In any case, all versions are applicable to the ever-ambulant Gypsies. Director-writer Tony Gatlif, a citizen of France born in Algeria, is a Rom. Most of his films are on Gypsy subjects. The movie is more theme than subject. Its non-plot couldn't be simpler.
Songs range from exuberantly joyous to plaintive.
Vocal, instrumental , and generally with dances, the pieces are quite different from one another. The common ground is that all of the items sound like the ethnic music of the countries they are performed in. Much that would have died out of a given land's musical heritage has been preserved in one form or another by the Rom tradition. The opening salvo, in India, features lavishly and ornately dressed women, a man reciting energetic love poetry, and much else. Unlike documentaries, there is no commentary, printed on the screen or as voice-over.