Highway Movie Reviews
Avg. Critics Rating
Verdict: Cool based on 25 reviews
Avg. User Rating
3.2
Verdict: Cool based on 99 reviews & ratings
4.0
Sarita Tanwar | DNA
A daring attempt by Imtiaz, a glorious showcase of India (better than any Incredible India campaign) and a superlative performance by Alia Bhatt makes Highway a must-watch.Read full review
4.0
Rummana Ahmed | Yahoo
It breaks your heart when you hear the sound of the gun pierce the tranquil and peace of the surrounding. You almost hear a silent tear roll down as we watch with bated breath. This Imtiaz Ali film deserves not just loud applause but a standing ovation.Read full review4.0
Shubha Shetty-Saha | MidDay
The film’s powerful, yet deliciously subtle script (Imtiaz Ali) attempts to break down the mental walls surrounding our perception and preconceived urban notions of safety, happiness and love. Yes, this film is not about pandering to what you think should happen next, or how one should react under certain circumstances. The script takes its own course: sometimes rough, sometimes uncomfortable, but always exciting. And therein lies the beauty of the film. The most beautiful journeys are almost always the unplanned and unanticipated ones.Read full review4.0
Rahul Desai | Mumbai Mirror
Highway makes for the kind of cinema we need, perhaps not something we entirely deserve. Even if you aren’t moved by its unhurried simplicity, or do not agree with this review, I challenge you to resist an overwhelming urge to rush out after dark hoping to get kidnapped (or simpler, just take off) to the foothills of the Himalayas. In that itself, is the battle won by a film that strives for little more.Read full review4.0
Subhash K Jha | Daily Bhaskar
…a deeply dissatisfying film whose very incompleteness lends a sense of beauty to the narrative. Highway is a sprawling stretch of splendour, created by a director who shoots every frame in a painter’s vein. Layered, luminous and evocative this is a world that M.F Hussain would have created if he were a filmmaker.Read full review4.0
Shadab Hasnain | BookMyShow
Highway is a kind of film which might polarize the views again (hopefully this time to a lesser degree than Rockstar). Some might feel the minimalist treatment and a bit of unbelievability of this film quite uninteresting. But this approach stands on the other side of the cinematic range that a filmmaker like Imtiaz Ali employs in his film. We don’t get to see these kinda of films, usually, in the plethora of blockbuster films that are made of at present (which are fun too in its own way!) The director has taken this story and has stamped his own signature style over it, but with the difference.Read full review
3.5
Srijana Mitra Das | Times of India
Wealthy Veera is kidnapped by brutish Mahavir. Is she on a highway leading to hell - or away?Read full review3.5
Srijana Mitra Das | Times of India
Highway is not an easy ride. But it offers fresh breezes and new sights. At times, Highway feels like an unending Bharat darshan, a long look at suffering souls through several deserts and eucalyptus trees. But some meandering is its only flaw. Watch it for its cathartic creativity, for colours akin to Iranian palettes, for sound design where melting qawwalis, chirruping crickets and a screeching train make layers of noise – for that shot where Veera rests her head on a pillow of water.Read full review3.5
Mihir Fadnavis | Firstpost
There is so much to appreciate in Highway and if it can goad other commercial filmmakers to take notice and also dare to try something new, we’ll all be richer for it.Read full review3.5
Mansha Rastogi | NowRunning
To sum it up, Highway is tantalizingly delicious and a journey you would want to embark on. Must watch.Read full review3.5
Meeta Kabra | Wogma
It is not new, it is not profound, but it held me glued – that freeing your spirit can show you how you are in charge and yet, to free your spirit, you need to take charge.Read full review3.5
Aniruddha Guha | TimeOut
Even though not free of shortcomings, Highway is Imtiaz Ali’s most honest, personal film and, hopefully, the beginning of a chapter in his career that will be dictated more by craft and intention and less by commerce and entertainment. Long silences punctuate conversations, shots of staggeringly beautiful locations linger, the pace remains unhurried, and actors surrender to their characters – these are elements you yearn to experience in a mainstream movie, and the film takes you there.Read full review
3.0
Khalid Mohamed | Deccan Chronicle
Ponderous enough to encourage a snooze but also with its rewarding side-effects. Needless to emphasise, Veera lingers on in the memory. And Alia Bhatt’s performance is nothing short of extraordinary, especially her solo stanzas of dialogue, executed in long takes.Read full review3.0
Sukanya Verma | Rediff
