We give you five movies that have taken travel to a whole new level. Push the seat back and enjoy this journey!
We all have dreams: dreams of taking off into the sunset, with no commitments or worries to weigh down on our impulses. But like Robert Frost likes to remind us, there are miles to go before we sleep and of course, promises to keep! However, cinema has the liberty to show the perfect dream on the silver screen, of setting off on that long overdue trip with no adieu, of splurging ahead with the wind in your hair and no plans set in stone. Life-changing experiences during a sojourn have turned people around or have made them bitter and cynical. Either way, don’t we all need that little journey just to get off from the grind of work? Take a peek at our cinematic picks and decide for yourself.
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif, and Naseerudheen Shah
A justified travel flick, this multi-starrer is the story of three friends who go on a trip to Spain to celebrate the last days of bachelorhood of Kabir (Deol). Things turn fun when Arjun (Roshan), a workaholic, loosens up and picks a spark with Laila (Kaif). While Imran (Akhtar) gets to meet his estranged dad (Shah), Kabir realises the folly behind his impending marriage. The trio indulge in typical Spanish fun aka the bull fights and the La Tomatina festival and of course, water sports. After a pact that states that if they survive the bull run, each will do the thing they fear, Kabir finally breaks up with fiancée Natasha, Imran finds the guts to publish his poetry and Arjun vows to go to Morocco with Laila to give his relationship a shot. The trip that they had put off since forever throws many surprises and then the rest is history! The foot-tapping music and witty dialogues make the movie a must-watch.
Sex and the City II
Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, John Corbett and Chris Noth
Who wouldn’t love these ladies who are all women with a capital W? The typical alpha females – Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha – battle with their problems but still find time to take off to Abu Dhabi. Once there, their love for fun gets them into unpredictable situations when Carrie (Parker) kisses a former lover; Samantha (Catrall) feels lost without her ‘hormone pills’; (Nixon) Miranda who quits her job revels in all the luxury; and Charlotte (Davis) doubts her husband with her nanny. The women come face-to- face with traditions that have been alien to them only to realise that some women in Abu Dhabi too share their sense of style. This romcom will make you want to pack your bags and embark on a no holds barred trip to unwind from the stress and monotony of daily work.
Chasing Liberty
Cast: Mandy Moore, Matthew Goode and Mark Harmon
First Daughter or not, every girl needs her space and more so during a first date. So when things go awry on such a date for Anna Foster (Moore), daughter of US President James Foster (Harmon), due to secret service agents shadowing her, Anna decides to take things in her hands. With her friend Gabriella’s help she eludes her ‘protectors’ and goes on a motorbike ride with Ben (Goode), a stranger. Unknown to Anna, we come to know that Ben is a secret service agent himself who, upon the President’s orders, allies himself with Anna as a friend/protector without revealing his identity. The two travel to Venice and go on gondolas and watch the opera. Love sets the tone soon and they are forced to pretend to be newlyweds to escape curious onlookers. Anna rejoices in her newfound freedom and her illusion of liberty, and when she realises the folly behind Ben’s role in her escapade she hitchhikes a ride to Austria. Amidst serene landscapes and Austrian adventures, the movie seamlessly takes a romantic turn and makes for a definite watch! Will Anna still have feelings for Ben even after knowing his identity? Watch the movie to find out!
EuroTrip
Cast: Scott Mechlowicz, Jacob Pitts, Jessica Boehrs, Michelle Trachtenberg and Travis Wester
Maybe travelling when you feel like it is the mantra! And taking off without a moment’s notice makes the trip that much more fun. And especially so for high schoolers! Scott Thomas (Mechlowicz), just out of high school, is dumped unceremoniously by his girlfriend on graduation day. In his time of despair he turns to his German pen pal Mike who wants to date Scott. The advances bounce off after which Scott realises that Mike is actually a beautiful girl Mieke (Boehrs). On an impulse, Scott decides to travel to Berlin in pursuit of his pen pal. Riding along with him is Cooper Harris (Pitts), his flirty friend. While being able to get a ticket just up to London, the friends have to find their way to Berlin. En route in Paris they run into twin Jenny (Trachtenberg) and Jamie (Wester), the most unmatched twins to be travelling together. The trip turns out to be comically adventurous and we are left to find out if it was all worth it for Scott!
The Motorcycle Diaries
Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal and Rodrigo De La Serna
This dramatisation of a motorcycle road trip Marxist Che Guevara went on in his youth is said to have showed him his life’s calling. In 1952, Guevara (Bernal) and his friend Alberto Granado (de la Serna) embark on a 4,000-km motorcycle trip throughout South America from Buenos Aires. While on their quest to see places that they have only read about in books, Guevara is moved by the poverty, hunger and disease he witnesses. While the planned tour is ambitious and initially fun and adventurous, the films takes a serious turn when the duo encounters the disparity between the ‘haves’ (the category under which they fall) and ‘have-nots’ (the category under which majority of the population falls). Startlingly deep portrayals of the dark-skinned peasants and their treatment by the ‘authoritarians’ and its indelible impact on Che are strong in the film. No one could have summed up the movie better than scriptwriter Jose Rivera who said, “Every generation needs a journey story; every generation needs a story about what it is to be transformed by geography, what it is to be transformed by encounters with cultures and people that are alien from yourself, and you know that age group 15 to 25, that’s the perfect generation to get on a motorcycle, to hit the road, to put on your backpack and just go out.”
