Watched two good movies of late. One is ‘Highway’ and the other one is ‘Queen’. Both the movies are women-oriented and in both of them, the central character, a young woman, about to get married, faces a tragedy, which changes the whole course of her life, and goes through a journey of self-realization.
Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Highway’ catches viewers by surprise when Veera (Alia Bhatt) suddenly reveals to her captor Mahavir (Randeep Hooda), an uncouth extortionist, about her being a victim of child abuse. She was rather feeling safe and liberated in the confinement of her abductor (who we never see making any attempt to really harm her throughout the movie). She found a sensitive person inside a criminal, who still remembers and murmurs the lullaby his mother used to sing for him, unlike her uncle, who in the pretense of showing affection used to abuse her sexually when she was a child. At least, her captor was not masked; she could see what he was; and she found a repentant inside that person who had passed over the point of no return.
As regards performance, Randeep was perfect. Alia did a really good job; but still, I would say, something was missing. Actually I was wondering how it would have been like if the role was played by Kareena Kapoor. I could virtually see her playing the role of Veera, when Veera finally exposes her tormentor (uncle) in the presence of her family members and relatives. The scenic beauty of the movie is also worth mentioning. Somehow it feels that you are ‘in the scene’ and you actually took to those highways. Overall I found the movie very beautiful with a good message of course.
The second movie I mentioned was Vikas Bahl’s ‘Queen’. In this movie, Rani’s (Kangna Ranaut) world of dreams came crashing down with the sudden refusal of her fiancé Vijay (Rajkumar Rao) to marry her. The reason – this simple girl Rani does not suit his life-style now. Shattered Rani finally decides to take hold of her life and sets out on her ‘honeymoon’ (she always craved and planned for) alone. During her journey, exploring the unknown, she discovers herself. Meanwhile, her fiancé saw her in western attire (through an accidentally sent mobile message by Rani) and tries his best to make up with an apology. She responds with a promise to see him when she returns to India. And, as promised, on her way home from Airport, she visits his place, returns him the engagement ring, hugs him, says ‘thanks’ and walks out of his house happy and relieved.
Psychologists say that there is a woman in every man and vice versa. I must say that the woman in me felt happy to see this victorious smile on Rani’s face while she walks out of Vijay’s place hitting him hard with a well-deserved ‘silent slap’ in the face. I’m all praise for Kangna Ranaut for the best ever performance by her. A dreamlike, but a really beautiful movie.