The Good Road

I came to know about this movie from the news. I was eager to watch "What" Oscar material this movie has.

As an art lover, I thoroughly enjoyed the cinematography but that was all the movie had to offer to me. There are some incidents with policemen which will make you smile during the serious drama. The director failed to create "seriousness" in the events. Nothing wrong with the story but it needed justice with direction and acting.

Dialog deliveries of all characters were in "sophisticated Gujarati" except Pappu and Shaukat.

Shaukat was a good character and he acted really well.

Don't watch this movie for entertainment, just go with the flow. I wish the movie good luck for the Oscars.

A truck driver, unable to support his extended family properly, gets some outside help to stage an accident for insurance claims; a couple, on their journey through rural Gujarat, finds their son missing due to their carelessness; a small girl, who on her way to her grandmother's house, accidentally and unwittingly halts at a place which is darker than it appears to be. Three interesting stories, beautifully entwined with each other, keeps you hooked till the very end. Though the screenplay is thought-provoking, the movie ultimately fails to have any sort of impact on you. The overall acting is just okay; the performance by the two small kids and the truck people really stand out, and is quite commendable.

The cinematography is spectacular, and elegantly captures the rural Gujarat; it adds to the beauty of the stories. The music also helps create a good feel to the film.

With a better screenplay, a superior direction, and more skillful acting, the movie could have had better impact on the viewers. Though the movie doesn't bore you in its 90 minute long well-paced screenplay, ultimately it becomes one of those movies which can be seen and forgotten.

Let's not compare movies here, for God's sake. The Lunchbox is a fine authentic movie. The Good Road is adventurous, rusty & indigenous. But, to be frank, the epistolary drama would've had a better chance at Oscars.

Talking about three partially inter-connected stories, The Good Road moves with a gradual pace. A kid accidentally left out in a local diner as his parents swoosh off in their jeep, a small girl trying to get to her granny & an illegal deal involving two cocky truck drivers - the story connects at the end chafing the low story-depth it had carved since the beginning. The implications are high & vague at the same time, as the plot talks about parents' carelessness towards their children during trips, corruption among policemen, how hapless truck drivers get involved into illegal deals, how young women get lured into whorehouses & regard it as their homes in a fore-course and it is the will of a person that drives him/her towards something. Out of line, the plot concentrates on the story of the kid & the truck drivers & ounce of humanity that joins them together.

Now, all this is told in a slightly rough manner. It totally depends on the viewer, given the DVD English subtitles suck to core & are inappropriate, too. Apart from that, the cinematography & direction is fine. Cast performance by seemingly amateur actors is okay. Dialog delivery is great, so is the music. Locations are fine.

I am disappointed with the camera work & editing, though, mostly as the lighting works against it. Summing it all up, The Good Road is an average road flick which tries hard to succeed harnessing innocence of children, yet ends up as a partial winner.

BOTTOM LINE: An average afternoon-watch flick, not to be taken seriously. As a matter fact, some elements also seem to be cooked-up. And about the Oscar, Indians can expect another loss at a time when countries like Pakistan are leaving no stone unturned to send a film for the first time in 50 years. 6.2 out of 10!

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

Profanity: Very Strong | Vulgarity/Nudity: No | Violence: Mild | Gore: No | Alcohol/Drugs: No | Smoking: Mediocre | Porn: No

Not seen many movies you have seen which are very Indian at it's core and will not change much if you take out all Hollywood know-how! I mean Authentic Indian movie, movie that can portray Indian image using Indian real life scenarios instead of all theatrical sets?

I remember people talking that Gujarati movies industry being dead because "Gujarati" as a language not being able to manifest itself in literary mainline cinema.

If I remember other movies, so far I have not seen any Bollywood movies trying to capture Gujarati essence and being successful. Maniratnam's "Guru" made me feel like Dhirubhai Ambani was born in some south Indian Village and nowhere close to Gujarati. Sanjay Leela's Ramleela is theatrical overdoing of Gujarati cultural heritage. Gyan Correa has not only captured Gujarati realism but also made it seem possible to make Gujarati mainline cinema in seamless ways. The music, cinematography, and acting of not so known amateurs makes wonderful impact that did not exist for long time.

Nomination in Oscar seem to be working against movie instead of in favor, but If you look at history Gujarati film Industry, "The good Road" is Breakthrough!

Being Gujarati, I have never been able to relate to Gujarati movie at this level before.

I have grown up watching cinemas from NFDC. From the past one year NFDC has been doing a great job in restoring good Indian cinema and releasing them on home video. I respect to most of the movies that have come under the NFDC banner. In parallel to restoration NFDC is also releasing new films and "The Good Road" is one such. There was a bit noise about this when it got released a few months back but it did not get any kind of attention. I kind of lost on this until NFDC released it under home video recently. Another important reason why cinephiles are watching this one is due to its nomination for Oscars and how it compares and contrasts with much acclaimed "Lunchbox". I have not watched Lunchbox and hence cannot provide nay kind of comparison. The Good Road has a good plot. It captivates your attention in the first few minutes. You get a feel that its not a routine kind of cinema. You witness some great cinematography but what it lacks is the kind of emotions that the characters need to have in this plot. You feel deceived when you see the characters acting badly with almost no expressions and emotions. The film falls flat midway and embraces a predictable path. It does engage till you end with bit frustrating moments here and there. Had it been well executed and well acted it would have created much necessary magic. I would be super surprised if this makes some noise at Oscars.