Movie Reviews by Pranshu Awasthi

Vishal Bhardhwaj’s HAIDER is an official adaptation of Shakespear’s play HAMLET, which is arguably the most complex and the world’s most filmed story after Cinderella and another book on Kashmir militancy called CURFEWED NIGHT. ‘Haider’ is set against the breathtaking and dreadful backdrop of 1994 Kashmir. At the outset, it is imperative to make you aware that the film’s screenwriter, Indian journalist Basharat Peer (Author, Curfewed Night) is also a Kashmiri . This becomes clearly evident when the film takes off and mesmerizes the audience with unadulterated and up-close visuals of the ‘real’ Kashmir - ‘the crackdown, the encounters, the sinister atmosphere etc.’ contrary to Bollywood’s fetish for the customary Dal Lake, flower beds and meadow slopes.  However , as the film progresses, the seemingly straightforward narrative abruptly transforms into a convoluted mishmash- courtesy an ineffective re-imagination of an already complex epic . Soon after 45 minutes of an absorbing extrav

                                    HIGHWAY REVIEW Before you read this review I should forewarn you that this film is an acquired taste and definitely not a ‘masala entertainer’. It starts off with an unusual protagonist (Randeep Hooda playing a Gujjar criminal) kidnapping a young, rich girl (Alia Bhatt) at gunpoint. What follows is a road-trip-drama (as the title suggests) involving two antithetical characters against the backdrop of surreally beautiful locales and A.R.Rahman’s mellifluous score. How Alia Bhatt’s  character adjusts with the situation is subject to interpretation. Cinematography is undeniably the film’s strongest feature. Real fun begins when the actual road-ride starts. It makes you feel you are a co-traveller sharing bumpy (mis)adventures with the two characters. That’s the magic of terrific direction supported by some fine acting by the lead actors. This is certainly Randeep Hooda’s finest performance till date. Alia Bhatt too proves her mettle by delivering a