"what highway has offered me is a bunch of memories from the past that left me in a relentless excitement about the times yet to come"
Imitiaz Ali…the screen name that articulates confusions,
pain, obsessive Sufism, road travel, darker sides of love and absurdness that
everyone shows at various points of their lives is now back again with a tricky,
memorable and a less traveled ride on the “highway”. This piece of writing is
not some random movie review; it’s my travel in my own fuzzy world for a couple
of hours, where my senses were lost to the excitement of watching Imitiaz ali’s
work on screen. Holding my helmet and the cinema tickets in the same hand,
adjusting my hair with the other, I was lost in my thoughts. It took me back to
my graduation days in Vishakhapatnam, the day when Love aaj kal released and myself getting settled in the theater completely
clueless about the film maker whom I would admire in the coming future. I was dumbstruck
for the first few minutes, the movie which was expected to be a regular
rom-com was playing no background music; in fact silence was ruling all over; it
was completely unconventional and unacceptable in the Bollywood cinema rule
book. After a while, the movie started showcasing its titles, simultaneously
presenting Saif Ali Khan from both the present and past times in a complete
non- linear fashion with mohit chauhan’s “yeh dooriyan” melody playing in the
back end. “Can this ever be a format of presenting a Bollywood love story?” was
my unspoken frown on my bedazzled face. That’s it! That was my first encounter
with Imitiaz, the unexpected director who inspired me a lot in building up my
ideologies and thought process to a great extent. Does a movie maker inspire
you? Yes they do, in my case.
Getting into the theater, I adjusted insatiably in my faulty
seat with two people in the front measuring about 6 foot tall who partly covered my view
from the screen. Movie began, the flavours of Imitiaz ali’s movie making rushed down the screen and filled the hall with zephyrs of picturesque locations he captured on
the celluloid. Watching the locations on the first hand I was taken back to the
partial road trip I traveled a couple of weeks ago. Places that I visited
flashed in front of me, the excruciatingly unforgettable 14 hours of road travel in
an ordinary bus from Manali to Amritsar, a peaceful morning at Harmandir sahib,
famously called the golden temple, buzzing crowds of chandini chowk, aimlessly trekking
a snow mountain in manali, bunch full of clouds overflowing our bodies on a
smoky afternoon on the George’s Everest in Mussorie and our petty discussions with
the local people showcasing our humble gestures while incorporating the
language that we hardly used in our daily chores. I was pulled back into the
theater by an unknown whistle on Alia bhatt’s unexpected entry (a typical
Imitiaz’s style I would say).
The movie begins with an album of videos portraying various
scenic locations in India; of course Rahman saab does his conventional job of
elevating the scene with sedating music notes. This untraveled road movie
caters Alia in the role of “Veera”, a rich kid who was about to marry a person
from her kind. The story takes a “Highway” when the leading lady is abducted by
a band of bandits in an unusual encounter. There after the movie carries away with how the little bird survives these so called wannabe- brutal people and
how eventually she loves her petty uncozy stay in this unexpected journey of her life. Looking
at the story its simple, probably a line or two would do the work in revealing
the plot. What makes it special? It’s the treatment, the non-quirkiness of
characters, the random confusions everyone would foresee in their lives, picturing
the intentions of the director with a mere realistic approach. For a quick
example to consider, when the director narrates some scenes that are of least
importance with the emotional content of the movie, he simply uses a 16 mm
crude video footage to do the needful very effectively. It showcases the
brilliance of his unusual attempt. Imitiaz Ali repeatedly uses his usual
approach of driving the emotional scenes without much use of BGM in many
instances here. People who enacted this wonderful screenplay did a fabulous job
on a whole. Casting director, please take a bow! Except for the leading pair (who were
the only experienced actors on screen) everyone else did their debut in a
promising way. Anil Mehta, person behind the camera shows his excellence in
captivating 'the soul' of different locations that flawlessly drove people to the
edges of their seats many a times. There were instances when people roared in
surprise with beauty that has been showcased on the silver canvas. “Is India that
beautiful?” This will be the common question everyone would pose to oneself in
the midway through their journey on this adorable “Highway”. Songs were placed
intelligently, without creating a ruckus with this neatly weaved screenplay. It
becomes a part of it. A special mention should be addressed in favour of
“phataka guddi” which begins in the post interval sequence arousing our spirits
from the level zero to the zenith.
Keeping my partly
biased lines aside I would sincerely admit that on a whole this ride would be
bumpy one if you expect a cliched love story or an obsolete rom-com that usually
glitters in gold with pseudo aura in Bollywood. Make up your minds to face the
bitter reality of life, brace yourself to enjoy some wonderful performances and
be prepared to relish the scenic beauties of India on a panorama vision when
you opt to spend time on this “Highway”. So better suit yourself and don’t blame
me if you blindly empathize with what I felt regarding this one. Imitiaz ali fan’s would have a treat for sure.
Finally, what highway has offered me is a bunch of
memories from the past that left me in excitement about the times yet to come.
Imitiaz ali you lived up to my expectations with this piece
of work, keep working and do keep inspiring me every time. Kudos!!!
Bro u rock !! Awsm
ReplyDeletekewl harsha :)
ReplyDelete