Road to Oscars winds through Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: Gyan Correa is a Goan who loves Gujarat. To be more precise, he is in love with a Gujarati – his wife, Sabin. That perhaps explains why he chose to make ‘The Good Road’, his first feature film, in Gujarati.
Now, his labour of love has become India’s entry to the Oscars, making it the first Gujarati feature film to get this honour. In the process, ‘The Good Road’ bypassed better-known contenders like ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’, ‘Lunchbox’ ‘English Vinglish’ and ‘Vishwaroopam’.
“The feeling has not sunk in yet,” the 42-year-old ad filmmaker told TOI from Mumbai. His film also won the national award for the best feature film earlier this year.
Sabin was Correa’s childhood sweetheart and the two have been making ad films together. “When one is born and brought up in Mumbai, it is very easy to become a part of Gujarat,” he added. “The two states have tremendous synergy and no one living in Mumbai can be unfamiliar with Gujarat.”
The film was shot in vibrant Kutch, the filmmaker’s uncontested choice after a lot of research. “I looked for a a number of locations but no place was as rich geographically or culturally,” he said.
“The selection was a unanimous decision,” said filmmaker Goutam Ghose, who headed the selection committee appointed by the Film Federation of India (FFI).
The film tells the tale of three people on a highway, who come across a problem and how they solve it. “It is a metaphor of life and its discoveries. While actors like Sonali Kulkarni and Ajay Gehi are polished performers, our non-actors were a real find,” he said of child artist Poonam Kesarsingh Rajput and Shamji Dhana who played a truck driver, both of whom are Gujaratis.
Correa took years to pen the story, completed the film in about a year and was supported by National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) which funded the film.
As news of ‘The Good Road’ being selected went viral on the internet, chief minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Delighted to know that Gujarati film ‘The Good Road’ has been chosen to represent India at Oscars. Congrats to cast & crew. My best wishes.”