NH10

One of the great pluses here is "NH10" didn't feel the need to wedge in a song & dance number like they do in 99% of Bollywood films. With it, I wouldn't have been able to sit all the way through. Generally, the acting isn't bad; kinda weak, though, in the male lead. I recommended this R film (profanity, violence) simply for the fact it told the story without a ridiculous forced song & dance number and it moved along swiftly.

I was desperately waiting for NH10 as I have been an ardent fan of Navdeep Singh's earlier work in Manorama Six-Feet Under ( probably one of my favourite films) and I would say I was not disappointed with the violent and gruesome thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

A young married couple's vacation goes haywire when they intervene in a local gangland's affair on the national highway.

The best part of NH10 is it remains true to its theme as shown in the trailer. Welcome to the world of badlands which shows the sad reality, the struggle of a visitor asking for help, the obscure status of women in the village and selfish police officers who barely do their duty. The film is bloody, blunt and gruesome which is very much required in the plot. Hats off to Navdeep Singh for creating the tension with what-will- happen-next era. The length of the film is 115 mins and would not let you blink-your-eyes for a second. Singh also does well in directing the film with raw and rustic background of North India along with nice background score which gels well with the film. On the flip side, couple of scenes were overly-stretched. In a wild desert and dark night, how come Anushka Sharma was able to find Neil back after they were forced to part ways in the beginning of their chase and probably the climax though beautifully shot, similar to the Hollywood thriller Eden Lake, could have been more better executed. Nevertheless, the taut script and editing adds crispiness to the pace. Anushka Sharma steals the show with her fiery dialogues and solid performance. She gets into the character with ease. Watch for her when she patiently waits for gangleader struggling to getup on his feet. Darshaan Kumar will surprise you as the gang leader. Deepti Naval, as usual, is great in a cameo.

Overall, Nh10 is one of the most provocative and terrifying edge-of-seat thrillers of the year. Excellent 4/5

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Lighting up her cigarette with the matchstick lying deserted from its owner, Anushka, with the slightest hold on to the edge of her sanity and an enigmatic facial expression, picks up the inanimate steel built strut from the ground and with the shrill, clanging sound of the steel being dragged along the concrete road, she lays down the groundwork for her revenge.

Navdeep Singh has not only made the most out of a road trip gone wild but has also filled in each of the scenes a continual thrill, of psyche driving in a meandering path of moral uncertainty and of the exceptional screenplay with Darshan Kumaar as the village ruffian and Sharma as the shackle breaker.

Keeping itself as the very point of interest throughout its complete time span of a near-2 hour crime drama, the movie becomes more and more worthy of your extol as you seek deeper through the story. While staying perfectly true to realism, NH10, with excellent direction, a finely crafted story and brilliant performances, shines as Singh's undiluted masterpiece.

9/10.

A good honest attempt by the director, producer and the lead actress, but the story and the characters let down the film badly. Every character is a cliché - every character behaves in a manner which is quite ridiculous. I did not feel that Anushka was in any real danger at any time. The gang chasing her was so incompetent. I did not feel any sympathy towards her or Neil. They had themselves to blame for the peril they were in. The only good scene in the entire movie is a sequence right at the end - but that is too little, too late to rescue the film. I was expecting a lot darker and serious movie - disappointed.

NH10 might take time to pick up, but when it does, there's no looking back for it. The film is a taut thriller with an interesting background of honour killing and a disturbing glimpse into societies that are incredibly primitive and backwards in terms of morality, values and their twisted mentality. This of course infuses NH10 with several harrowing sequences of sadistic violence which are unbearable to watch but also gives it a sense of hard-hitting brutality that makes the portrayal of areas that are known to all as having quite a few problems of this sort very credible.

This is where our leading heroine and her annoyingly stubborn husband find themselves. And their story is handled with great tension, where the writing makes the viewers really care for them and wish for their survival under such impossible circumstances. The film doesn't have a dull moment in this sense, and its many twists and turns secure a good watch which is bound to keep anyone on the edge of their seats even if it doesn't necessarily always ring true. It is towards the end where a good twist, despite its cathartic nature, follows an age-old format.

Remember the many female revenge films with Rekha, Dimple Kapadia and the likes? Remember how the kindhearted Rekha in Khoon Bhari Maang finds new purpose in life and returns to take revenge on the one who pushed her to the crocodiles? And what about sweet, demure Madhuri Dixit transformed into a merciless avenger in Anjaam? It's amazing how NH10, even if just for a few moments, manages to pay tribute to this famous wave of female-centric action films which allowed so many leading ladies to "experiment".

But unlike most of these films, which were quite bad and ridiculous (those mentioned above are quite good actually), NH10 has the advantage of being quite good and in so being it makes great use of what could have been Ab Insaaf Hoga (1995, with Rekha) or Gumrah (1993, with Sridevi), which are not up to the mark. In this sense, it is closer to Ek Haseena Thi with Urmila Matondkar as it keeps the quality on. And it gives the leading lady, the talented Anushka Sharma to shine through as both the racy city girl and the modern Jhansi Rani.

And she does. NH10, with all its qualities, is Anushak Sharma's film, and she is thoroughly convincing in this self-produced star vehicle, performing naturally and capturing with conviction the development of the character. Neil Bhoopalam as her husband Arjun is also very strong although as a character he is quite irritating at times. The supporting cast playing the group of goons is excellent, and the spectacular Deepti Naval, manages to leave a mark with another five-minute role as she always does. Watch NH10, it's a cinematic experience.