Highway

There are three things that I wish to talk about after having just watched highway. The first one is definitely the cinematography. It is truly enchanting, dreamy and captivating. So much that not only do you feel like being there at the same time as the characters themselves but more so at times you just feel like taking the next flight, train or rather the truck to the have a similar adventure or just roam about in the beautiful places that our country has to offer. It has been a delightful shift with directors nowadays preferring to showcase the Indian countryside, hills, beaches, temples, cities and towns. Don't know but somehow Kolkata seems to be featuring in a lot of them oflate (whether I should feel proud about it as our culture is being displayed or depressed about getting stereotyped is a question perhaps to be pondered on some other day). The soulful music with the pictures and locales keep you hooked, hypnotised and at times in a happy state of trance. Second point is definitely about Alia. She's young, natural, chirpy and fresh. Her character evolves through the entire 125 minutes from being the innocent, domestic, suppressed girl into the vivacious, energetic and mature woman who would towards the end take big decisions with great ease and fearlessness. What makes you like randeep hooda is for the fact that he plays the perfect role of the catalyst in bringing about this metamorphosis of alia's character. The other cast members all play their part perfectly and are sacrificed as the movies reaches it's climax with just the main protagonists. As in the case of rockstar, Imtiaz Ali here also gives us a melancholic ending not before he has established a deep connection between the audience and the lead characters. This brings to the last point where the underlying theme of the movie is much more than a rich girl getting accidentally kidnapped by a crook, both falling in love but not going on to live happily ever after.  We all envision our lives to be moving in the same free flowing, unperturbed, unhindered manner as a car moves on a highway. New places to discover, new cultures, new people, living the carefree life, making each day count as if there were no tomorrow. What I really liked about the movie though was not just the showcasing of the free bohemian spirit that we all strive for but in taking that one step further. The best moments for me were those when Alia is surprised, in awe of the beauty around her, contemplative and confused, smiles and cries at the same time. They bear testament to the experiences on the highway of self discovery and self realisation. Highway is a movie just the way life is supposed to be. It touches a deep chord because of this very simple reason.