In the first few minutes post-interval, a somewhat unimportant character rightly sums up the theme of ‘NH10’ – “Yeh Gurgaon mein jahaa aakhri mall khatam hoti hain naa, wohi aapki yeh democracy aur constitution bhi khatam ho jaata hain.” Co-produced by Anushka Sharma, in his second movie Director Navdeep Singh (‘Manorama Six Feet Under’) delivers us one of the most gripping yet relevant thrillers in recent times. Welcome to NH10 to get the fright of your life; it isn’t ghosts but humans and they are scarier. Hell… Yes!
Meera (Anushka Shama) and Arjun (Neil Bhoopalam) are a happily married well-settled couple living in Gur(gaon). They plan a weekend getaway; it’s Meera’s birthday. While on NH10, they stop at a dhaba where they witness a village girl and her husband being beaten and dragged into a car. Arjun tries being a hero and is slapped hard by the girl’s brother (Darshan Kumar) in public. Male ego sweeps in and when he spots the same car a little later while on the road, he decides to scare the hooligans a bit with his newly purchased pistol for his wife. Soon… he witnesses a dreadful honour killing and before he can run away, both Arjun and Meera find themselves trapped. When they manage to somehow escape, they realize it’s going to be a long dangerous night.
What works? It is a smartly directed well-performed film which will have you on the edge of your seat for most of the time. The director keeps you hooked with a plot which is relevant and what makes it more terrifying is that you know it could happen with you as well. Shot mostly on a highway and nearby areas, Singh clearly didn’t have much to spend but he makes the most of it and so well at that. The mark of a great director! But ‘NH10’ isn’t for the faint-hearted. There is quite a lot of brutal violence and some blood and gore too. Some do enjoy it but most don’t. Also, the second half doesn’t match up to the first and it gets predictable; you are probably going to guess what will happen in the last twenty minutes. Even then, it hits all the right notes and makes for a good watch. Thankfully, songs don’t pop into the narrative of this thriller.
Anushka Sharma gives us another fantastic performance; she is simply brilliant in every frame and gets her body language and expressions bang on! Watch her playing with a pen when she is nervous or even that scene when she learns the police is as much into the killings; she is one of the finest actresses we have today. I may not be much of a fan but this is great stuff! What an act! Neil Bhoopalam is natural but you can’t pity his character much as he plays someone on an ego trip; you wonder in amusement how someone would risk the life of his love just because he wants to scare some people who slapped him. Darshan Kumar plays a complete opposite to what he did in ‘Mary Kom’. If he was too good to be true in his first movie, he is horribly bad here and he plays it just as well. Deepti Naval is great in a pivotal role. The supporting cast is good.
Watch it or not: Miss your weekend slumber but don’t miss ‘NH10’. Yes… it’s that good!
At the Box Office: It won’t open well but will pick up due to good word-of-mouth. Made on a low budget, it should recover costs and turn out average at best.
My Verdict
4
The next time you are on a highway away from the city, you might really want to carry a pistol. ‘NH10’ is relevant thriller at its best. 3.5 plus an extra half for Anushka’s performance…
