A nubile chatter box, but otherwise well behaved, rich 'poor' girl (with a past) meets a rough & tough lower class but wealthy at heart jaat kidnapper (with a past, and a Marxian grudge), and discovers life and love on the run. Imtiaz Ali, of Socha Na Tha and Jab We Met fame, delivers an unusual dud in 'Highway' (2014). The only thing driving the film (pun intended) is Anil Mehta's cinematography, through some stunning landscapes and locations, in Rajasthan, Punjab and Himachal. The script, well-intentioned in most parts, asks of its lead (and subsidiary) characters a little too much, way beyond their histrionic abilities. The most glaring mis-casting is of Alia Bhatt, completely out of her depth and discernment. AR Rehman is overrated, except for one of the songs (Patakha Guddi). The child abuse recalls are the most non-happening and compare unfavourably to a similar situation so powerfully evoked in Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding.
Highway - Zee TV (Rishtey) - Imtiaz Ali - 1999
Now this is more like it - The 'original' of Imtiaz Al's Highway, directed by him way back in 1999 as a 40 minutes episode for Zee TV's fiction series called Rishte. Despite the dated made-for-TV starved drama look, and despite being almost entirely shot inside Aarey Milk Colony in the suburb of Goregaon East in Mumbai, this Highway has some genuine flashes of excellence, especially the ending. The dialogues, despite being the originals of the later Alia Bhatt starrer, often sparkle. The lead performances, by Aditya Srivastava (of later CID fame) and Kartika Rane, are mostly good. And yes, the nightmare of child abuse recalled by the female lead, in a moment of fond vulnerability, is organically woven into the story, unlike the big budget pretender which it spawned later.
Highway - Zee TV (Rishtey) - Imtiaz Ali - 1999
Now this is more like it - The 'original' of Imtiaz Al's Highway, directed by him way back in 1999 as a 40 minutes episode for Zee TV's fiction series called Rishte. Despite the dated made-for-TV starved drama look, and despite being almost entirely shot inside Aarey Milk Colony in the suburb of Goregaon East in Mumbai, this Highway has some genuine flashes of excellence, especially the ending. The dialogues, despite being the originals of the later Alia Bhatt starrer, often sparkle. The lead performances, by Aditya Srivastava (of later CID fame) and Kartika Rane, are mostly good. And yes, the nightmare of child abuse recalled by the female lead, in a moment of fond vulnerability, is organically woven into the story, unlike the big budget pretender which it spawned later.
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