to have this "adventure"

...its a _MUST WATCH_

A very intense , riveting documentary, it was funny, it was serious , it was educational, it was inspiring, we thoroughly enjoyed it. great job to the both of you , Keith and Ric. having been to India ourselves, myself and my hubby can relate to the traffic conditions and how incredibly dangerous it is. it is a beautiful place to travel the people there treated us well, so seeing you both experience this and you made it look so easy , despite what you both went through you made us laugh and you touched our hearts in places with your kindness towards others. the filming was great, the soundtrack was great , we enjoyed the music. for anyone has hasn't been there, it is a learning tool. you get to experience an every day life in India.the extreme danger of it all, alone gave me chills. having meet both keith and ric in our travels to Thailand, we can honestly say ,they did a great job and we are proud of them both .

I found out about this independent adventure documentary from one of its creators and started with watching the 3 minute long trailer which instantly grabbed my attention. Tight, dynamic, even suspenseful thanks to well-chosen soundtrack, the trailer was a great introduction to the film.

I liked the 80 minutes long movie and given that it was the first picture by the Baghdasaryan brothers, they deserve respect and praise for making an engrossing and intriguing film. The subject of the movie was new for me because I did not know anything about The Mumbai Xpress, one of the most extensive and demanding routes of The Indian Auto rickshaw Challenge, the race across India on the auto-rickshaw or tuk- tuk that covers almost 2000 km. Extremely popular in the urban areas due to their simplicity,efficiency and low cost, driving Auto rickshaw across the huge continent with diverse landscape during the rainy season presents a real challenge. That's why the participants, the teams of two or three drivers from different countries, called the rally 'an amazing race for the clinically insane'. But the madness of the brave deserves a film made about it, and that's exactly what Baghdasaryan brothers did. Technically, their film deserves praise. They were able to create a mood of the travel. Shot during the rainy season, the movie is soaked in rain and leaves impression of danger waiting on the every turn of the treacherous roads. The soundtrack, superimposed on the images of long and often grueling journeys between the cities, helps to feel excitement as well as fatigue and frustration that the participants inevitably and regularly have to deal with.

Of several international team-participants, the Baghdasaryan chose the Team US/ Canada team, which included Rick, a Chicago Realtor, and Keith, a Canadian Chef to follow in their adventures during Mumbai Xpress. Rick and Keith, despite their far from extreme occupation back home (or, perhaps, because of it), were ready for excitement and unexpected turns on the treacherous roads during the tropical never ending rain. It was fun in the beginning to follow them on the trip where the problems with their tuk-tuk happened all the time but somewhere in the middle of the road following their team only became a little repetitive and monotonous. I kept thinking of the others teams and how they were handing the long trip. Especially, I wanted to follow the only female team participants and to experience the rally from their perspective. Another slight quibble I have to the film, it was hard to distinguish one city or town on the way from another. I am not sure how the footage should have been edited to pick the most interesting and memorable signs of each new place but there is something for the creators to improve during the work on the future projects. Now, after few weeks since I saw the film, I think that the trailer was the best part of the experience. But as I mentioned above, Hit the Road: India is quite good as a debut in documentary and I am sure that it is a beginning of the long and successful road for the Baghdasaryan Brothers.

The basic idea for this documentary is simple. We follow a couple of participants in a race between Chennai and Mumbai in India. The vehicles used are what make it unique. As a nod to their preponderance in India because of their cheapness to run, the contestants all drive the auto-rickshaw, a light-weight mini motor mainly used for taxis. It's the choice of vehicle that ultimately provides most of the drama here, seeing as it is not designed in the slightest for crossing the Indian subcontinent. Unsurprisingly, it constantly breaks down, leading to lots of frustration for the racers. The very fact that this constitutes most of the drama sort of illustrates that not an awful lot actually seems to happen over the course of the race though. The main obstacles are a combination of poor quality roads and the monsoon conditions. The people they encounter along the way, on the other hand, seem pretty much universally nice. The lack of adversity does affect the impact of the film to be honest, as there aren't too many in the way of interesting events along the journey. In this way I guess it ensures that the feel is pretty authentic, however, and you do get a feel for the conditions.

Maybe it could have been edited together better though, as sometimes things suddenly happen and people appear and we have no real idea of why. The narrative aspect could definitely have been stronger for sure. And while the photography captures the road well, I often thought it would have been nice if it caught the landscape the racers were passing by more – it has an authentic feel but visually it doesn't necessarily sell India as well as it could. I suppose though it is not so often that we see the unglamorous back roads of this country so in that respect it's fairly interesting. The two racers we follow seem like nice guys though and it's easy to feel their increasing discomfort in their difficult trek cross country. For a small-scale travel documentary this is fine, even if it lacks an overall dynamism to make it last in the memory.