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Gurnaaz Kaur
Every journey is a story and every story has a message. This one is about 12 bikers who undertake a trip for a special story, rather a feature film.
Painter-filmmaker Manoj Mauryaa has packed a creative punch with some radical filmmaking techniques for his upcoming film Icecake. Made with a theme in mind, he has captured a treacherous ride to Spiti Valley from Delhi in a span of 12 days. What’s extraordinary about this full-fledged film is it doesn’t have actors. The 12 motorcycle riders are people like you and me who have been made to act while they are on the trip.
No acting class, no preparation—the key for them has been being spontaneous. This does sound nonlinear but the director, known for his disruptive visual aesthetics, says, “Though a difficult one, this was just a 1400 km ride. I’ve travelled non-stop across 23 states of India to make five documentary films on the new-age country that it is. It’s back then that I conceived the theme of Icecake.”
Icecake is a film that explores various relationships but more importantly it is based on anti-drug movement. Manoj says it is not a documentary but a fiction feature film, just like a biopic. The main difference being, it doesn’t talk about the past of someone but focuses on the present of the 12 riders. Bringing together these bikers who have never faced the camera before must have been a task in itself.
“No, actually not. Thankfully, I knew a biker friend (Rinku Saran) who heads a group and some of them happily came on board. There are also three women bikers who were a part of different group but knew Rinku, so he roped them in too.” Leaving their work for about 20 days, all for free, these 12 riders say they have done something like never before.
“Some of us run businesses, others have jobs but when Manoj told us about Icecake, we were convinced to do it, and do it well. Besides an anti-drug theme, it also features the lives of bike riders. Why the ride? What do they get out of it? What are the challenges involved in nurturing such a passion? The film shows it all beautifully,” they say.
According to Yash Mendhiratta and Rinku Saran, two of the riders, the perception of bikers created by international films is that of being robbers or rapists. The Indian riders, on the contrary, are cause driven. “We have been part of many causes ranging from various health-related awareness rides to safety of women; promoting other social initiatives, etc. This film will help break that negative image of bikers.”
As a team, they have not only experienced various landscapes and explored beautiful locations, but also learnt many nuances of acting. Unanimously, they credit Manoj for making them live through so many emotions and being a part of such a colourful story.
gurnaaz@tribunemail.com
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