Release date – 21'st February 2014
One Word which describes the film –Scenic
Genre –Drama
Music – A. R. Rahman
Producer- Sajid Nadiadwala
Imtiaz AliImtiaz Ali made his directorial debut with the rom com Socha Na Tha and followed with romantic films like Jab We Met (2007) , Love Aaj Kal (2009) and Rockstar (2011) . The director has always been fascinated with nature which is evident in all his films .
Imtiaz's latest venture Highway seems to be a work of passion. If we remove the scenes featuring highways of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir, sand dunes of Kuchaman valley , Aru valley and Chandanwari near Pahalgam there is nothing left in the film. The movie felt like Imtiaz Ali's answer to all the Yash Chopra films where he glorified Switzerland .
Apart from promoting Indian tourism the film tries to focus on the lives of two individuals with a difficult past.
Alia Bhatt gets ample opportunities to show her acting skills and even manages to outshine Hudda in some scenes.
A.R.Rehman's music is soulful but because the film is not for the masses it has a small shelf life.
The main problem with the film is it's target audience. People who loved the director's earlier films will surely not like this high tension road trip and Alia Bhatt's fans will not like their sweet bubbly heroine wearing drags and moving around without makeup. Just near the climax my 6 year old daughter asked me " hero ki entry ho gayi kya ? '. Her innocent question made me laugh in the otherwise dull film.
In a line the film can be a big disappointment for Imtiaz Ali and Alia Bhatt's fans .
Watch it at your own risk. Avoidable.
Rank - 5 (Out of the 6 films I have seen in 2014)
