In the Hindi movie, ‘Dishoom’, which released in 2016, a Renault truck has featured in a scene that plays out on a location in the Middle East. The plot of the movie unravels in the Middle East in the run up to an important cricket tournament between India and Pakistan. India’s top cricketer Viraj Sharma, played by Saqib Salim, goes missing. Indian authorities get a video clip from a unidentified Pakistani cricket fan. He claims to have been abducted by Viraj, and warns the authorities that they should cancel the match. Sensing the gravity of the situation, the Indian defence minister sends a special task force to retrieve Sharma. A part of the task force is an officer Kabir Shergill, played by actor John Abraham. A manhunt begins. The team has 36 hours to accomplish their task. To assist Kabir’s task force, an Indo-Emirati police officer Junaid Ansari, played by actor Varun Dhawan, is assigned. His credentials say that he is well verse with the region, which is also the reason he was selected. It does not take long for Kabir to understand that Junaid is a rookie.
A chain of events led Kabir and Junaid to a cricket bookie Wagah, played by actor Akshay Khanna. The duo finds out that he is the culprit. Wagah and his close aid Altaf confess to have kidnapped Viraj. Fearing trouble, Altaf flees to his native state Abbudin, It is necessary that Kabir and Junaid find out Altaf to get to Sharma. Kabir and Junaid sneak into Abbudin without documents by riding in a giant multi-axle Renault ‘C’ truck. Renault truck brand belongs to the Volvo Group of Sweden, and was acquired in 2001. The ‘C’ truck range is made up of medium and heavy-duty vehicles, and was introduced in 2013. The range was part of a new line up of Renault trucks (C, D, K, T) that were introduced in 2013. Volvo Group invested Euro-two billion to develop these. The truck seen in the movie seems to be a 40-tonne long-haul tractor truck combination. This truck is powered by either the DXI 11 or DXI 13 engine range. Spanning five variants between the two, the power output of the engines is in the range of 330 hp to 520 hp. The truck features a ‘night and day cab’ with a standard roof. The highlight of the C Road cab is the trapeze shaped windscreen, precisely angled at 12 degrees. This design is said to improve the drag coefficient by up to 12 per cent. The single-reduction drive axles in the truck are said to be particularly suited for on-road applications, and improve the payload capacity. Transmission is an automated ‘optidriver’ unit, and the fuel tank capacity of up to 1,470-litres makes the Renault ‘C’ truck a good candidate for long hauls.
