timjgilbert After having lived in Mumbai for a couple of months during monsoon season back in 2008, I was interested in viewing this film with hopes that it might offer a unique expose of India's rich cultural diversity. The film follows two friends competing in the 12-day " Mumbai Xpress" annual rickshaw road rally event from Mumbai to Chennai, focusing on their experience as it unfolds. What they encounter along the way tests their resolve as they face relentless monsoonal rain, unnerving traffic, dangerously unpredictable road conditions, language barriers, repressive government authorities, mechanical failures, against their ability to remain on top of their game physically and emotionally. Keep in mind that the film was not funded by deep-pocketed, Hollywood corporate interests and its plot is rather minimalist and determined. Its aim to get from point A to point B, keeps in line with the underlying "race" aspect. With a balance of hauntingly reflective music, raw dialog and inspirationally breathtaking scenery, the film offers a valuable travelogue to those interested in experiencing, at armchairs length, the impressive culture beholding incredible India. Take aim and hit the road India for yourself.

Steve Pulaski Hit the Road: India documents "The Mumbai Xpress," an annual event held in India where, over the course of twelve days, people from all different countries embark on the journey from Mumbai to Chennai, a 2000-kilometer voyage tackled in rickshaws (or "tuk-tuks"), a famous method of transportation in India. The brothers Baghdasaryan - Gor and Mushegh - choose to focus on Richard Gazarian and Keith King, an amiable pair of men who battle all sorts of hell and highwater trying to get to the destination of Chennai. From complications with the Indian police force, through horrid weather that limits visibility, and quite possibly the worst, most unreliable rickshaw in the history of the vehicle's manufacturing, the two friends try and push through so they can achieve the gratitude of finishing a mentally-taxing race.Throughout the documentary, both Ric and Keith bring up how hard the race is to articulate to people back in the states because of the fact that Americans' knowledge of India is greatly limited and the idea of racing in another country isn't really understandable to many people who haven't been there in the first place. This documentary already serves its purpose just by stating this fact. Documentaries' purposes are to detail something the masses may or may not have a clear idea about, be it a political/social issue, a person, or, in this case, an event. Hit the Road: India, despite depicting its subjects' frustrations and annoyances while traveling in one of the most colorful and beautiful countries in the world, is a strong, contemporary look at Indian culture from a fly-on-the-wall perspective. In addition, the film is absolutely beautiful in its unrefined naturalism, almost making India a gorgeous, green-land we haven't fully discovered yet.Its character-personalities are effortlessly engaging, always maintaining high-spirits despite clear frustrations. While the film's focus is intimately confined to these two men, it would've been nice to get a perspective from the other participants prior to the race to see what their motivations to racing were, along with the history of some of the places the two visit. In addition, there also could've been a stronger emphasis on Indian culture, talking with locals and examining certain cuisines.However, those aren't necessarily flaws or issues. They're simply other focuses Hit the Road: India could've taken but didn't. The aforementioned would've turned a personal adventure into a cultural examination fit for a special on the Travel Channel (not to mention, this is kind of a race). Instead, the film becomes a personal piece - a travelogue of sorts, showcasing the beautiful landscape of a country that continues to fascinate, captivate, and mystify in all of its beauty. We are welcomed to see the enticing visuals of several different Indian locations and are allowed to watch them operate in a unique and naturalistic way. We don't invade, we simply observe.The film reminds me of Around the Country: The Movie, a film made by the popular Youtube duo of Shawn C. Phillips and M.J. Kelley, who ventured from Baltimore, Maryland all the way to San Diego, California. While the adventure was because of Phillips moving there and it wasn't a race, the film was a personal journey for both parties who, like it or not, were stuck together for a long period of time. This kind of experience is rare and maybe necessary in order to test a friendship and show what you, yourself, are personally capable of.Hit the Road: India is a bit slight but it provides for a pleasant look at a beautiful country. In the end, we come to the realization why the two men did what they did and how they're rewarded for it, physically and mentally. The film is a good time capsule but the event and pride taken away from it are a monumental achievement for two very kind-hearted souls.Staring: Richard Gazarian and Keith King. Directed by: Gor Baghdasaryan and Mushegh Baghdasaryan.

