5 disastrous road films that Bollywood churned out in the new millennia

Let’s face it. Bollywood can’t seem to get a grip on conceptualising and executing a road film, barring a few recent films like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Highway, Finding Fanny and Anushka Sharma’s NH10.

Here are some big ticket road films that are considered disasters, some creative and some at box office:

Road (2002): The plot revolves around a couple which elopes from Delhi and travels to Rajasthan to get married. Apart from Viveik Oberoi and Antara Mali, the lead roles, the film has Manoj Bajpai in a negative role and Makrand Deshpande as a do-gooder truck driver. During their trip through the desert, the couple encounters a psychopath (Bajpai), who takes Antara Mali hostage. Despite a rock solid supporting cast and a good concept, the lead actors give lukewarm performances and the story drags. We’re not sure even the cast watched the film till the end.

Bombay to Goa (2007): The film was an attempt by comedians Raju Shrivastava, Sunil Pal and Ahsaan Qureshi to recreate the magic of the 1972 film starring Amitabh Bachchan and Aruna Irani. The protagonists start a travel agency after winning money in a lottery, and the first journey is a comedy of errors. The film did not do well at the box office, which is not surprising, given the big shoes they had to fill.

Daud (1997): The Sanjay Dutt and Urmila Matondkar starrer got mixed reviews at the box office. Dutt, who has to deliver a harmless package, to a notorious gangster played by Paresh Rawal, gets into trouble with both the gangsters and the police. Why Matondkar is tagging along with Dutt is a mystery. Following some love songs and chase sequences, the package turns out to be a nuclear bomb. That might make it slightly easier to understand why the film got mixed reviews.

Road, the Movie (2009): It was made after thorough research by Dev Benegal and reached the screens of the Toronto Film Festival in 2009 and 60th Berlin Film Festival in 2010. The film has Abhay Deol in the role of a young man who wants to break off from his father’s business. The truck, which Deol offers to drive through the desert to the sea to a coastal town, turns out to be an old touring cinema with a collection of films and a 42-year-old projector. Deol meets a runaway, an entertainer and a gypsy woman during the journey and the four encounter adventures- good and bad – on an Indian highway. The film was labelled a disaster at the box office, despite critical acclaim. Deol probably set the benchmark high after Oye Lucky Lucky Oye and Dev D!

Anjaana Anjaani (2010): Protagonists Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra are depressed and have made many suicide attempts. They meet each other while attempting suicide and decide to end their lives together on the last day of the year. During their remaining days, they decide to fulfill all their wishes, which involves travelling across various cities in the US. They then decide not to commit suicide and fall in love. Set in beautiful locations, the film is visually appealing, and it did do well on the box office. Yet, if the film’s visuals are ignored, it is evident that the story falls flat, to the point of being predictable almost.

This is a Zee Digital Convergence Initiative. 

Watch the thrilling road film NH 10, starring Anushka Sharma, on October 31 only on & Pictures.