Highway isn’t merely concerned with cataloguing the virginal, versatile landscapes of Northern India. Often it’s the only ray of cheer to offset the grimness concealed within two wounded souls. Comfort not chemistry is what outlines the attraction between Alia and Randeep as they amble along higher altitudes of make believe. Yes, they could be heroes. But just for one day.Read full review3.0
Saibal Chatterjee | NDTV
Highway is a must watch as much for what it is as for what it isn’t. It is not a typical romantic drama, nor an average love story. It is a road movie with a difference.Read full review3.0
Sachin Chatte | The Navhind Times
Director Imtiaz Ali steps out of his comfort zone to make a film that attempts to stray away from the weekly Bollywood fare. The result is mixed, while you appreciate the attempt, the script doesn’t have enough fire-power to push it in to the big league. Nevertheless, here is a film that either you might love or ‘not like it so much’. There will be a few reservations but chances of detesting it are slim and not many films fall in that bracket these days.Read full review
2.5
Mohar Basu | Koimoi
Highway Movie Review: 2.5/5 Stars. What’s Good: A.R Rahman's captivating music and the enchanting cinematography...Read full review
2.5
Anupama Chopra | Hindustan Times
Imtiaz skillfully creates moments that are at once, tender, funny and fragile. But my problem was that I simply didn’t buy into the story.Read full review
2.5
Vinayak Chakravorty | India Today
Watch Highway for Alia and Randeep if you must. For a two-film-old, Alia’s screen presence is incredible. She gets every nuance, every energetic burst and trauma about Veera just perfect. If there is an element of the fragile about her beauty, Ali has tapped it well.Read full review2.0
Rajeev Masand | IBNLive
The film – a brave experiment on Ali’s part, who uses long stretches of silence, improv dialogues, and characters over plot to drive the narrative – doesn’t necessarily work. It’s meandering and indulgent in many parts, tiring you out well before it’s over. A beautiful mess, but a mess nonetheless.Read full review2.0
Aseem Chhabra | Rediff
It is rare that a Hindi language film delivers so much promise in the first half. And so it is extremely disappointing when the director and his script lead us on a journey that eventually fizzles out, collapses and dies in front of our eyesRead full review
2.0
Shubhra Gupta | Indian Express
I wanted more because it comes from a director who knows, or at least has known how to transfuse exuberance in love, and joy in sheer movement. ‘Highway’ is pretty but stagey.Read full review2.0
Faheem Ruhani | India Today
Highway doesn’t have a story that can engage you till the end. Post-interval, the film meanders aimlessly, not knowing how to resolve the conflict it has got into and at one point the director decides, okay it’s time to end the chase. If armchair tourism is what you are looking for then Highway may be worth your while otherwise it makes sense to wait for this one till it airs on TV. Beyond scenic locations captured superbly by cinematographer Anil Mehta, there is little it offers.Read full review2.0
Taran Adarsh | Bollywood Hungama
HIGHWAY is a triumph for Alia Bhatt, who delivers a marvelous performance. Also, what you carry home, besides Alia’s winning performance, are the stunning visuals, especially towards the second hour. But the treatment of the written material restricts its appeal largely. The connoisseurs of cinema and a tiny segment of the movie-going audience may go ga-ga over the film, but there’s precious little for the large base of mass audience that’s looking at the entertainment quotient from the maker of hugely admired entertainers like JAB WE MET and LOVE AAJ KAL.Read full review
1.5
Rohit Khilnani | India Today
Alia Bhatt fits perfectly in this role but doesn’t have much scope to perform. Even Randeep Hooda is not bad either but has little to do. Casting director Mukesh Chhabra is bang on, it’s unusual and works very well here! Rahman’s music does set the mood of the film and cinematographer Anil Mehta captures beautiful locations but even all this can’t save this film! Avoid this Highway, it will lead you nowhere!Read full reviewNR
Parmita Uniyal | Hindustan Times
The movie takes one direction and focuses on it, rather than moving to sub-plots. True, there’s no adrenaline rush, but there’s a serene feel to it. Much like his previous films, Imtiaz’s female protagonist wants to break out of the existing rules and regulations, to lead life at her own terms (remember Jab We Met’s Geet and Rockstar’s Heer). Hats off to Imtiaz for doing justice to the essence of the film. If you are stuck on the crossroads of life, take the Highway.Read full review
NR
Rachit Gupta | Filmfare
At 20, it’s surprising how Alia has got so many deft nuances right. It’s as if the actor has grown with the character. She is truly one of the most promising new actors in Hindi films. All said and done, films like Highway aren’t just watched they are felt.Read full reviewNR
