Travel Cinema : And what does it teach us about making the move from one place to another both physically and internally?

Coming-of-age: What do films like Queen, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Dil chahta Hai, Jab We Met, English Vinglish have in common? Yes they are all lovely films with the underlying theme of travel. But what does it mean to travel both in life and in cinema? What does it teach us and how does travel change us? We go from one destination of who we are as a person to another destination of being someone else post that travel experience.

Travel cinema is metaphorical of not just the physical travels but of the travels that happen within us. The many new destinations and encounters we have as a person as we experience new things. Even actual travel does that and so does the internal coming of age travel.

When we travel through Cinema we experience travel second hand and it does give us the sense of movement from being a different person post that film. We may not experience it personally but it urges us to take that trip whether physically or spiritually from one state of being to another.

I take the case of the film Queen, where an overprotected girl whose only destination in life is marrying the boy who proposed to her comes to a shocking halt. She then takes a life changing trip to another part of the world and meets new people, has unexpected experiences and becomes the best version of herself. 

Travel forces us to take a pause from our regular life and do something that’s not regular. It has the chance of encountering the unexpected not just without but also within.

Take the case of Jab We Met, a happy-go-lucky girl with a rosy view of life is sort of on a  joyride of life. She gets involved in all kinds of experiences and gets the brakes on her joyous life with a life changing harsh experience.

Her travels in a different direction which is metaphorical of taking a new or different path in life changes her forever. What seems like the end of the road is actually the beginning of a great new journey. The main character geet played by karrena Kapoor is actually grateful for the experience she has as it causes her to realise what she actually wants and that leads her to the best destination which she never had even imagined.

Films like Dil Chahta Hai and Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobaraa both highlight road trips and a sense of liberation that we enjoy and that too with those friends or people who are an extension of our own personal self. Both films also explore new topography; the first Goa and latter captures Spain through the eyes of three men who have a life changing trip. They travel in and out of each other’s lives but are very much a part of each other’s being. It’s also a journey of growing up from bachelorhood into family life with the people who are your rock. It reinstates the fact that we are a sum of the people around us.

The next time you watch a travel film or travel for that matter. See what it does to you? Travel films are extremely therapeutic and travel itself can be the same. Though travel has its risks, new experiences and the chance to be someone else temporarily and maybe even the reward of changing your entire self forever.