Full Throttle is for all vintage motorsport enthusiasts. Made by city-based Raasta TV, a web platform for alternative video content, the travel documentary and web series celebrates the vintage motor cycles, showcases its legacy and shares the stories of passionate bikers from across the country who ride these beasts amid hurdles. The Full Throttle team includes, Avinash Pothu (director), Sunil Kalisetti, Shivi Bhatnagar, Pramod Makkena, Krishna Golla, Nikhil Nath, Arun Sekhar and Chandu Devi, who have handled different departments.
This journey into the world of two stroke motorcycles was an enriching one for the film crew as they travelled all over India to ‘experience the true feel of riding on those old two-stroke motorcycles.’ “The members found that these bikes have been passed on generations as a token of freedom and some would involve the aura of custom to magnify their experience of riding. It takes a lot to ride them. Also, they are simply irreplaceable,” enthuses Avinash adding that earlier they had done a documentary on Bonalu. While the shooting took 14 days spread across three months, the team plans to screen the documentary on November 5. This series is also part of a crowd funding campaign: (ketto.org/fundraiser/ fullthrottle).
Excerpts from an interview:
How did the documentary ‘Full Throttle’ come about?
Bik ing has turned completely commercial. Motorcycles are all about freedom and passion. I couldn’t find any such stories online. So, we started to research with the question — Do we have passionate stories in India ? We also asked ‘what about two stroke bikers?’ If these folks are not changing their bike and pledging their allegiance to it for life, there must be something. And that began our journey into the world of two stroke bikes. We initially wanted to do a short video but the stories are so good that we thought a documentary would better serve the purpose.
What was the aim behind making this documentary?
Our idea at Raasta TV is to tell honest and interesting stories. We pla n to screen it across India with support from our partner Risers Cartels and various biking clubs. We’ll also send it to film festivals; the idea is to celebrate these bikes and the people who keep them running.
Do any of of your team members also own vintage bikes?
I have a Yamaha Rx100 and Yezdi Roadking. Our co-founder Sai Kumar and Virtual Reality producer N ikhilesh both own Rajdoot 175.
Share some experiences.
All riders are extremely welcoming and we hit off immediately. We got to meet various people related to these bikes — : bloggers, automobile experts, custom bike builders, mechanics, long distance riders, bike collectors. The best part is we also got to drive some of them. One should ride them to know what it’s like.
Tell us about the people that you have featured
Ayatollah from Mysore worked in the Yezdi Jaws factory. We got to know what the factory was like and why it came to an end. You could see the pride in his face that he was part of the team that build th ese bikes by hand. Naveen Reddy from Hyderabad built one of the best RD350s and he talks about what went into building it.
What were the challenges that your team encountered?
Finding a profile was relatively easy. The harder part is in taking this to more bikers and finding sponsors as these bikes are no longer in production.
