The HIGHWAY less travelled.

Movie: Highway

Director: Imtiaz Ali

Cast: Alia Bhatt, Randeep Hooda

Year of Release: 2014

When Veera Tripathi (Bhatt) says “yeh raasta bohot acha hai, mein chahti hoon yeh raasta kabhi khatam na ho” (I like the road we’re on right now, I hope it doesn’t end), I wished that for this movie too. Arguably one of writer- director Ali’s best films, this is the story of a young bride-to-be, preparing for her wedding, who gets kidnapped by a band of ruffians, when she steps out to take a break, and her subsequent journey with them.

This is not a love story- Veera never falls for Mahabir Bhatti (Hooda), the leader of her captors. Rather, she comes to see him as a friend, cleverly avoiding the cliché Stockholm Syndrome situation. She confides in him, comforts in him when he’s upset, and feels comfortable enough with him to confront and answer back to him. She finds an ironic liberation amongst her captors—she dances, she rambles her heart out. She feels more real and herself around her abductors than she’s ever done before.

Veera’s journey isn’t shown just through the screenplay- its beauty is complemented by the music too. A.R Rahman’s music is spot on, increasing and decreasing the intensity of the scenes as required. The first song to play is “Tu Kuja” in Sunidhi Chauhan’s voice, asking Him of his presence- the last song “Maahi Ve”, crooned by Rahman himself, claims that He resides in her, mirroring Veera’s despair in the beginning and her satisfaction at the end . Even the cinematography, by Anil Mehta, is used to give greater effect to the ongoing story, giving focus on characters in key scenes, intertwining them wide swooping shots of the locales, creating a natural, rustic, real feel.

Symbolism has always been a key point in Ali’s movies.  Teavel has been used before to instigate self-discovery (noteworthy mentions include Rockstar, Jab We Met, and Tamasha) and Highway is no exception. This is not just a trip across rustic northern India—this is Veera’s journey of finding herself outside the upper class society expectations placed on her, this is Mahabir’s  journey of confronting his inner demons.The color palette too, provides greater insight into the story– the abductors are always shown in ragged clothes inhues of brown and green, depicting their rough nature. Veera is earlier seen in red and purple, showing her wealthy, almost regal stature. However, as the movie progresses, her outfits are of more natural colors, as she finds her affinities with her captors, moving away from her stature as an “upper class” girl.Yet another prominent symbol are her old empty shoes—which instantly reminded me of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” famed lines: “You never really understand a person until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them”. Veera steps out of her old shoes and her old self, and steps into new shoes, where she discovers herself and the world around her through new lenses.

But this movie wouldn’t be close to what it really is without its actors. This was Bhatt’s second movie after 2012’s Student of the Year. The latter launched her as a rich star kid; this movie shows her real talent. Her performance is raw, real, and so mature. Her expressions are on point- her initial fear at her kidnapping, her confusion at her comfort with her abductors, her wails and screams and childish laughs — so beautifully depicted, its hard to believe that she’s so new to the industry. Randeep Hooda is so versatile, he seems able to do any role handed to him with no apparent effort. His Mahabir is reserved, easy to provoke, but with time, he softens towards Veera, opens up to her, and comes to watch over her as a parental figure would. There is hardly anyone else who could have depicted this character arc as wonderfully as Hooda did. The supporting casts play to part to perfection, but this is still an Alia show out and out- the climax, especially, had me in goose bumps and tears.

You know there are some movies that really challenge the way you see things? Highway is one of them. There are very few characters who you really remember, and Veera Tripathi is one of them. Her character arc is so wonderfully depicted, I’m sure most women will be able to relate to her. She is right up there with Ved Vardhan Sahani from Tamasha for me – Imtiaz Ali really does have a flair for creating the most layered and complex characters.

This is not an easy watch. But it is so worth it. Please do yourself a favour and take this Highway, you won’t regret the ride.