{ "id": "ep4nhw8sj6", "slug": "such-a-long-journey", "title": "Such a Long Journey", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations", "label": "Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.novel-and-short-fiction-adaptations", "label": "Films based on novels, novellas, and short fiction", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.novel-and-short-fiction-adaptations" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.novel-and-short-fiction-adaptations.films-based-on-contemporary-literary-fic", "label": "Films based on contemporary literary fiction", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.novel-and-short-fiction-adaptations.films-based-on-contemporary-literary-fic" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.novel-and-short-fiction-adaptations.films-based-on-contemporary-literary-fic.drama-and-romance-adaptations", "label": "Drama and romance adaptations", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.novel-and-short-fiction-adaptations.films-based-on-contemporary-literary-fic.drama-and-romance-adaptations" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "India · 1946 to 2000: Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "path": [ { "id": "geo.ind", "label": "India", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1946", "label": "India · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" } ] }, { "id": "geo.other.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Other (Canada, Oceania, polar regions, oceans) · 1946 to 2000: Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "path": [ { "id": "geo.other", "label": "Other (Canada, Oceania, polar regions, oceans)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other" }, { "id": "geo.other.t1946", "label": "Other (Canada, Oceania, polar regions, oceans) · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.other.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.other.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.other.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.other.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Such a Long Journey: 1998 drama film directed by Sturla Gunnarsson, screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala from Rohinton Mistry's Booker-shortlisted 1991 novel; Roshan Seth stars as Bombay bank clerk Gustad Noble in 1971, winning a Genie Award.", "snippet": "Such a Long Journey: 1998 drama film directed by Sturla Gunnarsson, screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala from Rohinton Mistry's Booker-shortlisted 1991 novel; Roshan Seth stars as Bombay bank clerk Gustad Noble in 1971, winning a Genie Award.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.novel-and-short-fiction-adaptations.films-based-on-contemporary-literary-fic.drama-and-romance-adaptations", "markdown": "# Such a Long Journey\n\n**Such a Long Journey** is a 1998 English-language drama film directed by Sturla Gunnarsson, with a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala adapted from [Rohinton Mistry](https://www.edgepedia.org/rohinton-mistry)'s 1991 novel of the same name. Set in Bombay in 1971, the year India went to war with Pakistan over what would become Bangladesh, it follows Gustad Noble, a Parsi bank clerk and devoted family man whose modest life unravels after he agrees to help an old friend now working for the government in what proves to be a dangerous scheme[1](https://cfe.tiff.net/canadianfilmencyclopedia/content/films/such-a-long-journey) • [2](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/such-a-long-journey).\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release year | 1998; 35mm color, English language, 113 minutes[1](https://cfe.tiff.net/canadianfilmencyclopedia/content/films/such-a-long-journey) |\n| Source | Rohinton Mistry's 1991 debut novel, short-listed for the Booker Prize[3](https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-and-the-arts/films/story/19981123-such-a-long-journey-the-film-version-does-justice-to-rohinton-mistrys-acclaimed-novel-827390-1998-11-22) • [4](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/rohinton-mistry/such-a-long-journey/) |\n| Director and writer | Sturla Gunnarsson; screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala[1](https://cfe.tiff.net/canadianfilmencyclopedia/content/films/such-a-long-journey) |\n| Lead cast | Roshan Seth (Gustad Noble), Soni Razdan (Dilnavaz), Om Puri (Ghulam), Naseeruddin Shah (Major Jimmy Bilimoria)[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120848/fullcredits/) |\n| Setting | Bombay, 1971, during the India-Pakistan war over Bangladesh[1](https://cfe.tiff.net/canadianfilmencyclopedia/content/films/such-a-long-journey) |\n| Awards | Genie Award 1999 for Roshan Seth (Best Actor); nominated for Best Motion Picture, Direction, and Screenplay; Most Popular Canadian Film at Vancouver 1998[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120848/awards/) |\n| Critical reception | Metascore 74 (15 positive, 3 mixed, 0 negative); Rotten Tomatoes 93% (13 fresh, 1 rotten)[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/such-a-long-journey/critic-reviews/) • [8](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/such-a-long-journey/umc.cmc.7fky5t6irm38ozjkn93f8cqwx) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nGustad Noble ([Roshan