Hari Om (Vijay Raaz; Monsoon Wedding) is an auto-rickshaw driver. He is easy going, philosophical and a terrible gambler. When he loses in a fixed card game with local gangsters, he is forced to hand over his cab, and his livelihood, to save his life. He decides to flee Jaipur, a place where he has been happy. On his way out of town he is flagged down by Isa (Camille Nata; Leon, Crimson Rivers), a French tourist separated from her diamond-dealing boyfriend Benoit (Jean Marie Lemour; Swimming Pool) when she is too late to catch the luxury train due to take them on their journey through India.
Their road trip takes them through the stunning and evocative countryside and small villages of Rajasthan and ending in Jaisalmer. Isa allows us to experience India from an outsider’s point of view and Hari Om demonstrates a love of his homeland that really resonates.
Hari Om is directed and conceived by Bharatbala, an Indian director who appears to see beauty and depth in everything. The film is mystical, funny, moving and visually sumptuous. Some forty-two locations were used to capture the beauty of the Indian landscape and the Rajasthan tourist board could not wish for a better representation of its offerings. CT
