Director Imtiaz Ali reveals he let the people he met and the places he visited shape the story of his 2014 road drama Highway. The movie was shot with uncertainty through different states with mostly handheld cameras and a raw script. The characters in Highway were constantly in transit and the filmmaker chose not to rely on pre-written dialogues and situations. The story was the only thing he had in mind but the movie was almost filmed without a script. Imtiaz only knew what the purpose of a particular scene was but didn’t have finished dialogues to give to Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda, the leads of the movie. The filmmaker candidly spoke about the unique way Highway was created during his interaction with YouTuber Roshan Abbas.
While sharing his insights into the making of the film, Imtiaz said it was his thought of being able to “compete” with new directors that led him to produce Highway. He would write the dialogues after reaching the shooting location along with Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda. “There was no light in the film, except for one or two sequences. There was no light, there was just a camera on a stick and, this time, I did not write the dialogue of the film. We used to reach the location and then I would write the scene and we would shoot it,” he said.
There were times when Imtiaz Ali would take Alia on a hill with no planned scene. What added to the struggle was to get to their pre-destined location. Imtiaz Ali believes one cannot get to the best places in India carrying heavy equipment. “So, we took cameras and lugged the actors there. Randeep and Alia both would climb the mountains. Alia would ask me, ‘Sir bolna kya hai? (What are the dialogues?)’ I would tell her, ‘I don’t know. Let’s get there and by the time we are there, you will know,’” he added.
The plot of Highway revolves around the life of a young girl Veera who gets abducted by a local gangster just a day prior to her wedding day. Rather than being terrified for her life, Veera discovers a new meaning to her life after falling for her abductor. She discovers what freedom truly means in a twisted way post her kidnapping.
Imtiaz Ali next has Chamkila in the pipeline with Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra.
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