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Motorcycle diaries

Five friends rev up their ordinary 100cc motorbikes (including a 20-year-old bike) to take a crazy journey across the mountain State of Arunachal Pradesh, without once stepping into Assam, on a route that maps and locals insist does not exist. There is plenty to stop them: isolated tribes, wild animals, snaking rivers, no/rickety bridges, motor troubles. Oh! And the worst, they will also be on camera.

The five friends, (four guys and a girl) from diverse professions and different parts of the country, belong to a biker club called 60 kph. It is the love of the road that hurtles them forward in the biting cold, through mountain sickness and endless bike breakdowns.

No, this is not the latest reality show, but a passionate endeavour by documentary film-maker Gaurav Jani to “capture the essence, the freedom and the romance of travel.” And the result is “One Crazy Ride”, produced by Dirt Track Productions and 60 kph, which was screened recently in the city.

Unlike any Nat Geo programme, the movie is shot without a backup vehicle or film crew. That means there are no schedules and no way of knowing what the next breathtaking sunrise will bring. “Spontaneity just adds to the travel,” says the pony-tailed film maker, grinning.

As a result, “One Crazy Ride” has many endearing everyday moments: the hotel owner bursting into an impulsive jig when he thinks the bikers have left their camera behind, or the drunk chieftain with a long machete “to cut grass.” Even the riders follow no script, just being themselves in front of the camera even if it means being camera shy.

A la Ernesto Guevara’s epic journey in “Motorcycle Diaries”, the expedition across Arunachal is also a window to the hardy people inhabiting this unforgiving terrain.

Although, Vinod Panicker, one of the riders, insists that the movie is not an anthropological study, “One Crazy Ride” is replete with the local myths and traditions, soaking in the indigenous people’s hospitality and goodwill.

It is impossible not to be moved by the hypnotic beauty and visual appeal of each frame, the haunting music by Ved Nair and the trials and travails of the riders.

The lines and the voiceover rendered in everyday parlance is oddly comforting. The camaraderie the friends share is remarkable, especially at a time when reality TV has made rude and malicious talk the order of the day.

A mammoth effort has been made in editing reels and reels of footage to achieve a professional finish to a film that was for most part shot on a camera kept on the fuel tank of a moving bike.

The lone woman rider in the pack, Nicolita Pereira (Nicky) says, “We stayed together no matter what. When my bike broke down, I urged the guys to help me load my bike into a truck, get me a ticket home, but somehow finish the ride. I did not want them waste their leave on me, but they stayed back for three days.”

Do they manage to complete the trip? Will they fulfil the premise of the crazy ride?

People watching The film is replete with the local myths and traditions, soaking in the indigenous people’s hospitality and goodwill

The movie transforms a test of pure endurance into an ode to the spirit of adventure in conquering the unknown.

Although 60 kph regularly arranges screenings of the documentary, the DVD is definitely worth a buy. Log on to www.dirttrackproductions.com to watch the trailer, download music or order the DVD online.

Jani’s first film, “Riding Solo to the Top of the World,” a critically acclaimed documentary of his lone drive from Mumbai to Changthang Plateau in Ladakh is also available.

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