The Good Road

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.

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

Watched both The good road and The lunchbox and while both were good films but the later one brings more artistic values and deserved to be in the Oscar much more than this!

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 do not understand why this movie was even in the selection for the Indian offer to the Oscars. I watched it, because of the Oscar hype. The concept, though unoriginal, was interesting and the script was decent. The treatment and the direction were abysmal. The performances were not convincing, except maybe by the child actors. There are many movies made with low budgets but are brilliant in every aspect. Salaam Bombay is a fine example. 'The Good Road' lacked decent direction and showed mediocre acting. It could have been a brilliant film but failed in very important aspects. On another note, I am still confused why this was selected over 'The Lunchbox' for the Oscar contention.