I visited India last year and was more than happy to watch Gor Bahgdasayran's documentary involving a race across India featuring a bunch of contestants riding auto-rickshaws . Now I should from the outset put my cards on the table and state I'm not a fan of India and there's so much wrong with their culture . Everyone rightly criticises the misygonistic mind set of Muslim culture but Hindus aren't much better . Add to this the obscenity of the Caste system and arranged marriages and the only positive to come out of a Westerner returning from India is that it makes them apprieciate living in a secular democracy where the indivual is master of their destiny . On top of that bad news involving illness of a close family member effectively killed my trip and constantly found myself wishing I was back work surrounded by absolutely stunning female colleagues whose personalities were so life affirming they could reanimate the dead . It's a lonely hobby backpacking and the only real pleasure I got was listening to Dry The Rain by The Beta Band on my I-pod that reminded me of happier times
Dry The Rain would be the perfect soundtrack for Gor's documentary as Keith and Ric attempt to drive their rickshaw from Mumbai in the West coast of India to Chennai in the East via The Mumbai Express Rally as both men endure the race during the Monsoon season . A complaint about HIT THE ROAD is " poor cinematography " but to be honest if you had Roger Deakins as a cinematographer it wouldn't have made much difference because Monsoon rain is like nothing a Westerner has experienced . It's a brutal assault by H20 that limits visibility and lasts for hours . Even the dull dark grey skies that threaten rain have a depressing quality which is vividly captured in this documentary . What Gor has also managed to accurately capture is the chaotic hustle and bustle of a developing super power which in some ways is a bustling metropolis in one way and an under developed 19th Century third world nation where infrastructure is concerned . It goes without saying that being North Americans it doesn't take long for Keith and Ric to whine about the state and width of the narrow roads
Where the Documentary fails to a certain extent is that the audience aren't shown enough of the real India . As I said my own experiences of the sub continent aren't exactly complimentary and we're merely treated to a tourist eye view of the country . Ric and Keith visit a school but we don't really find out about the educational experiences of these children . What is life like for the average Indian child in a country that has a rigid social structure beset by religion ? We never find out and somewhat obviously though understandably the documentary concentrates on Ric and Keith . I wasn't all that keen on the soundtrack either . Did I mention Dry The Rain by The Beta Band is the perfect soundtrack for the Monsoon ?
All in all this is a fair tourist eye view of India . If you're mulling in your head as to what India may be like this won't put you off the country and does a fairly good job illustrating what the country is like on the surface . I would have preferred a bit more on the downside of the country . Perhaps if the rally followed the experiences of the female members this might have showed the manifest flaws of Indian culture ?