Seth](https://www.edgepedia.org/roshan-seth)) is an industrious bank clerk living with his wife Dilnavaz ([Soni Razdan](https://www.edgepedia.org/soni-razdan)) and their three children in a rented apartment in Byculla, Bombay, commuting daily to the [Central Bank of India](https://www.edgepedia.org/central-bank-of-india)[1](https://cfe.tiff.net/canadianfilmencyclopedia/content/films/such-a-long-journey) • [9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120848/). His domestic existence begins to unravel on several fronts at once: his young daughter Roshan falls ill despite her parents' care, his eldest son Sohrab refuses to attend the Indian Institute of Technology despite gaining admission, defying his father's aspirations for him, and the municipal authorities plan to raze the wall outside the family's apartment building to widen the road[1](https://cfe.tiff.net/canadianfilmencyclopedia/content/films/such-a-long-journey) • [10](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/03/24/a-complex-compelling-journey/7718097f-d598-4c6a-b8db-1a908db4981c/).\n\n**The letter.** Gustad's world is further disrupted by a letter from his old friend Jimmy Bilimoria ([Naseeruddin Shah](https://www.edgepedia.org/naseeruddin-shah)), a retired army major who has joined [Indira Gandhi](https://www.edgepedia.org/indira-gandhi)'s secret service, and Jimmy's associate Ghulam ([Om Puri](https://www.edgepedia.org/om-puri)). They seek Gustad's help in what appears to be a daring mission, and Gustad, naively and with considerable doubt, agrees, depositing sums of money under a false name at his bank with the help of his friend and co-worker Dinshawji (Sam Dastor). It is his first step into a world of deceit, danger, and shady dealings with the secret service[1](https://cfe.tiff.net/canadianfilmencyclopedia/content/films/such-a-long-journey) • [10](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/03/24/a-complex-compelling-journey/7718097f-d598-4c6a-b8db-1a908db4981c/). Jimmy tells him the funds are for a secret government project financing a resistance group in Bangladesh[10](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/03/24/a-complex-compelling-journey/7718097f-d598-4c6a-b8db-1a908db4981c/).\n\nAround the central plot moves a roster of supporting characters: Miss Kutpitia (Pearl Padamsee), the medicine lady who urges elaborate medical spells; the innocent, brain-damaged Tehmul (Kurush Deboo); and Dinshawji, Gustad's bombastic co-worker and friend[1](https://cfe.tiff.net/canadianfilmencyclopedia/content/films/such-a-long-journey) • [2](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/such-a-long-journey).\n\n## The novel and its historical basis\n\nMistry's novel, his first, was published on April 25, 1991, by Knopf, a 384-page story of a family man in 1971 India who experiences a political scandal firsthand[4](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/rohinton-mistry/such-a-long-journey/). Mistry, Bombay-born, has been a resident of Toronto since 1975[11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/06/27/sojourn-to-the-subcontinent/e687a4d9-9c01-48eb-9148-a2e38fd33173/).\n\nThe Bilimoria plot has a historical scaffold. One account holds that the plot element in which Gustad is asked to launder money through his bank account comes straight from the 1971 Nagarwala scandal, when a fraudster mimicking the voice of Indira Gandhi tricked the [State Bank of India](https://www.edgepedia.org/state-bank-of-india) out of sixty lakh rupees that were afterwards connected to financing the [Bangladesh Liberation War](https://www.edgepedia.org/bangladesh-liberation-war).[12](https://www.bookatlas.co/works/such-a-long-journey) Scholarly work has also traced the novel's deep debt to Shakespeare's *King Lear*, which acts as a meta- and intertext through which Mistry writes his political critique of life in 1970s Bombay[13](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/118112/).\n\n## Production\n\nThe film was shot at Film City in Mumbai, with sets by production designer Vikas Desai filled with details from a Parsi household[14](https://www.rediff.com/entertai/1998/mar/19such.htm). Gunnarsson was the third director attached to the project, which producer Paul Stephens had developed for five years; [Deepa Mehta](https://www.edgepedia.org/deepa-mehta) and Waris Hussein had earlier been picked but never made the film[14](https://www.rediff.com/entertai/1998/mar/19such.htm). Gunnarsson said he agreed to direct after reading the script and then the book, which he found \"full of humanity and so closely observed\"[14](https://www.rediff.com/entertai/1998/mar/19such.htm).\n\nThe production companies were Film Works and Amy International Artists Ltd. (U.K.), with Paul Stephens and [Simon MacCorkindale](https://www.edgepedia.org/simon-maccorkindale) producing, Jan Kiesser as cinematographer, and [Jonathan Goldsmith](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonathan-goldsmith) composing the music[1](https://cfe.tiff.net/canadianfilmencyclopedia/content/films/such-a-long-journey). Taraporevala's screenplay earned her a Genie nomination from the Academy of Canadian Cinema and [Television](https://www.edgepedia.org/television)[15](https://films.wavesbazaar.com/media/2518/co-production_market_2014_catalogue.pdf).