Rajasthani locales

The film which cost about Rs 10 crore was shot over 100 days in Jaisalmer and Bikaner mostly, and partially in Mumbai. The film was completed in three schedules and has six songs. Two of the songs, including Raste-raste, were shot in Australia.

Road is about a couple (Vivek Oberoi and Antara Mali) who fall in love and elope. On the way they meet a psychopath (Manoj Bajpai). The story develops with the complications that follow in their lives thereafter.

Manoj Bajpai’s performance is one of the highlights of the film. He has been given a new look in the film, complete with a goatee et al. Vivek, who played a gangster in Company, is going to be seen in a conventional hero would, where he is required to sing and dance. For Antara, this is her first break as the lead actress. And in contrast to the downmarket look she sported in Company, Antara has gone in for a complete image makeover in Road. She will be seen at her glamourous best. Besides Manoj, Vivek and Antara, cast comprises character artistes like Sayaji Shinde, Makarand Deshpande and Rajpal Yadav.

For director Rajat Mukherjee, who has assisted Varma, this is his second independent film. His first film, Pyar Tune Kya Kiya, was also for Varma Productions. Amar Mohile, who has done the background score in Road is making his debut in commercial cinema with this film.

The film unit, with about 100 members, moved around in a caravan. Walkie-talkies were used to control the traffic on the busy stretches of Jaisalmer and Bikaner and to interact with the crew.

One truck would move in front of the caravan with the shooting equipment. There would be one assistant on top of the truck and another in front, holding green and red flags, giving instructions. Next in line would be a towing car, followed by a Tata Safari/Sumo carrying the main cast. A van which doubled as a pantry was also a part of the fleet.

Since the unit was mobile, cameraman Sudip Chatterjee, who was stationed in the truck carrying the equipment, had a tough time shooting. A video assist (connected to the camera) was used to make things easier for him. After every shot, the positioning of the camera was changed, which again was time consuming.

A major part of the film was shot on the Jaipur-Bikaner bypass. To quote an inside source, ‘The traffic was really bad on the stretch. We had to seek help from the cops to sort out the issue.’

The shoot was laborious, since the unit was stationed in Jaisalmer. The concept of shooting continuously on the road was new and it took the unit two days to get used to the idea.

They would get up at five in the morning and travel 30-40 km to reach the location, shooting in extreme climates. While in December, temperatures would be as low as 5 degree celsius, in summer it peaked up to 50 degree celsius. On certain days, it would be so hot in the desert that shooting had to be between 12 to 4 in the afternoon.

On the insistence of distributors, a few glamourous shots and songs were incorporated in the film. The seductive number Makhmali..., picturised on Antara and Vivek, was shot in a hot and stuffy studio in Mumbai. While the song was being shot, only the main unit was allowed to be around. For Vivek and Antara, it was basically a one-to-one with the camera since they shot separately for most part.

An item number on model Koena Mitra was also included at the last minute, keeping the glamour element in mind.

Varma pictures normally suffer from a Hollywood hangover. Road is no different. The treatment, the look and the technique are all Hollywood-ish. Whether it’ll appeal to the Indian audience, brought up on a staple diet of mush, drama and running-around-the-trees, is debatable.

However, the film will go down in history for breaking away from the trodden Road and setting a new trend. LMN