Directed by: Imtiaz Ali
Starring: Randeep
Hooda, Alia Bhatt
Released: 2014
My rating: destroy
every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed
but enjoyable - shitastic - good – great – amazing
I genuinely loved
Rockstar, but after Jab We Met, this one is Imtiaz Ali´s best film
till date. He doesn´t work according to tried and tested formula.
His movie lacks everything most of the mainstream filmmakers throw
into the mix just to gain some more attention from the public. Imtiaz
Ali is here to make films and that is it. And this one he made with
much heart and much feeling, and I cannot stop thinking about it even
though I have finished it several hours ago.
A daughter of a rich,
prominent man gets kidnapped, by mistake and by chance, but kidnapped
still. As the search for her starts, she is stuck with a group of
mournful thieves, who are not entirely sure as of what to do with
her. The group slowly goes their separate ways, until the girl,
Veera, stays in the company of just two (and subsequently one, called
Mahabhir) of her kidnappers. The longer she stays with them, the more
she realizes how unhappy she was in her home. There is no
bull-and-donkey sob story that would ensure her seeing „good
hearts“ of her kidnappers – in fact she never learns the truth
about them, and they do not need to save her from being raped just so
she can promptly fall in love with one of them.
Highway is not a film
about finding oneself. Veera is not in search of her identity,
neither she is a shy girl who discovers confidence. And I do not even
think the film is essentially about finding freedom – rather
cleansing of the soul, in both Veera and Mahabhir´s cases. The movie
has a distinct, interesting atmosphere and stirs emotions, some of
the scenes are extremely powerful. At other times Highway becomes an
enchanting composition of visuals and music, both as pure as one can
imagine. Many a time I caught myself thinking Highway is, among other
things, Imtiaz Ali´s ode to nature. Veera caresses grass and cries
over beauty of swift river breaking against a rock, she is gulping
the wind as if she could taste it, she stares into the heaven and
feels completely content, happy to hear the whistles and songs of
sheperds passing through the mountains. Highway is, for most part, a
poem without words.
And yet, I did find a few
flaws that took away a little bit from the overall experience. The
movie has really two emotional peaks. Apart from the obvious Veera´s
confrontation with her family at the end, the first one comes about
an hour into the film, when she confides her story to Mahabir. An
extremely powerful scene, but followed by suddenly very languid
series of scenes that already disappeared from the mind. It takes a
while before the build-up leading towards the climax again fully
engages attention. Secondly, while Randeep Hooda gives a very good
performance, there were several moments in which he did not resonate
with my sentiments and one or two of his emotional outbursts felt
somehow artificial. The character development may have been more
elaborate, then again it may also have slowed down the already not
action-packed narrative.
Highway marks the actual
debut of Alia Bhatt the actress. After being an inconsequential
showpiece in Karan Johar´s glossy awfulness of a movie, she can
finally bring forth her talent. The girl is more than just Mahesh
Bhatt´s daughter. Even if Veera was a character Alia could related
to, it was still a challenging role, mostly unglamorous and one the
whole film rested upon. She still feels like a diamond in a rough, in
need of some polishing, and I have my reservations towards her
baby-faced self taking on „sexy“ roles, which are inevitably
coming her way (because EVERY girl HAS TO be sexy, otherwise she
should not bother breathing), but hopefully there will be more
„Highways“ in her filmography in upcoming years. Be it because of
Imtiaz´s direction or her own intuition, Alia Bhatt impresses.
Highway leads you on a way
that has no demands of anyone. It makes you remember the dark secrets
you´d prefer to forget, but it also shows you there is always
somewhere better to go. Start again. And feel pure again.