Sneha May Francis | Emirates247
‘Highway’ is a road less travelled, and one that we think you must embark on. It’s a bumpy ride, no doubt, but one that’s set in the right direction.Read full reviewNR
Komal Nahta | KomalsReview
…is entertaining but only upto a point and only for the youth in the big cities. Its weak second half and the class-appealing nature of the drama will tell on its performance in the smaller centres and in single-screen cinemas. Overall, its run at the cinemas will not be upto the mark.Read full review
NR
Shilpa Jamkhandikar | Reuters
For some unadulterated filmmaking which we don’t see too often, make it a point to watch this one.Read full reviewNR
Sanjukta Sharma | LiveMint
Imtiaz Ali’s Highway is about escape. It is a dreamlike film, complete with achingly beautiful Himalayan landscapes and vast, unpopulated, dusty expanses. At the centre is a pair of utterly unlikely soulmates—a spunky, rosy-cheeked girl of wealth from South Delhi and her captor, a Haryanvi rogue extortionist.Read full reviewNR
Sonia Chopra | Sify
Maybe there’s no need to intellectualize this beautiful bond and just savour it as it is. Just like the film. Do Not Miss!Read full reviewNR
JPN | Jagran
Highway will not give you an adrenaline rush but a serene feeling that stays with you long after the film is over. This movie would be a good option to enjoy this weekend with your family and friends.Read full reviewNR
Manjusha Radhakrishnan | Gulf News
It’s gritty in parts and unrealistic in some (which hostage would break out into a hip-hop dance on wasteland). But watch this one for Bhatt and Hooda. They are at their vulnerable, rugged best. Plus, if you are in the mood to see India in its raw, unpolished state, Highway can be an exhilarating ride.Read full review
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4.5
My review of Highway (2014) by bangreaayushi
jyothimathur, 9 years agoThe bride is the real show stealer!The film is an ambitious piece of work. The film’s director, Imtiaz Ali has given something more promising and more going throwing the way. The film opens up like this: Veera (Alia Bhatt) convincing her fiancée to take her away from her place. She is the bride to be and she wants some peace outside her place. So, her fiancée takes her out on a highway for a long drive. When they stop at a gas station, the bride is kidnapped by few ‘dakkus’ (who are her abductors). When the gang comes to know about her family background, they decide to take ransom amount from her family. So, the gang’s leader Mahabir decides to take Veera along with him. He sets out with her and there starts the journey of romance between Mahabir and Veera. He takes Veera with him in many parts of India. Initially, Veera has hatred for Mahabir, but slowly she comes to know of his soft heart and therefore, she starts falling for him. Somewhere Mahabir also falls for Veera but he knows about her family background and her life. So he ensures that she should live her life to the fullest and decides to take her to Shimla where she is willing to stay in. The duo spends a night together but on the same day, the police officers find Veera and they shoot Mahabir. After Mahabir gets shot, Veera takes him to the hospital. Then after Veera gets back to her place, she realizes her love for Mahabir and confesses her family about the sexual assault that had happened with her by one of her Uncle since childhood. She decides to quit her family and relocates to a different place. The film is very impressive with a good direction from Imtiaz Ali. He is one of the best directors in the industry who knows to extract the best from his lead characters. Alia’s acting performance in this film was indeed splendid. Randeep Hooda is always great to watch. He nurtures himself in the types of roles he is given. Even in this film, his role as an abductor was worth appreciating. Talking about the music composer, A.R.Rahman we have no right to judge his abilities. He is so finite with his musical qualities that he makes you forget everything. He is one of the most promising music composers from the industry. His songs gave a very soothing polish to the film. The locations Imtiaz chose to shoot have very beautifully captured in the lens. The movie makes you forget everything that is going all around you. It has everything in perfection. The dress designers too have proved their abilities to make Alia as stunning as possible. Audiences will surely like her appearance with a ‘pagdi’ on her head. She is simply fun to watch. -
4.0
A Road of Trust and Love !
kailashmisra, 9 years agoSuper hit movie. I loved everything about this movie. -
4.5
'Highway', on my Slate - *Movie Review*
jeevan789, 9 years agoThis is one of the block buster movie -
0.5
HIGHWAY A JOURNEY TO A NEW LIFE
hindicritic, 9 years agoDon't waste your time on this movie. Bakwaas movie -
