Fortissimo Trips Out with "Road, Movie"

Fortissimo Films has entered its first agreement with a Hindi-language film. "Road, Movie," from writer/director Dev Benegal ("English") will be handled by the sales company in all markets outside of Indian territories, Fortissimo announced from Cannes Friday. The original screenplay is produced by Susan B. Landau and Ross Katz, who earned an Oscar nomination for Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation" as well as Todd Field's "In the Bedroom."

"Road, Movie" stars Abhay Deol, Tannishtha Chatterjee, and Bollywood actor/director Satish Kaushik in a carnival-esque drama that follows a young man driving an antique Chevy with two old film projectors in the back and discovering love, life and laughter on the Indian highway. The road trip is set against the backdrop of the epic desert landscape of India - the Kutch region in Gujarat and Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.

"We are thrilled that our first foray into distributing a new domestically produced feature film from India is director Dev Benegal's, 'Road, Movie,'" commented Fortissimo's co-chairman Michael J. Werner in a statement. "It is a project that we were following for nearly two years and what captivated us about the script was how it captured aspects of India that are at once alluring, charming, revealing and compelling."