Highway - A film by Imtiaz Ali - A review

Highway - A movie review (*****)

Story and Direction : Imtiaz Ali

Cast : Randeep Hooda, Alia Bhatt

Music : AR Rahman

Lyrics : Irshad Kamil

“Jahan se tum mujhe laaye ho, mai wahan waapas nahi jaana chahti, jahan tum le jaa rahe ho, mai wahan jaana nahi chahti, lekin ye jo safar hai, abhi hai, ye raasta, mai chahti hu ke ye kabhi khatam na ho”

Freedom! What does it mean? Like all words and emotions today, freedom is subjective. Are we free? Are you? Am I? Can I drop these clothes of responsibility and wander with my naked thoughts away to the mountains where my heart belongs, where I find peace? Can I live my passion and just spend my time writing – maybe for nothing? How much money is enough? Am I crazy if I am not like you? Should I be scorned and loathed if my thoughts of normalcy go against your safe and cushioned and veiled life made up of the amalgamation of endless and varied impositions since birth? Should I be punished if I be myself? Am I obliged to laugh at every joke of yours when you trespass the sanctity of my mind every now and then? Do you bother to see beyond my hollow smile, the pain in ripples?

Sometimes (Most of the times) we are so cluttered up and accustomed to our imposed lives that we know not what freedom is and day after day we live a life without a life! The protagonist Veera (Alia Bhatt) is one such person till she gets pushed over the edge and finds herself being kidnapped.

In captivity, she finds freedom. In the angst and hatred of her kidnapper, she finds simplicity and love. She becomes aware the other side of her which was subdued till now and had never emerged before. She realizes that she can talk, can express, feel, laugh freely, can live, can irritate!

Her kidnapper, Mahavir (Randeep Hooda) is an angry man, his anger being against the rich, the powerful, against what he saw and experienced as a child, experiences even now as an adult.  Deep inside, he is just a child gone the wrong way, driven away from his mother, to the point of no return. In Veera, he sees glimpses of the unconditional love, the acceptance, his forgotten and buried childhood.

Powerful and mature performances! Alia Bhat is not a star, she is an ACTRESS! Hats off!! 11 out of 10. Her madness in the film is loud and clear. Her painstaking innocence breathes a new life in Veera. I would love to see her in more roles like these. Randeep Hooda is undoubtedly a great actor of his league. This is one of those movies that I wanted to watch because of the director Imtiaz Ali, but came home impressed with the performances of the actors.

Imtiaz Ali has got the pulse of each character and has squeezed the best from his team. A thoughtful story creatively and soulfully directed. No nonsense! If you don’t go home with a heavy heart and thoughts in your mind about the way you are living, then…..something is wrong.

AR Rahmans’ ingenuity and Irshad Kamils’ ode work wonders. The rustic and folk oriented ‘Patakha Guddi’ is a lyrical masterpiece. You will love the ‘Wanna Mashup’ song in the movie watching Veera gyrating on the road making crazy moves.

The only thing I felt as an unnecessary imposition in the film was the sexual abuse angle – somehow clichéd. While watching the film and after it, I felt there was a little more needed – what, where, how, I don’t know – but a little more of something! Overall, a must watch film.

Take the right turn....DON’T MISS THE HIGHWAY!