bob the moo I'll be honest about how I came to this film – not how I came to hear about it but rather my attitude towards it coming in the door. Looking at the title and plot summary, I was ready to really hate the film. Ironically considering I travel a reasonable amount, I really do not care for those people who deliberately put themselves through hardships for the sake of "experience", nor backpackers who make a song and dance out of not changing clothes for two months and look down their nose at anyone they come across in a city who did not get there by hitchhiking or crawling through mud. To me it is snobbery and I am always surprised on travel forum how so many conversations quickly turn into the equivalent of the famous Yorkshiremen sketch where the next person dismisses the previous travel story as "luxury" and then undercuts it with more hardship.Anyway, I digress, but suffice to say that the story of two Americans living rough for two weeks in some form of basic race across India really had me on edge ready to dislike the whole thing. And for sure there are aspects I did dislike but generally what I found was a breezy travelogue film where we have a well chosen soundtrack playing over some well filmed and well edited footage. India is not somewhere I have ever really wanted to be, mainly because of the intensity and chaos you hear about, but on the basis of this film it does appeal to me for the sake of experiencing it – albeit I would do so in a more controlled and planned way. To those who have been to India and had these sorts of experiences, I guess the film will really help the memories rush back and be enjoyed on that level. But even for those that don't, it is a nice looking travelogue.The problems come if you want more than that. I have no idea how the film was made but it feels like the planning was to follow these guys and then all efforts were taken up with getting good shots during each day; I think the filming of the trip must have been as grueling as the trip itself and a result it does feel like the makers were not able to step away from the experience and decide what they were trying to achieve with the film beyond just cool footage and soundtracks. I wanted to know a bit more about pretty much everything – who are the people doing this trip and why are they doing it? Is it really a race or just an adventure package holiday? What are the good and bad things about the places they go? And most of all – instead of telling me about things, why not let me see them? So we hear lots about things that happened after they occurred, and we see the aftermath of going off the road but we rarely see these events despite near-constant filming across the whole trip. I have no idea why these things are described and not seen.I am not sure why we follow the two American guys and nobody else; given the frequent news stories and impressions we get via the media of India, it would have potentially been much more interesting to follow the all female team and see their experiences. Richard I liked though – he is a nice guy with a positive outlook and a good presence for the camera. Keith though, I really struggled not to dislike. He is very quick to complain about standards of bedding and food (which makes you wonder where he thought he was going when he decided to do this), he quickly takes his "experience" and makes it as normal as possible with his wifi music system etc (some of the other contestants don't seem to have much time for him) and I really disliked how frequently he mimicked the head movements of others – although the film makes everyone do it at the end, which just felt disrespectful. That said, the two men are good enough company of this series of events.And it is really just a trip and series of events, most of which we hear about rather than see. The film is very well put together and filmed but I really wish there had been an agenda behind it to try and give the viewer more structure, information or insight – as it is without any of this it is just a fun travelogue – which is a shame because it is well- enough made to have been more than just this.

andy-574-298326 My wife and I were very excited to see this film having seen the trailer, which was excellent. We have just returned from India in a trip from Chennai to Mumbai so we were really looking forward to seeing some familiar places.Unfortunately we were let down.The film has some interesting moments and characters, but the storytelling and editing is poor. The choice of American/Canadian main characters was a bit bizarre - we would have preferred Indian.The filmmakers got some good shots but unfortunately a lot of them were spoiled by the excessive use of shallow depth of field resulting in many shots out of focus. This is an unfortunate mistake in a documentary film, where they can easily avoid this by using apertures that allow a wider depth of field, which is useful when they need to get shots quickly without having time to prepare in advance for them. However when focus was good there was some nice stuff.The music choice was generally strange throughout the film, with a moody, electronic and indy flavour that was quite dark in general. Yes that sound interesting and hipster-ish, but then you need to go the whole hog and pull it off like David Lynch. It feels like it was simply the wrong choice in this case.I really can't understand why this film currently has a rating of 9.2 from 32 reviewers - this is FAR too high. We bought the film online on the strength of the trailer but feel that perhaps a lower price would be more appropriate.