<p>Forty four years ago, Hollywood actors Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda set out on a ride in their Harley Davidson motorcycles that would redefine road movies forever. When Sameer Thahir’s Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi hit screens across Kerala recently, it was hard not to turn our focus to this iconoclastic American biker movie that inspired a generation of moviegoers.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Easy Rider, a movie about two American bikers travelling the length and breadth of the American South, is about freedom and those who choose to be free in their own way. In the film, Wyatt and Billy (portrayed by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper respectively) are sick and tired with the American system rooted in commercialisation and man’s willful departure from nature. It is a radical portrayal of post-Vietnam American society which is doomed in depression, devoid of any kind of identity.<br /><br />Inspired by Hollywood<br /><br />For Dennis Hopper, Easy Rider helped establish his status as a director. The film won several accolades at Cannes and enabled him a cult status among movie buffs. Although his next movie, The Last Movie, resulted in his eventual departure from directing movies for a long time, he was active in the industry and is still remembered for his role as the psychopathic villain in Speed, as a photojournalist in Apocalypse Now, and for his role in the television series, Crash.<br /><br />The idea of Easy Rider originated when Peter Fonda was working in another on-the-road movie, The Wild Angels. The idea was to make a Western about two bikers. The result was a deep-seated counter culture movie that shook the very biker movie genre. It became hard to call it a Western or a biker movie as it went beyond such classifications. By breaking such boundaries, Easy Rider was able to establish the idea of freedom in a rather dramatic, free flowing way.<br /><br />Easy Rider was a blatant attack on the American society that was living on borrowed land. The natives lay dead beneath the ground. The film celebrated gypsy culture and the use of substances like marijuana — it was an explicit outburst against institutionalised religion. It also voiced protest against existing notions about morality and sex. To put it simply, the movie represented the sentiments of a very angry American society.<br /><br />First for Malayalam<br /><br />When Thahir’s Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi released, hardcore movie fans had Easy Rider as one of the standards. Thahir has a panache for portraying peoples’ struggle for identity in a shaky world. This was well represented in his first movie Chappa Kurish. Even though his characters are in constant struggle, there is an inherent positive vibe that resonates throughout. Hence, it won’t come as a surprise that of all the new directors, it was Thahir who chose to make a movie in the biker genre. The biker genre is not just about bikes and travel — it is also about knowing the characters. In the process of watching a movie, you also need to witness the characters shaping into something else.<br /><br />“They say the road has answers for everything,” says Kasi (the character played by Dulquer in the movie). This monologue is a clear indication that the character is in search of something. The trailer too gives us an indication that the movie would be a meditative and introspective one that dwells into the inner caves of the characters’ minds.<br /><br />Thahir has called this one a ‘riding-movie’ about two youngsters Kasi and Suni (played by Dulquer Salman and Sunny Wayne respectively), who set out on a journey in their Bullets to Nagaland from their college in Kerala. In many aspects, parallels can be drawn between Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi and Easy Rider. In a way, like Easy Rider, this film too asks us to seek answers to our questions ourselves. It is better to hit the road and start exploring ourselves, instead of waiting to be spoon-fed.<br /></p>
<p>Forty four years ago, Hollywood actors Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda set out on a ride in their Harley Davidson motorcycles that would redefine road movies forever. When Sameer Thahir’s Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi hit screens across Kerala recently, it was hard not to turn our focus to this iconoclastic American biker movie that inspired a generation of moviegoers.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Easy Rider, a movie about two American bikers travelling the length and breadth of the American South, is about freedom and those who choose to be free in their own way. In the film, Wyatt and Billy (portrayed by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper respectively) are sick and tired with the American system rooted in commercialisation and man’s willful departure from nature. It is a radical portrayal of post-Vietnam American society which is doomed in depression, devoid of any kind of identity.<br /><br />Inspired by Hollywood<br /><br />For Dennis Hopper, Easy Rider helped establish his status as a director. The film won several accolades at Cannes and enabled him a cult status among movie buffs. Although his next movie, The Last Movie, resulted in his eventual departure from directing movies for a long time, he was active in the industry and is still remembered for his role as the psychopathic villain in Speed, as a photojournalist in Apocalypse Now, and for his role in the television series, Crash.<br /><br />The idea of Easy Rider originated when Peter Fonda was working in another on-the-road movie, The Wild Angels. The idea was to make a Western about two bikers. The result was a deep-seated counter culture movie that shook the very biker movie genre. It became hard to call it a Western or a biker movie as it went beyond such classifications. By breaking such boundaries, Easy Rider was able to establish the idea of freedom in a rather dramatic, free flowing way.<br /><br />Easy Rider was a blatant attack on the American society that was living on borrowed land. The natives lay dead beneath the ground. The film celebrated gypsy culture and the use of substances like marijuana — it was an explicit outburst against institutionalised religion. It also voiced protest against existing notions about morality and sex. To put it simply, the movie represented the sentiments of a very angry American society.<br /><br />First for Malayalam<br /><br />When Thahir’s Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi released, hardcore movie fans had Easy Rider as one of the standards. Thahir has a panache for portraying peoples’ struggle for identity in a shaky world. This was well represented in his first movie Chappa Kurish. Even though his characters are in constant struggle, there is an inherent positive vibe that resonates throughout. Hence, it won’t come as a surprise that of all the new directors, it was Thahir who chose to make a movie in the biker genre. The biker genre is not just about bikes and travel — it is also about knowing the characters. In the process of watching a movie, you also need to witness the characters shaping into something else.<br /><br />“They say the road has answers for everything,” says Kasi (the character played by Dulquer in the movie). This monologue is a clear indication that the character is in search of something. The trailer too gives us an indication that the movie would be a meditative and introspective one that dwells into the inner caves of the characters’ minds.<br /><br />Thahir has called this one a ‘riding-movie’ about two youngsters Kasi and Suni (played by Dulquer Salman and Sunny Wayne respectively), who set out on a journey in their Bullets to Nagaland from their college in Kerala. In many aspects, parallels can be drawn between Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi and Easy Rider. In a way, like Easy Rider, this film too asks us to seek answers to our questions ourselves. It is better to hit the road and start exploring ourselves, instead of waiting to be spoon-fed.<br /></p>
