Road to Sangam
| Road to Sangam | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster |
|
| Directed by | Amit Rai |
| Produced by | Amit Chheda |
| Written by | Amit Rai |
| Starring | Paresh Rawal Om Puri Pawan Malhotra Javed Shaikh Swati Chitnis |
| Music by | Nitin Kumar Gupta and Prem Haria |
| Cinematography | Dharam Gulati |
| Distributed by | Shethia Audio Video Productions |
| Release date(s) |
|
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
Road to Sangam (Hindi: रोड टू संगम, Urdu: روڈ ٹو سنگم) is a 2009 Bollywood film written and directed by Amit Rai. The film features Bollywood actors Paresh Rawal, Om Puri and Pawan Malhotra.[1]
Road to Sangam is a simple story of a God fearing, devout Muslim mechanic named Hasmat Ullah (Paresh Rawal) who has been entrusted the job of repairing an old V8 ford engine, not knowing the historic significance that it once carried the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi which were immersed in the holy Triveni Sangam.[2]
The film was released worldwide on 29 January 2010.
Plot
A simple story of a God fearing, devout Muslim mechanic named Hashmat Ullah (Paresh Rawal) who has been entrusted the job of repairing an old V8 ford engine, not knowing the historic significance that it once carried the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi which were immersed in the holy river 'Sangam'. He is caught in a complex situation after a powerful bomb explosion rocks his town leading to the arrest of innocent Muslim youths of his locality. A strike to work is called by the prominent Leaders played by Om Puri and Pawan Malhotra, of his community to protest against the unjust treatment meted out to those arrested youths by the police. Will he support the protest and abandon the repair of the engine or go against the wishes of his community. Thus begins his journey. A journey of Gandhian values and principles. A journey of patriotism. A journey called "Road To Sangam (CONFLUENCE)".
Cast
- Paresh Rawal - Hasmat Ullah
- Om Puri - Mohammad Ali Kasuri
- Pawan Malhotra - Maulana Qureshi
- Javed Shaikh - Dr. Banerjee
- Swati Chitnis - Aara
- Masood Akhtar - Zulfikar
- Yusuf Hussain - Gaffar
- Awards and Accolades
- 9th Annual International Film Festival (South Africa) - 2 – 8 November 2009 - (Winner of Best First Film Director)
- 5th Annual Macon Film Festival (USA) - 17 – 21 February 2010 - (Winner for the Best Film)
- MAMI - 11th Annual Mumbai Film Festival (India) - 29 October – 5 November 2009 - (Winner of Audience Choice Award)
- 2nd Annual Radar Hamburg International Independent Film Festival (Germany) - 2 – 7 November 2009 - (Winner Best film)
- The Los Angeles Reel Film Festival 1st annual Dec-30 2009 USA
(Winner of 3 Awards- best film-3rd price, best original score music and production design) (3 awards)
- The Gollapudi Srinivas National Award for best debutant director 2009 Chennai India
- White Sands International Film Festival 6th annual 15 to 18 April 2010 USA
(winner of Best Feature Length Narrative)
- Mexico International Film Festival. 4rth Annual 21–23 May 2010 Mexico
(Silver Palm Award)
- The Nickel Independent Film Festival 10th annual from 22june to 26th june2010 Canada (winner best drama)
- London Indian Film Festival 1st annual 18 July 2010 U.K London
(winner of Audience choice ) 11. Bollywood and beyond 7th edition of Indian film festival 'Bollywood and beyond' from 21 July – 25, 2010 Stuttgart, Germany (winner of Directors vision)
- Jagran Film Festival 1st Annual 5 June to 28 August 2010 North India
(Winner of Best actor Paresh Rawal and winner best Director and jury award for best film) (3 awards)
- Star Screen Awards 17th Annual award 6 January 2011-Mumbai India
( Winner for best story)
- Lions Golden Awards 17th Annual 11 January 2011- Mumbai India
(winner of Lions Favorite International Acclaimed Film and best actor Paresh Rawal) (2 awards)
Official Selection and Nomination in Festivals worldwide:
- 3rd eye Asian film festival MUMBAI 8th - 15th OCTOBER 2009. India-Mumbai
- Ahmadabad international film festival India-Guj
- Bare Bones International Film Festival 11th annual 15 to 25 April 2010 USA
- Cinequest Film Festival 20th annual 23 February to 7 March 2010 USA
- Ekwa 22 to 28 October 2009 Reunion Island
- International Film Festival Egypt 4 to 8 April 2010 Egypt
- International Forum of New Cinema 13 to 19 November 2009 India-Kolkata
- Kerala Film Festival India-Kerala
- Memphis international 22 April to 25 April 2010 USA
- Swansea Bay Film Festival 7th may to 16 May 2010 U.K
- Off plus camera film festival 3rd annual 16 to 26 April 2010 Poland
- Trivandrum international film festival(TIFF2010) 15th annual 30 July to 5 August 2010 –India
- Indie Spirit Film Festival 3rd Annual 23 to 25 April 2010 USA
- Salento International Film Festival 7th Annual 3 to 12 September 2010 in world cinema category Italy
- Norway Bollywood film festival 10 to 17 September 2010 Oslo, Norway.
- Yes India Film festival 7 to 10 October 2010-Wellington New Zealand
- Yes India Film festival 28 to 31 October Auckland New Zealand
- 17th Star Screen Awards Paresh Rawal Nominated for best Actor India
- Stardust Awards Paresh Rawal Nomination Best Actor India
- 56th Film Fare 29 Jan 2010 Best Story Nomination Amit Rai India
- Balaji-The Global Indian Film & TV Honours 2011 12 February nomination for best story Mumbai -India
- Hidden Gems Film Festival 4th Annual 29 January 2012 Albert-Caneda
Production
Amit Rai first formed the idea for the film when he read a story about the restoration of the truck that carried Mahatma Gandhi's ashes to the Sangam by a Muslim mechanic. After he read about Mahatma Gandhi's ashes being unearthed in an Orissa bank vault, he decided to write a script based on the idea.[3] To prepare for his role as an orthodox Maulvi, Pawan Malhotra watched Urdu language channels.[4] The film was shot on location in Allahabad. Tushar Gandhi makes a cameo appearance in the film[5] and many of the secondary characters are non-actor residents of Allahabad.
Marketing
In a unique gesture, the Indian Post & Telegraphs Department issued special envelopes on the release of the film. They also put up posters and advertisements in all the post offices in the country.[6]
Music
The music has been primarily given by two young directors - Nitin Kumar Gupta and Prem Haria. The 500 year old song Vaisnav Jan, which was a favourite of Mahatma Gandhi, has been rearranged for this film. The music received the award for Best Foreign Film Original Score at Los Angeles Reel Film Festival.
Reviews
The film has received acclamation all over the world. One reviewer (Pratyush Khaitan ) has called it the best Gandhi film of all time. Another has termed it one of the six must see forthcoming films for 2010.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "Road to Sangam: Complete Cast & Crew Details". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
- ^ "Road to Sangam: Movie Synopsis". Yahoo! India movies. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
- ^ "'Road to Sangam' espouses Mahatma Gandhi's tenets at Cannes". Hindu. 23 May 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
- ^ "Film viewing makes people appreciate art: Actor". Times of India. 29 June 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
- ^ Santhosh, K. (22 August 2009). "His experiments with truth". The Hindu. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
- ^ "'Road to Sangam' ties up with India Post". Press Trust of India. 29 January 2010. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
- ^ "Winners of 17th Annual Star Screen Awards 2011". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
