Why top filmmakers are backing this trippy Rajasthani satire about a miracle motorcycle
6 min readMumbaiMay 6, 2026 07:14 PM IST A new god in town, and it is a motorcycle. That is perhaps the simplest way to describe the crackling absurdist indie Dug Dug, debutant director Ritwik Pareek’s self-financed project. The film which first premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2021 and is now headed for a theatrical release in India on May 8, backed by industry figures such as Anurag Kashyap, Nikkhil Advani, Vikramaditya Motwane, and Vasan Bala. Power of manifestation The story draws inspiration from the Om Banna Temple in Jodhpur, where travellers offer prayers to a motorcycle before setting out on journeys. While the film may be read as a satire on blind faith, another reading situates it as an exploration of manifestation and collective belief. As Pareek explains, in an exclusive chat with SCREEN, this very idea formed the conceptual foundation of the film: “Initially, before I started the film, I wrote a line saying that I want to make a film on manifestation, and how it works. I was reading this …
