Highway

A road film set in India. Veera is the daughter of a wealthy family and her wedding is a few days away. Out driving one night with her fiancé, she is abducted during a robbery. When the men learn whose daughter she is they panic and, instead of releasing her, take her north. They travel by truck: Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal. Then something unexpected happens. Veera does not want to go back. There is something she has kept hidden at home for years, and for the first time she is away from that house. At the centre is the relationship between Veera and Mahabir. Both are running from their own past and along the road they say things they have never said. How that relationship is built is what the film is most argued about for; some critics said it made the abduction too romantic. The landscape is part of the story: desert, fields, mountain roads and villages at altitude. Alia Bhatt plays Veera and Randeep Hooda plays Mahabir. The music is by A. R. Rahman. Imtiaz Ali directed. A strong example for anyone who likes Indian independent cinema and road stories. Before you watch, know this: the film takes up childhood abuse and that section is heavy.