Highway, a poem

Highway by Imtiaz Ali is another kidnap story. But, it also isn’t a kidnap story. It is a love story. It also isnt a love story. If this sounds confusing I can assure you this is not a reflection of how the movie is. The movie is crystal clear. The movie is pure. It brings a childlike exuberance that can only come out of innocence that we once knew of. We have always heard of this saying: one bad apple can spoil a basket of apples. This movie is about one good apple that makes the entire basket of bad apples look good, become good.

The movie features yet another untested actress in Alia Bhat. Her recent claim to fame was student of the year where not a lot of people spoke about her acting skills. Well, those who spoke of her acting skills didn’t really find any positive adjectives. She dons the character of a girl who is just about to get married. She slips out of home for a drive with her fiancée and gets kidnapped by Randeep Hooda who plays Mahabir. I have always enjoyed Randeep Hooda’s presence on the screen. He has a way of attracting audiences by just being there. In Highway he plays a dacoit who is fleeing and uses young Alia as his bait. This much you expect from the movie. After this unfolds two hours of a story that is fantastic to say the least. But it is laid out so simply amongst many a truck ride, snow capped mountain, field of unending greenery and just locales both manmade and nature made that makes you a part of this unending journey where two people travel and transcend many a mile. One person finds respite from a life that is suffocating her while the other person who has been hardened by violence softens by innocence. The girl who is captivated finds freedom in her captivation and the man who has always been captivated by his pain finds a release.

Imtiaz Ali’s movies are full of subtleties. Every once in a while comes a scene with no background score or dialogue. All you see is one of the characters staring into the open sun or sitting in a corner thinking. There are many such profound moments. The movie takes u along on an endless ride where every mile covered brings two people closer. If you remember Rockstar and the reason you remember is Nargis Fakhri then you are probably skeptical of the choice for female lead in this movie. But Alia Bhat comes out as the true rockstar of the movie and she passes a difficult test with flying colors. Randeep Hooda portrays a frustrated always angry dacoit with panache. The supporting cast is decent.

Highway is all about a haunting innocence that first irritates, then bamboozles, then captivates and finally inspires a set of goons. Imtiaz Ali creates the magic we saw in Jab we met in a much more complicated story that leaves some wondering if this could ever be true. If you ask me I will root for such a story coming true. Highway is a moving story which is engulfed in such tenderness that your heart will come out weeping at times. It clearly is the best by Imtiaz Ali. My sincere thanks to him for bringing Highway into our lives.