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When Bollywood hit the Highway!
Bollywood has documented the thrills of the road much travelled in quite a few of their films.
Remember what Bilbo Baggins sang? The Road goes ever on and on.
Even if our scripts don’t regularly care for stories on the move, there are some filmmakers who enjoy documenting the thrill of discovery in travel regardless of what genre it falls in.
Director Imtiaz Ali is one of the biggest endorsers of this concept. His upcoming film Highway, as the title suggests, is about the unlikely bond that develops between a hostage (Alia Bhatt) and her captor (Randeep Hooda) while they travel across the picturesque states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir in a heavyweight truck.
Please click Next to look at some of the other on-the-road offerings of Bollywood.
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
In Zoya Akhtar’s fantasy vacation movie, three best friends (played by Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar and Abhay Deol) take off on a road trip to Spain.
A gorgeous holiday entailing romantic flirtations, tourist attractions and outdoor daredevilry, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, an extension of Dil Chahta Hai’s Goa trip, shows how to live it up in style.
Road, Movie
In Dev Benegal’s curious creation, Abhay Deol hits an exotic terrain because he doesn’t wish to deal with his father’s plummeting business.
Little does he know he’s about to discover himself and the ways of the world in the process.
Jab We Met
In Imtiaz Ali’s most celebrated film Jab We Met, a disillusioned Shahid Kapoor leaves home and bumps into a chatty Kareena Kapoor also on the run to get married to her secret beau.
They embark on an adventurous journey; gradually realising their destination is one and the same.
Tashan
In Vijay Krishna Acharya’s run or chase action/con drama, Tashan, the troika of Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor are constantly on the move.
And in the latter half, they travel all across the country to retrieve hidden money before the film arrives to its bloody finale.
Anjaana Anjaani
Before Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra hit all the right notes as the odd but endearing duo of Barfi!, they teamed up as a suicidal pair in the farcical rom-com, Anjaana Anjaani.
To escape their doomed destiny, the duo in true blue Bollywood style, hit Las Vegas in a vintage Ford nicknamed Blush.
Chalo Dilli
A remake of Hollywood’s Due Date, Chalo Dilli’s appeal lies in the unconventional teaming of Lara Dutta and Vinay Pathak.
The two collaborate to hitch a ride home after the lady misses her flight. How they discover about each other’s dissimilar worlds forms the crux of the story.
Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd
In Reema Kagti’s frothy comedy, Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, featuring an ensemble cast of actors ranging from Shabana Azmi to Amisha Patel, couples of every size, temperament and idiosyncrasy set out on a romantic road trip to Goa.
Their experiences and revelations is what make the tour both amusing and fun.
Road
Produced by Ram Gopal Varma, the thriller revolves around a runaway college couple (Vivek Oberoi, Antara Mali).
Trouble arises when they a psychotic hitchhiker (Manoj Bajpayee) begins tormenting them in the middle of nowhere.
Daud
Before producing Road, Varma dabbled with his own version of an on-the-road caper, titled Daud.
Though the film spelled disaster at the box office, it allowed Sanjay Dutt and Urmila Matondkar to let their hair down as Uma Parvati and Daya Shankar bumping into loony characters through the course of their fast-paced adventures.
Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahi
In this scene-to-scene rip-off of Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night, Aamir Khan and Pooja Bhatt play a sarcastic journalist and a spoilt heiress trying to reach Bangalore via road.
The cute and crazy developments enroute, boosted by their whimsical camaraderie, is what makes Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahi an enduring treat.
Bombay To Goa
Nothing to beat the appeal of Bollywood’s most entertaining road movie of all times -- Mehmood’s Bombay To Goa.
Besides giving a relative newcomer Amitabh Bachchan one of his first hit songs (Dekha na), the breezy comedy chronicles the escapades of a group of oddball bus passengers as they take on every comical obstacle head on.