A truck driver kidnaps a young girl from a wealthy family, sends out a ransom demand and goes on the run, taking the girl on a ride through six states across India. Far from being distressed, the girl decides she likes this first taste of adventure and falls in love with the lush valleys of Kashmir, the peaks of Himachal Pradesh, and, possibly, even her abductor.
The premise of the director Imtiaz Ali’s latest film Highway seems to be Stockholm syndrome. But far from working against the film, it becomes one of its many positives.
Another gamble that aids the film is the surprising pairing of the unlikely leading duo: the 37-year-old Randeep Hooda, an actor known for relishing intense roles, opposite the fresh-faced 20-year-old Alia Bhatt, who has only starred in one other film (2012's Student of the Year).
The two were in Dubai recently to promote Highway ahead of its UAE release. At the press conference, organised by Dream Advertising and the Ministry of Events, they spoke about what the film meant to them.
“I brushed it aside as a prank when I was first called for the film,” says Hooda. “I realised they were serious and I just wanted to grab the opportunity to work with Imtiaz. It helped that the script was amazing.”
Bhatt was instantly bowled over by the story and her character.
“My heart just went out to the character,” she says. “What she goes through and the various layers of her personality, the ups and downs... I had my doubts that I would be able to do justice to the role, but I think I have done all right.”
Bhatt, who played a glamorous character in Student of the Year, was slumming it for this role.
“The transformation was huge,” she says. “I didn’t have to iron my clothes, I didn’t have to brush my hair and the worse I looked, the better it was. It was three months of pure rawness. When I came back to the world of make-up and touch-ups, it felt alien.”
Bhatt recalls a brief moment of panic, which arose during a trip to one of the locations. “It was the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere and it was really hot and all of a sudden I had a huge panic attack.”
“I felt the ceiling was falling on top of me and the cupboards were walking towards me. Someone called up Imtiaz and told him: ‘Listen, your actor is having a panic attack,’ and he rushed right down to calm me. Nothing like that ever happened again so I guess I was just getting it out of my system.”
The film has been shot on location and Bhatt says that Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh were probably the most picturesque.
“My favourite was Himachal Pradesh. We were at a really high altitude and it was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen. I enjoyed my time there. We would stay up late at night just talking. I have very beautiful memories of that place.”
• Highway is out now in UAE cinemas
artslife@thenational.ae
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
Scores in brief:
Day 1
New Zealand (1st innings) 153 all out (66.3 overs) - Williamson 63, Nicholls 28, Yasir 3-54, Haris 2-11, Abbas 2-13, Hasan 2-38
Pakistan (1st innings) 59-2 (23 overs)
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
SERIES INFO
Cricket World Cup League Two
Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series
Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
Table
The top three sides advance to the 2022 World Cup Qualifier.
The bottom four sides are relegated to the 2022 World Cup playoff
1 United States 8 6 2 0 0 12 0.412
2 Scotland 8 4 3 0 1 9 0.139
3 Namibia 7 4 3 0 0 8 0.008
4 Oman 6 4 2 0 0 8 -0.139
5 UAE 7 3 3 0 1 7 -0.004
6 Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 PNG 8 0 8 0 0 0 -0.458
The biog
Name: Dr Lalia Al Helaly
Education: PhD in Sociology from Cairo
Favourite authors: Elif Shafaq and Nizar Qabbani.
Favourite music: classical Arabic music such as Um Khalthoum and Abdul Wahab,
She loves the beach and advises her clients to go for meditation.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
THE SPECS
Aston Martin Rapide AMR
Engine: 6.0-litre V12
Transmission: Touchtronic III eight-speed automatic
Power: 595bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh999,563
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 178hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 280Nm at 1,350-4,200rpm
Transmission: seven-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: from Dh209,000
On sale: now
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
