Cheapest possible South India movies

Some poorly captured and edited town and country scenes in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. Excellent music (thankfully) accompanies.

Note on the "material".

The clips contained in these pages are unambiguously low-quality, shot with our pocket camera - generally while travelling in a wandering auto-rickshaw, or a more stately Ambassador - along the streets and highways of the South. Fused by non-existent editing skills and with virtually no narrative sense they make for hypnotically banal minutes punctuated by wondrous moments - much like India itself.

A couple of these "shorts" unwittingly capture events emblematic to the politically active, nominally Socialist, and always wonderful state of Kerala. "Mysore to Calicut" is an almost surreal passage along empty roads (believe me - a rare daylight event in India) during a "hartal" or general strike (against high food prices), an event supported and enforced in a big way - to the point of the population barely breaking daytime curfew (until after 6.00pm). Crossing the border from Mysore in the state of Karnataka we attracted the attention of more than one indignant strike committee and were forced at various barricades to plead ignorance and pledge financial support to the struggle (Rs.25, receipt provided).

Similarly the descent of the Western Ghats from the high tea and spice country at Kumily to sea-level Kottayam took place during a "banh" - a public transport strike - causing all state owned buses of the K.S.R.T.C* off the road and coincidentally quietening the traffic to make our winding journey that much quicker.

Otherwise the street scenes capture the bustle and sounds of city and big-town streetscapes of Chennai and Cochin (Ernakulam) as well as some quieter scenes at dreamy Kumarakom and early-morning Kanjikhuzy, our suburban home base in Kottayam.

*Kerala State Road Transport Corporation.