Cast: Randeep Hooda, Alia Bhatt
Director: Imtiaz Ali
Rating: **1/2
There is an altogether different league of cine thinkers staying in
tinsel town who over the years by their cine magnificence have fetched
an exclusive repute for themselves. And certainly Imtiaz Ali is one of
them, who over the years have not only kept fans fascination fixated to
his style of movie making, but at the same time has always succeeded in
matching the expectations of fans' too. Be it "Love Aaj Kal", "Jab We
Met" or the just released "Highway" every time Imtiaz has come up with
something innovative yet pleasing.
This Randeep Hooda Alia Bhatt starrer, romance on the road kind of love
saga opened with an above average occupancy of 63 percent at the
multiplexes.
As the story of "Highway" marks its onset, it showcases the kidnapping
of Veera (Alia Bhaat), who is the daughter of an influential business
pioneer, by a gruff, rustic criminal, Mahabir Bhaati (Randeep Hooda),
during former's late night highway outing with her fiancee. With frames
rolling ahead entire kidnapping gang headed by Mahabir ends up being in
a state of panic due to the influential status of Veera's family, but
it's Mahabir who remains unperturbed on his decision of demanding ransom
in lieu of releasing Veera. And from there begins a pleasing road jaunt
across some of the most aesthetic locales of north India. So what
happens next does Veera gets released or not to know watch this
mesmerizing love saga from the creativity lab of Imtiaz Ali.
Well as far as storyline of Highway is concerned then with "Highway"
Imtiaz has once again exhibited his fascination for the love on journey
kind of cine tales. Although "Highway" falls in the league of
unconventional movies and that's because it's been long since any such
premise has made its way to big screen.
But instead of making it a plain cine delight moving on and off the road
Imtiaz has deployed a good amount of human factor, by embedding a few
heart touching emotional condiments like childhood suppression etc.
As far as this Alia and Randeep starrer is concerned then contrary to
his style of picking a unique story idea while trying his acting
prowess, this time Imitiaz has opted for a somewhat OK premise, but with
an unconventional pairing.
Some of the cineastes may feel that it is a novel premise, but if we try
to turn the pages of Indian cine history then one ends up being in the
era of eighties, when Subhash Ghai's "Hero" featuring Meenakshi
Sheshadri and Jackie Shroff made it to theaters. Certainly both these
cine-flicks subsequently have a rendezvous with different fates, but due
to a high degree of resemblance in their plot, it's the "Highway" which
ends being on the lower notch despite having a different premise in the
contemporary age of Indian cinema. As far as scripting is concerned
then sans any unwanted inflation "Highway" is appropriately placid on
that front.
If we go by the screenplay of "Highway" then it is something which
emerges as a stand out feature of the movie where everything knitted in
it magnifies the overall appeal of the onscreen proceedings with a great
magnificence. Soon after marking its onset premise of Highway starts
enveloping you, especially till the moments it keeps itself away from
the purview of romance, but as soon as the first hour ends the advent of
emotional drama somewhere down the line diminishes the pace of the
narration and adversely impacts the appeal of the movie.
But what further adds to the charm of "Highway" is its, DoP which
captures the scenic beauty of Northern India with such a brilliance that
you completely gets enveloped in what is being offered to you in the
form of this on-road love saga.
Besides, it's the top notch cinematography of Anil Mehta and editing of
Aarti Bajaj which somewhere down the line prevents Highway from sinking
into the quagmire of boredom. Certainly at a few places Aarti seems to
be losing the control over editing part which could have been more edgy,
but for that it's the over stretched premise of the movie which
deserves to be held responsible.
As far as, direction of Imtiaz is concerned then, undoubtedly he has
done a commendable job on various fronts, but if we compare Highway to
the previous works of this ace cine wizard then it lacks that charisma
which Imtiaz's previous cine delights like "Jab We Met", "Love Aaj Kal"
and "Rockstar" had in them.
Coming to the performances then, certainly Alia has looked far more
improved then her urban dame avatar of "SOTY" but this stunning damsel
needs to improve a lot if she really wants to carve a niche in Bollywood
and have a fate different to her elder sis Pooja. As far as Randeep's
performance is concerned then it is going to be like praising something
which has already secured an apex position in the hearts of the masses.
Supporting cast comprising of Durgesh Kumar (who played the character of
Goru), Saharsh Kumar Shukla (Aadooo) despite having a very limited
scope for performance manages to grab your attentions with latter
emerging as a somewhat stand out performer.
With tracks like Pataka Guddi etc, music of AR Rahman is as usual top notch, and never alienates from the theme of the movie.
Although, it's Imtiaz's legacy which always succeeds in making his cine
chronicles a talked about affair, but this time despite having so much
intelligence and emotions deployed in "Highway" the movie may not
succeed in emerging as a great BO success story.
To sum up despite having a mesmerizing romance, a magnificent execution,
and some very aesthetic locales the movie may not succeed in making a
dent on BO and may end up a run of the mill kind of the affair. But yeah
at the same time it will conveniently succeed in satiating the
emotional quench certain classes. So despite it's being a mesmerizing
cine affair, but sans entertainment I am going ahead with 2.5 stars for
"Highway".
