Written by on Aug 4, 2010. Posted in Production News

Award-winning short The Road Home shoots in Himalayas

Filmmaker Rahul Gandotra has made a short film on location in the Himalayas in India. The Road Home tells the story of Pico, a ten-year-old boy who tries to run away from his Himalayan boarding school when he’s victimised by bullies.

While the key personnel were flown in, the production hired the rest of the crew from within India, giving some of them a day or two to acclimatise to the altitude. Dinesh Shenoy, a Line Producer with In Focus, said: “Since Mussoorie is a hilly area, it was a little tough for everyone to walk hundreds of steps everyday! There were some other challenges as well, such as crowd control and vehicle control, since most of the scenes were shot on the road.”

Mr Gandotra’s said: “I was reliant on the weather and I was lucky enough to get sunshine for all my shooting days. Since Mussoorie is not a town geared for shoots, the distances we had to travel from base camp to location involved one-hour drives on narrow, windy roads.”

The production initially sought filming permits from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India. After this, local permission was sought from the Uttarakhand District Commissioner and the District Commissioner of Police.

The equipment was transported from Mumbai and Delhi. Mr Gandotra said: “Equipment that came from Delhi was either transported by jeep or came with the cast and crew on the train. Equipment that came from Mumbai flew along with the assistants. One thing I should mention is that there is no concept of insurance in India for equipment. People take the place of insurance. So when we got the camera package, for example, four people were supposed to come with it. They became the insurance.”

Mr Shenoy added: “Taking police and local leaders will be of great help and try to hire as many local people as possible, who will be very handy at times of crisis!”

The Road Home is currently being shown on the global festival circuit and Mr Gandotra is looking to develop a feature film which expands the premise.