\n\n## Reception\n\nThe film premiered on the festival circuit in 1998, screening at the [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival) and the Vancouver International Film Festival, where it won Most Popular Canadian Film[16](https://archivesfa.library.yorku.ca/serieslist/S00158.180.htm) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120848/awards/). At the 1999 [Genie Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/genie-awards), Roshan Seth won Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, and the film was nominated for Best Motion Picture, Best Achievement in Direction, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor (Kurush Deboo)[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120848/awards/).\n\nCritics responded strongly to Seth's performance and the film's texture. Roger Ebert, rating it among the richest in atmosphere he had seen, wrote that it \"makes Western films look pale and underpopulated\"[17](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/such-a-long-journey-2000). The *Los Angeles Times* called Seth's portrayal of a good man whose capacity for courage grows under duress transcendent, while judging the film itself uneven, with too many questions raised only to be dropped[18](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-mar-24-ca-12045-story.html). On Metacritic it scored 74, with 15 of 18 critic reviews positive and none negative[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/such-a-long-journey/critic-reviews/).\n\n## References\n\n1. [Such a Long Journey, Canadian Film Encyclopedia (TIFF)](https://cfe.tiff.net/canadianfilmencyclopedia/content/films/such-a-long-journey)\n2. [Such a Long Journey, British Council UK Films Database](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/such-a-long-journey)\n3. [A fine balance, India Today (November 23, 1998)](https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-and-the-arts/films/story/19981123-such-a-long-journey-the-film-version-does-justice-to-rohinton-mistrys-acclaimed-novel-827390-1998-11-22)\n4. [SUCH A LONG JOURNEY by Rohinton Mistry, Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/rohinton-mistry/such-a-long-journey/)\n5. [Such a Long Journey (1998) Full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120848/fullcredits/)\n6. [Such a Long Journey (1998) Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120848/awards/)\n7. [Such a Long Journey Critic Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/such-a-long-journey/critic-reviews/)\n8. [Such a Long Journey, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/such-a-long-journey/umc.cmc.7fky5t6irm38ozjkn93f8cqwx)\n9. [Such a Long Journey (1998), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120848/)\n10. [A Complex, Compelling 'Journey', The Washington Post (March 23, 2000)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/03/24/a-complex-compelling-journey/7718097f-d598-4c6a-b8db-1a908db4981c/)\n11. [SOJOURN TO THE SUBCONTINENT, The Washington Post (June 26, 1991)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/06/27/sojourn-to-the-subcontinent/e687a4d9-9c01-48eb-9148-a2e38fd33173/)\n12. [Such a Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry, Bookatlas](https://www.bookatlas.co/works/such-a-long-journey)\n13. [Preti Taneja (2019), Such a Long Journey: Rohinton Mistry's Parsi King Lear from fiction to film, Routledge](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/118112/)\n14. ['Yeh hai apna Hollywood', Rediff On The Net (March 19, 1998)](https://www.rediff.com/entertai/1998/mar/19such.htm)\n15. [Director's Biography / Sooni Taraporevala credits, Waves Bazaar co-production market catalogue](https://films.wavesbazaar.com/media/2518/co-production_market_2014_catalogue.pdf)\n16. [Rohinton Mistry fonds, file list S00158.180, York University Libraries](https://archivesfa.library.yorku.ca/serieslist/S00158.180.htm)\n17. [Such A Long Journey movie review, RogerEbert.com (March 24, 2000)](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/such-a-long-journey-2000)\n18. [A Transcendent Portrayal Lifts an Uneven 'Long Journey' in India, Los Angeles Times (March 24, 2000)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-mar-24-ca-12045-story.html)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media › Films based on novels, novellas, and short fiction › Films based on contemporary literary fiction › Drama and romance adaptations*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/such-a-long-journey", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/such-a-long-journey.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Such a Long Journey\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/such-a-long-journey. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Such a Long Journey](https://www.edgepedia.org/such-a-long-journey)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/such-a-long-journey](https://www.edgepedia.org/such-a-long-journey). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Such a Long Journey\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/such-a-long-journey. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Such a Long Journey: 1998 drama film directed by Sturla Gunnarsson, screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala from Rohinton Mistry's Booker-shortlisted 1991 novel; Roshan Seth stars as Bombay bank clerk Gustad Noble in 1971, winning a Genie Award." }