South Asian International Film Festival Review: The Good Road (2013)

thegoodroad_1-1


Cast: , ,
Director: Gyan Correa
Country: India
Genre: Drama


Editor’s Notes: The following review is part of our coverage of the South Asian International Film Festival, which runs from December 3rd to December 8th. For more information visit saiff.org and follow SAIFF on Twitter at @SouthAsianFilms.

I’m on a realism kick I think mostly because I tend to watch more film psychology fare. The blockbusters this summer, have failed me continuously (not that there weren’t any entertaining ones; there were. There just hasn’t been anything with explosions that was memorable to me.). It’s been the year of the quiet film; the film set in the every day and the film set entirely in the mind of the viewer. It’s honestly refreshing.

Gyan Correa offers us a poignant tale with subtle peeks at the diversity that Western audiences are not cognizant of. David and Kiran’s plight is very relatable and full of tension, mostly due to the fact that they are middle class and an atypical family to our Western eyes.

Luckily, with my time at Next Projection, I’ve had the opportunity to be exposed to films I probably wouldn’t have had the chance to see of the commercial noise out there. Then there’s that ennui I feel when I’ve actually seen the real sea of films that come out each year that no one has an idea about. Standing out because of the upcoming Oscar hoopla is Gyan Correa’s The Good Road that has been selected as the Indian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Academy Awards.

thegoodroad_2-1The film follows three story lines taking place along an Indian highway. Pappu (Shamji Dhana Kerasia) is a truck diver that supports his family through his meager earnings. He has plotted an illegal plan to garner insurance monies to help with his climbing debt. David (Ajay Gehi) and Kiran (Sonali Kulkarni) are a middle class couple on a road trip with their son, Aditya (Keval Katrodia). Aditya gets out of the car at a stop and unbeknownst to his parents, is left behind when they restart their journey. Meanwhile, an eleven-year old girl named Poonam (Poonam Kesar Singh) is hitchhiking to her grandmother’s house to the town at the end of the highway. As she stops looking for a place for food, she finds herself in a place she might have been running away from in the first place. Through the three tales the audience watches different definitions of family and friendship form along the highway in India.

Saturated colors permeate the film and give us a sense of isolated cultures along the stops on the highway. The desert is an open book, but it hides many mysteries the night. The biggest of these mysteries is displayed to Poonam. Gyan Correa offers us a poignant tale with subtle peeks at the diversity that Western audiences are not cognizant of. David and Kiran’s plight is very relatable and full of tension, mostly due to the fact that they are middle class and an atypical family to our Western eyes. Of the three stories, Pappu’s is frought with tension filled possibilities while Poonam’s is filled with a very real terror.

While the acting is passable in the most part by the adults, the children, Katrodia and Singh, steal the show [...] Unfortunately, Correa interrupts their tale as he struggles to get a story going from the adults who have very little on screen chemistry.

However, Correa fails at delving deep into the lives of the convincingly real subjects he brings his audience. While the acting is passable in the most part by the adults, the children, Katrodia and Singh, steal the show. Their precociousness, the fear in their eyes, the anticipation in their gestures, and their curious natures shine through and are highlights in the film. Unfortunately, Correa interrupts their tale as he struggles to get a story going from the adults who have very little on screen chemistry.

I honestly wanted this to be better than it was considering its status as a possible Oscar nominee. Many have praised it as a new kind of film from India. However, its success may depend on how compelling its competition is, and I posit that it won’t take much to outdo this too-neatly packaged film.

60/100 ~ OKAY. I honestly wanted this to be better than it was considering its status as a possible Oscar nominee. Many have praised it as a new kind of film from India. However, its success may depend on how compelling its competition is, and I posit that it won’t take much to outdo this too-neatly packaged film.

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Jacqueline Valencia

Sr. Staff Film Critic
I'm a published writer, illustrator, and film critic. Cinema has been a passion of mine since my first viewing of Milius' Conan the Barbarian and my film tastes go from experimental to modern blockbuster.