I am not starting with the downsides of the movie as I know that would not be a positive criticism. Acclaimed in Berlin Film Festival and still earning more, Highway is a tale of several relationships bound together by a bus journey from Illam to Kathmandu. The best part of the movie is the nice attachment of the characters with the journey and some sort of inter-relation between the stories which is the first time in a Nepali cinema that so many stories got intermingled. The movie has rightly portrayed the strikes: Jams, Andolans (more to face in latter days) in our highways that cripples life of many traveling in and leaving no option than to wait, though the movie is silenced for cutting one of the reason for the bandh- demand of ________ autonomous state. And the funniest part: disguise as a wedding bus with fake bride and groom to pass the blockages is a clever use of the trend to let go wedding Buses pass easily even in harsh strikes. The movie also depicts the growing crime, openness in society for sex/relationship/cigarettes for both men n women, and the excessive use of mobile as an inseparable part of daily life. But saying all those, I am not the only one to say "too little and too late". As the movie kept many movie goers for waiting too long to give this short movie (even with the intermix of 5+ stories) and that's disappointing. No matter what International record has it.
Too many characters and too little story telling for each stories, unruly flow of story and ugliness/rawness in the movie are the downsides that yields a negative remark from people when there is not much masala that normal people want in a movie.
The movie has all star casts of Saugat Malla,Karma, Reecha Sharma, Binaya Shrestha, Dayahang Rai and also has Rajan Khatiwada, Asha Magarati, Shristi Ghimire, Mamata Rai, Sandip Chhetri, Bhumika Shrestha, Keshav Bhattrai and BBC RJ cum philanthropist/Journalist Rabindra Mishra in other roles. Reecha Sharma is shown too ugly in the movie though her acting is good and the ugly dance in 'Paplu song leaves no significant stamp, Rabindra Mishra's acting debut is surprisingly good along with three outstanding actors Dayahang Rai, Saugat Malla, and Karma. Direction/story Deepak Rauniyar- a well known short film maker for 'Pooja' and 'Chaukath', has experimented the movie and more or less succeeded in portraying the ill-fated journey in highway and has got mixed reviews from the movie buffs who watch movies from all around the world. But if you are a normal movie goer, this isn't right for your palette... Still if you want to try out an experiment Nepali movie, it would not take much of your time either.
Too many characters and too little story telling for each stories, unruly flow of story and ugliness/rawness in the movie are the downsides that yields a negative remark from people when there is not much masala that normal people want in a movie.
The movie has all star casts of Saugat Malla,Karma, Reecha Sharma, Binaya Shrestha, Dayahang Rai and also has Rajan Khatiwada, Asha Magarati, Shristi Ghimire, Mamata Rai, Sandip Chhetri, Bhumika Shrestha, Keshav Bhattrai and BBC RJ cum philanthropist/Journalist Rabindra Mishra in other roles. Reecha Sharma is shown too ugly in the movie though her acting is good and the ugly dance in 'Paplu song leaves no significant stamp, Rabindra Mishra's acting debut is surprisingly good along with three outstanding actors Dayahang Rai, Saugat Malla, and Karma. Direction/story Deepak Rauniyar- a well known short film maker for 'Pooja' and 'Chaukath', has experimented the movie and more or less succeeded in portraying the ill-fated journey in highway and has got mixed reviews from the movie buffs who watch movies from all around the world. But if you are a normal movie goer, this isn't right for your palette... Still if you want to try out an experiment Nepali movie, it would not take much of your time either.
Movie has lot more to say than the sequences refer and the untimely end of the movie keeps audiences wondering.....is this the end? which left a round of laughs in House-full QFX after the cast/crew list started to appear.. and crap crap crap is what I heard from other group sitting next to me. But I wouldn't say that. I say Let's Promote Nepali Cinema.
