First things first, I was a little doubtful of this movie when I was purchasing the tickets because of all the negative reviews I had been hearing on the radio, on TV, and from friends, etc. Turns out, these were the best 100 bucks (yes, 100 bucks; perks of living in Greater Noida) I have spent in a while. The movie was brilliant! A high society couple hailing from a metropolitan of North India head out with nothing but a great weekend on their mind. Little do they know that this adventure road trip of theirs would be met by an incident, pertaining to one of the many social evils that still prevail in the rural parts of India, which would turn their simple journey on National Highway 10 (often abbreviated as NH 10) into a life-altering experience.
I was seriously blown away by the acting and direction, which defy most typical Bollywood movie template where the protagonist fights off three dozen gravity-defying goons of the villain but its a neck to neck battle with the antagonist himself, while his lady love (or rather a sidekick with almost no role to play in the movie) dances around needlessly and both survive in the end with a happily-ever-after ending. Obviously, it is seriously not meant for people who love Chennai Express-type movies. If you still decide to give it a shot, expecting even a pinch of romance, believe me you will be disheartened and disappointed with it, just like the couple sitting behind me who walked out of the theater in under 15 minutes. I liked it because it had a beginning, a mid, and an end. And all the three were properly executed, and did not completely defy logics OR physics, as is the case with most action Bollywood movies nowadays. Anushka was outstanding as the main lead, and other characters were pretty believable too. Nothing felt out of the place. And since its kind of a thriller, I really enjoyed the natural and expected behavior from the actors and I must say that in those regards, this movie even pips some Hollywood same-genre movies in which people are shown doing dumb things and act as if they are devoid of any and all common sense when in a life-threatening situation. I must say I was intrigued as well as immersed in the movie, especially in the beginning and in the end. The cast as well as the director were successful in keeping me from getting bored throughout the movie. And so, I hereby declare it a movie which is a bang for your (the no-nonsense and serious movie-goers') buck, and deserves my 9 rating stars.
Just a heads up, the movie is rated A, probably because of the one cuss word which is muted out towards the ending. Or maybe its because of violence, which most reviewers here are dubbing as "not- for-the-faint-hearted" *shrugs*. But meh.... No nudity or obscene shots, it is okay to watch it with your family, in my opinion.
