After theatre and films, Kalki Koechlin is all geared up to take on the world of television with her own travel show. Fox Life’s latest offering, Kalki’s Great Escape, has Koechlin and her father, Joel Koechlin, kitted out in biker gear and wandering the North-East on her Royal Enfield. They will cover 4,000km in the first season.
The show is being plugged as a “motorbike adventure” in which the father-daughter duo battle adverse weather conditions and rocky terrains. A couple of episodes in, however, it is clear that the adverse conditions are mostly tolerated to a certain point and then there are certain comforts following them around in the form of a car containing the camera crew.
That said, the show is a visual treat and completely capable of inspiring one to take a similar journey. Though not too different from the way most travel shows are shot and packaged, Kalki’s Great Escape sets itself apart by bringing in a little drama from which the usual, more sanitised, travel shows distance themselves.
The journey begins in Guwahati’s Taj Vivanta, with Kalki and Joel going through their final checklist, preparing for their travels.
“I’m packing a map,” Joel says distractedly.
“Why are you packing a map? Don’t you use Google Maps?” Kalki asks.
“There is no Google on those roads, I can guarantee you,” scoffs Joel, giving Kalki, his sunscreen-packing daughter, her first lesson on travelling in the Himalayas.
The first two episodes are peppered with small passive-aggressive arguments between the Koechlins, with Kalki, understandably more comfortable being on camera, taking to venting on the screen. When Joel wants to keep riding after a hailstorm, Kalki feels that it is his way of wanting to dominate the situation. Joel, on the other hand, being a practised traveller and photographer, confesses his irritation at Kalki’s unwillingness to ride on.
The show stays true to some degree in its endeavours to show aspects of the North-East that are not usually seen in glossy travel videos. The pair chooses low-end home stays and home-cooked fare over more luxurious options, but their interactions with the locals remain largely practised with them establishing their identities as outsiders. Kalki, as natural as she can be on camera or on stage when performing her heart out, oddly comes across as a misfit when interacting with the locals.
In all fairness, if you have to arrange a performance of the traditional lion dance instead of shooting it at a time when it is usually performed and celebrated (during the new year), you’re very much not a part of the crowd.
With GoPro cameras on their helmets, the two make their way through Arunachal Pradesh, get stopped on the border, learn how to brew wine made with corn and rice and proceed to get tipsy on it.
The show still seems to be finding its way, but it certainly breaks the mould in little ways. Hopefully, like the rice wine, it becomes stronger with time.