Gaurav Jani is ‘Riding Solo to the Top of the World’

As part of the events on Day 1 of the DigitAll Movement 2009, the journey of Gaurav Jani and his one-man film unit chronicled in the documentary film Riding Solo to the Top of the World was screened for the public at 6.30 pm. The movie produced by DirtTrack Productions is an over view of Gaurav Jani’s bike trip from Delhi to the Changthang Plateau in the Karakoram Range, from where he takes off on a ride of spiritual revelation to Chemur. This solo adventure of Gaurav Jani that becomes a universal experience of celebration and self-recognition was captured by himself in his Panasonic DVX 100.
As the entire movie was directed and shot by Mr. Gaurav Jani himself, which in itself is one of the prime highlights of the film, camera-handling and diverse technical settings were restricted. Most of the shots used to show the bike ride were still camera images and long shots. Mr. Jani’s interaction with the Changpas of the Changthan area, which he described as the “Cathedral of Silence” in his film, and his rather special interaction with the Changpa Sehwang has also been discretely portrayed. “An experience recommended to all”, said Gaurav Jani during the interactive session that took place after the screening.
“A good while after working as the Assistant Director for Ram Gopal Varma in the movie Jungle, I started considering co-joining two of my fondest passions of biking and filmmaking to create a video that was one of a kind”, remarked Gaurav Jani.
Mr. Jani’s next film “One Crazy Ride” is also a bike adventure of a group of five, travelling through the most rugged and difficult roads to the hidden, unknown parts of India.

- Vinaya Gopaal