highway movie review 2022

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Highway, A Destination Film, A Journey To Free Myself

Destination films are often a balm to our souls, allowing us to escape from the confines of our homes, something we all craved especially in the year of the pandemic. We dreamt of bachelor trips in Spain, trekking with school friends in Manali, and of spiritual awakenings in Bali.

But some journeys are more liberating than others. Some free you from the shackles of pain you've put on yourself, from the mufflers you put on your own heart and throat so that your every day could be a little bit more bearable. One such journey is the one Veera Tripathi (played by a mesmerising Alia Bhatt) undertakes in Imtiaz Ali's Highway (2014).

Download the script of  Highway .

Highway follows a young daughter of a Delhi industrialist, kidnapped from a petrol station, who discovers what it feels to be free on the roads of India. The film co-stars a magnetic Randeep Hooda as the kidnapper and petty thief Mahabir, who kidnaps Veera with his compatriots, not realising her father has powerful ties to the government.

As they travel across the country evading the police, Veera discovers newfound independence, one away from her haunted past of being sexually abused by her family. She reveals this to Mahabir, whose conflicted feelings about the girl he kidnapped grow to become affection. He even tries to help her escape by dropping her off at a police station, but she vehemently refuses, as she has found happiness in the vagabond life that she and Mahabir shared.

As they both share troubling stories from their childhood, we see two kindred souls becoming balms for each other's spirit, a momentary love story that soothes us in the process. This, like most road movies, is a bildungsroman, but the journey Veera takes is not just the one where she is physically kidnapped, but also towards her choice to be free and unapologetically herself. She discovers the futility of running away from her problems deep within the salt flats of Gujarat and reflects on the expanse of the world around her at the foothills of the Himalayas. Gone is the quiet, compliant girl in the first twenty or thirty minutes of the film; we begin to see the spark of curiosity and the childlike joy that she spreads to everyone around her.

Highway was a painful first watch for me, especially the visceral reaction at the end of the film when Veera finally confronts her tormentors and allows herself to feel pain at Mahabir's death. It was a provocative mirror for me, one that pushed me to confront my own struggles with mental health. But it was equally the freedom and empowerment Veera felt in occupying her own space, alongside the struggle to let go of what hurt her, that allowed me to act upon my own tribulations.

Since 2014, I can safely say that I've not only played 'Patakha Guddi' on repeat as a fight song, but last year permanently inked the Irshad Kamil lyrical masterpiece on my left arm, to serve as an everyday reminder of how proud I am of my journey to myself. So, I implore you, dear reader: go on, find yourself.  

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‘Highway’ review: An utterly predictable journey into hell

Kv guhan’s telugu film stars anand deverakonda, saiyami kher, abhishek banerjee and manasa radhakrishnan..

In the latest thriller from Telugu filmmaker KV Guhan ( 118 , WWW ), a serial killer on the loose, crosses paths with a woman in search of her father and a wedding photographer trying to reach an assignment. Highway , which is being streamed on Aha, is utterly predictable, with the only surprise contained in its final scene.

En route from Vishakhapatnam to Bengaluru, Vishnu (Anand Deverakonda) and his buddy Samudram (Satya) meet Tulasi (Manasa Radhakrishnan), who has set out in the dead of the night to reunite with her father. Prone to mishaps and given to snivelling at the drop of a hat, Tulasi has the words “I am the next victim of the serial killer terrorising the countryside” all but tattooed on her forehead.

Das (Abhishek Banerjee) has managed to evade Special Task Force officer Asha (Saiyami Kher). He has notched up five kills, rips another woman to pieces on Asha’s watch, and finds his next victim in Tulasi. With some clever thinking from Vishnu, who has fallen for Tulasi, Asha and her team get closer to finding Das.

Perfunctorily filmed and performed from start to finish, the 123-minute film plays out like a cinematic version of television crime dramas. Asha’s intelligence at finding clues into Das’s whereabouts is countermanded by Tulasi’s grating whimpering.

Das’s dastardliness adds nothing to the serial killer canon. The depiction of one of his murders borders on the gratuitous. At least the climax is a departure from such films, even if it comes after a tour of the overly familiar.

• Highway review
• Anand Deverakonda

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Highway movie review: Anand Deverakonda's serial killer film tortures you more than the killer his victims

Highway movie review: kv guhan’s serial killer film starring anand deverakonda and abhishek banerjee is illogical, bland, and lackluster in every way conceivable..

There is a scene in KV Guhan’s thriller Highway, where the serial killer D ( Abhishek Banerjee in his Tollywood debut) tapes his victim’s eyes open so that they can witness their own torture. Frankly, watching the film for two hours felt a lot like that--tortured, painful, and waiting for it to end. Highway is a simple film with a promising premise, which falters so badly in execution that you wonder how one can make such a lackluster film with a decent plot and good actors. Also read: Abhishek Banerjee says co-star Sunita Rajwar would get upset with him

Highway, set in the outskirts of Hyderabad, introduces us to photographer Vishnu (Anand Deverakonda), who is travelling to Bangalore for an event. Along the way, he helps a runaway teenager named Tulasi, who needs to get to her estranged father. A parallel track sees police officer Asha Bharath (Saiyami Kher) hunting a dangerous serial killer, who has killed five women and is on the hunt for more. How these two stories converge and Vishnu finds himself in a dangerous situation forms the crux of the film.

As I said, an interesting premise but it all goes downhill from here. The plot has more holes in it than a kitchen sieve, the acting is either monotonous or over-the-top (there’s no middle ground), and the background music is a serious assault on the senses. The comedy is so cringeworthy, sexist and forced that it often feels like you are watching something from the 90s.

It seems the makers and writers of the film have never met real people or observed how real people behave. Because in this film, everybody behaves as illogically as possible, as if it’s a stupidity contest. Cops can’t see an obvious clue dangling in front of their eyes, the killer tries his best to behave like a killer at every possible moment without any worry about getting caught, and women disregard safety while a serial killer is on the loose. I stopped noticing logical flaws halfway into the film because it was hard to keep up by then.

The film lacks finesse and subtlety, with every character repeating what is happening on the screen just so that the audience do not miss it. It is like hammering a nail that is already all the way inside the wall. It’s redundant and infuriating. But is there anything redeeming in Highway? Abhishek Banerjee, of course! The Pataal Lok-fame actor has been handed an undercooked and unidimensional character with no coherent back story and he still manages to do something special with it. He is menacing, scary, and at times, even fun to watch. Everyone else falls flat sadly. Saiyami Kher, normally a reliable performer, has been reduced to just standing at crime scenes exasperated. She and her character both deserve better. Anand Deverokonda is lackluster and frankly looks like a cardboard cutout at times. Manasa Radhakrishnan tries to play the part of a hapless, innocent teenager to the best of her abilities. But sadly, the script and direction do not help her much in the process.

Highway began streaming on Aha Telugu from Friday, August 19, and frankly it is a good choice that the film chose not to release in theatres. On OTT, it may find some audience. But it’s hard to see why anyone would voluntarily watch this film. It’s a cautionary tale on how not to approach an interesting subject. Watch it only if you are prepared to be disappointed in more ways than you can count.

Director: KV Guhan

Cast: Anand Devarakonda, Abhishek Banerjee, Sayami Kher, Manasa Radhakrishnan

• Abhishek Banerjee
• Saiyami Kher
• Telugu Cinema

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